Graduate Student Advisory Council

The Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC) serves as an advisory body to the Department Chair, Yafeng Yin, and Associate Department Chair of Graduate Programs Professor Krista Wigginton, in matters of student climate, and serves as an information resource to current students. It is made up of graduate students representing our different sub-disciplines within CEE. Please feel free to contact the GSAC at [email protected].

GSAC is on Slack! Join umcee.slack.com using your umich email to get updates on recent activities and chat with your fellow graduate students! This is an entirely student-focused group meant for graduate students and postdocs. Contact the GSAC at [email protected] for any questions or connection issues.

Add the GSAC Events calendar to your Google calendar to stay up to date on upcoming GSAC events!

Advisory Council Members

Portrait of Roberto Athie Chara

Robert Athie Chara

Roberto, a Master’s student in Construction Engineering and Management, merges his architecture expertise and lighting design experience to lead complex projects. Globally recognized for innovation, his proficiency in architectural software and construction underpins his technical and creative skills. When not immersed in engineering challenges, he enjoys the art of piano and stays active with regular workouts.


Harshvardhan Desai

Bio not yet available


Amogh Doijad

Bio not yet available


Jacob Harris

My name is Jacob Harris. I am a second year master’s student studying structural engineering. This is my second year with GSAC, with which I help plan and organize events. Some of my hobbies include playing basketball and attending trivia events.


Somin Park

Somin is a PhD student in the Civil Engineering program, advised by Professor Menassa and Professor Kamat. Her research is focused on human-robot collaboration in construction. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and watching movies.


Delaney Snead

Delaney is a PhD student in Environmental Engineering working under Dr. Krista Wigginton. Her research focuses on understanding and crediting virus removal during water treatment disinfection processes.Outside of research, she is very active with the University of Michigan Science Olympiad and in her spare time she loves to travel, read, and bake. 


Tanmay Vora

Tanmay is a 1st year PhD student under Dr. Ann Jeffers. He is working on the Firebrand Transport problem around structures. He loves to research and he sees himself working in a research lab after graduation. He loves to hike, play chess, watch documentaries and horror movies, read history and hang out with friends.


Xiaoshan Zhou

Xiaoshan is a PhD student in Civil Engineering, working with Dr. Carol Menassa in the Smart Connected City Space. Her research involves control, perception, and navigation with a focus on human-machine joint decision-making and algorithm design. In her free time, she enjoys playing ping pong, reading, watching sports games, and chatting with her friends.