Email: aziz.buet@gmail.com
PABX No: 7224
Room No:
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Md. Azijul Islam

Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Specialization: Geotechnical Engineering

Md Azijul Islam, Ph.D. is working as an Assistant Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering in BUET. He completed his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), USA focusing on the effectiveness of Recycled Plastic Pins in improving the bearing capacity of embankments. He also completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). After his Ph.D., he served as an assistant professor of instruction at the Department of Civil Engineering, UTA for a couple of years where he taught different undergraduate and graduate level courses in Geotechnical Engineering.

Dr. Islam has more than ten years of professional, teaching and research experience in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering. His research interests lie mainly in ground improvement, foundation engineering, pavement materials, slope stability, sustainable waste management, and disaster management. He has published extensively in these fields and he serves as a peer reviewer in many international journals.  He wants to establish himself as a renowned researcher in the field of Geotechnical Engineering

Education

  • Ph.D. in Civil and Geotechnical Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, 2018-2021.
  • MSc in Civil and Geotechnical Engineering, BUET, 2015-2018.
  • BSc in Civil Engineering, BUET, 2010-2015.

Research Interest

  • Geo-environmental engineering
  • Slope stability and Landslide
  • Ground Improvement
  • Disaster management
  • Foundation engineering
  • Sustainable Waste Management
  • Pavement materials

Research Awards

  • Texas Department of Transportation. Award: $685,220. Title: “Lateral and Vertical Capacity of Recycled Plastic Pins for stable MSE Wall Foundation for Dallas Districts, Texas.” PI: MD Sahadat Hossain, Co–PI: Md Azijul Islam. Project Duration: January 2022 – August 2023.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps. Award: $50,000. Title: “A Recycled Plastic Pin for Highway Slope Stability”. PI: Asif Ahmed, Co-PI: Md Azijul Islam. Project Duration: September 2022 – August 2023.
  • Texas Department of Transportation. Award: $637,060 Title: “Moisture Barrier for Pavement – Implementation Project for Fort Worth Districts, Texas”. PI: MD Sahadat Hossain, Co–PI: Md Azijul Islam. Project Duration: September 2022 – August 2025.
  • Texas Department of Transportation. Award: $951,849. Title: “Implementation of Plastic Roads and Modified Moisture Barriers for Pavements.” PI: MD Sahadat Hossain, Co–PI: Md Azijul Islam. Project Duration: September 2022 – August 2025.
  • Summer 2021 Dissertation Fellowship: financial assistantship in recognition of excellent performance throughout the doctoral program
  • Outstanding Civil Engineering Ph.D. Student: in recognition of academic excellence in Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington (2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21).
  • ASCE Student Career Fair Stipend 2021: Selected for the 2021 Virtual OM/Student Career Fair
  • ASCE Bridges Photo Contest 2021: Second place winner in the ASCE Student Member category of the ASCE Bridges Photo contest
  • SWIS Dream Team 2020: in recognition of the phenomenal job and excellent teamwork as a magnificent member of Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability (SWIS), UTA.
  • Bangladesh Sweden Trust Fund Travel Grant 2019-20: in recognition of excellent result in public examinations and for pursuing higher education in foreign country.
  • Best paper award: in 1st Bangladesh Civil Engineering Summit, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2016).
  • Outstanding Paper award: in 14th Global Eng. & Tech. Conference, BIAM Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2017).
  • Best Paper award: in 14th Global Eng. & Tech. Conference, BIAM Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2017).
  • Dean’s Scholarship: in every academic session of undergraduate study for obtaining a CGPA higher than 3.75 (2010-2015)
  • University Merit Scholarship: in every academic semester of undergraduate study for excellent results in each term (2010-2015).
  • F. R. Khan Scholarship: in Level-3 of undergraduate study for obtaining highest GPA (2014).
  • Technical Scholarship: in every semester of undergraduate study

Professional Work at National and International Levels

  • Vice Chair, ISWA YPG Research & Innovation Working Group, International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), December 2022 – Present
  • Geotechnical Staff Project Manager, ECS Southwest, LLP., Fort Worth, Texas, September 2021 – January 2022
  • Member, Technical Committee (Embankment, Dams and Slope), Geo-Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
  • Invited Judge and Coordinator, Geo-Poster Competition, Geo-Congress 2024, Vancouver, Canada
  • Invited Judge, Geo-Poster Competition, Geo-Congress 2023, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Entrepreneurial Lead, National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Hub Northeast Region Fall 2022 Program, October 11 – November 22, 2022.
  • Steering Committee Member, ISWA-SWIS Winter School 2022 – Summer Edition: Landfill and Sustainable Waste Management, at University of Texas at Arlington.
  • Participant in the course titled “Intro to Lean Startup: NSF I-Corps Method”, organized by National Science Foundation (NSF); 16 – 23 May, 2022. (Recommended for the national NSF I-Corps program)
  • Coordinator and Moderator, 4th ISWA-YPG Online Conference: The Path Towards 2030, 10-11 September, 2021.
  • Organizer, ISWA-SWIS Winter School 2020: Sustainable Waste Management including Landfill and Landfill Mining, at University of Texas at Arlington.
  • Organizer, BUET-ANWAR ISPAT 1st Bangladesh Civil Engineering SUMMIT, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2016.
  • Organizer, International Conference on Disaster Risk Mitigation (ICDRM), Dhaka, Bangladesh, September 23 – 24, 2017.

Selected Publications

Books

  1. Hossain, M.S., Islam, M.A., Badhon, F.F. and Imtiaz, T. (2021). Properties and Behavior of Soil – Online Lab Manual, Mavs Open Press, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.

Journals Articles

  1. Islam, M. A.*, Jeet, A. A. and Islam, T. (2023). Soil Plug Behavior of Open-Ended Model Piles Jacked in Cohesionless Soil, Geomechanics and Geoengineering, https://doi.org/10.1080/17486025.2023.2286245 [IF = 1.5]
  2. Latif, M., Islam, M. A.*, Hossain, M. S. and Aurpa, S. S. (2023). Effect of Sludge Content on Decomposition of Different Types of Food Waste, Sustainability 15 (3), 2782. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032782 [IF = 3.889]
  3. Badhon, F. F., Islam, M. A.*, Bhandari, P., & Hossain, M. S. (2023) Performance of Recycled Plastic Pins for Improving Unsuitable Foundation Soil, Transportation Research Record https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981221150413 [IF = 2.019]
  4. Islam, M. A.*, Hossain, M. S., Badhon, F. F., & Bhandari, P. (2022). Numerical Study of Recycled-Plastic-Pin-and Geosynthetic-Platform-Supported Embankment over Soft Soil. Transportation Research Record, 03611981221086624. https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981221086624 [IF = 2.019]
  5. Aurpa, S. S.*, Hossain, M. S., & Islam, M. A. (2022). Effect of Plastic Waste on Volume Consumption of Landfill During COVID-19 Pandemic, Sustainability, 14 (23), 15974. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315974 [IF = 3.889]
  6. Ahmed, A.*, Islam, M.A., Alam, M.Z. and Quazi, H.S. (2022). Surface settlement induced by horizontal directional drilling, Underground Space, 8, 94-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.undsp.2022.05.001 [IF = 5.327]
  7. Bhandari, P.*, Hossain, M.S., Islam, M.A. and Badhon, F.F. (2022). Controlling Base Movement of MSE Walls using Recycled Plastic Pins, Transportation Geotechnics, 100707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2021.100707 [IF = 4.938]
  8. Elahi, T.A., Islam, M.A.*, and Islam, M.S. (2022). Parametric Assessment of Soil Nailing on the Stability of Slopes Using Numerical Approach. Geotechnics, 2(3), 615-634. https://doi.org/10.3390/geotechnics2030030
  9. Islam, M.A.*, Hossain, M.S. Badhon, F.F. and Bhandari, P. (2021). Performance Evaluation of Recycled Plastic Pin Supported Embankment over Soft Soil. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 147(6), 04021032. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002528 [IF = 4.012]
  10. Islam, M.A.*, Islam, M.S. and Badhon, F.F. (2021). Influence of Vetiver Grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) on Infiltration and Erosion Control of Hill Slopes under Simulated Extreme Rainfall Condition in Bangladesh. Arabian Journal of Geoscience, 14(2), 119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06338-y [IF = 1.827]
  11. Islam, M.A.*, Islam, M. S., & Jeet, A. A. (2021). A Geotechnical Investigation of 2017 Chattogram Landslides. Geosciences, 11(8), 337. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11080337 [IF = 2.7]
  12. Badhon, F.F., Islam, M.S., Islam, M.A.* and Arif, M.Z.U. (2021). A Simple Approach for Estimating Contribution of Vetiver Roots in Shear Strength of a Soil-Root System. Innovative Infrastructure Solutions, 6, 96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-021-00469-1 [IF = 2.4]
  13. Badhon, F.F.*, Islam, M.S. and Islam, M.A. (2021) Contribution of Vetiver Root on Improvement of Soil Shear Strength and Enhancement of Slope Stability, Indian Geotechnical Journal, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40098-021-00557-0 [IF = 1.5]
  14. Islam, T., Islam, M.A*., Islam, M.S. and Nimni, N.F. (2020). Identification of Inaccessible Roads and Vulnerable Settlements in Dhaka City Using ArcGIS Tools. International Journal of Disaster Response and Emergency Management, 3(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJDREM.2020010101
  15. Chowdhury, M.E.*, Islam, M.A., Islam, T. and Khan, N. (2018) Evaluation of Shear Strength of Cohesionless Soil from Maximum, Minimum Dry Density and Fines Content using Polynomial Surface Fitting Method. Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 23(1), 31-56.
  16. Chowdhury, M.E.*, Islam, M.A., Islam, M.S., Shahriar, M.S. and Alam, T. (2018). Development and Calibration of a Portable Artificial Rainfall Simulator for Reproducible Experiments on Soil Erosion. Global Science and Technology Journal, 6(2), 47-63.

ASCE Geotechnical Special Publications (GSP)

  1. Badhon, F. F., Islam, M. A.*, and Islam, M. S. (2024). Experimental Evaluation of Additional Shear Strength for Vetiver Root-Reinforced Soil. In Geo-Congress-2024, Vancouver, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784485330.0
  2. Islam, M. A.*, Sara Aurpa, S., Masiyat, M., & Hossain, M. S. (2023) Case History of Recycled Plastic Pins Supported Embankment on a Soft Clay Overlying Shale in Texas. In Geo-Congress 2023, Los Angeles, California, 20-30. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/9780784484708.003
  3. Badhon, F. F.* and Islam, M. A. (2023). Experimental Evaluation of Stress Path of Weak Foundation Soil Reinforced with Recycled Plastic Pins. In Geo-Congress-2023, Los Angeles, California, 479-489. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/9780784484661.050
  4. Islam, M. A.*, Jeet, A. A., Gupta, N., Gupta, A., & Islam, T. (2022). Factors Affecting the Stability and Behavior of an MSE Wall: A Numerical Approach. In Geo-Congress 2022, 375-385. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484029.038.
  5. Badhon, F. F.*, Bhandari, P., Islam, M. A., & Hossain, M. S. (2022). Comparison between Field Study and Numerical Analysis Results for Recycled Plastic Pin (RPP) Reinforced Foundation System. In Geo-Congress 2022, 426-435. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484029.043
  6. Islam, M. A.*, Gupta, A., Gupta, N., Jeet, A. A., & Islam, T. (2022). Soil Plug Response and Load-Settlement Behavior of Open-Ended Model Piles in Sandy Soil. In Geo-Congress 2022, 207-217. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484029.020
  7. Bhandari, P.*, Islam, M. A., Badhon, F. F., & Hossain, M. S. Controlling Sliding Failure of MSE Wall Using Recycled Plastic Pins. In Geo-Congress 2022, 416-425. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484029.042
  8. Islam, M.A.*, Zaman, M.N.B., Badhon, F.F., Bhandari, P. and Hossain, M.S. (2021). Numerical Modeling of Recycled Plastic Pin Reinforced Embankment over Soft Soils. In International Foundations Congress & Equipment Expo (IFCEE), Dallas, Texas, USA, 541-550. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483411.051
  9. Islam, M.A.*, Gupta, A., Gupta, N. and Islam, T. (2021). Laboratory Investigation of Soil Plugs in Open Ended Model Piles Driven into Sand. In International Foundations Congress & Equipment Expo (IFCEE), Dallas, Texas, USA, 108-118. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483404.010
  10. Bhandari, P.*, Zaman, M.N.B., Islam, M.A., Badhon, F.F., Hossain, M.S. (2021). Increasing Shearing Resistance of MSE Wall Base Using Recycled Plastic Pins. In International Foundations Congress & Equipment Expo (IFCEE), Dallas, Texas, USA, 44-54. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483411.005
  11. Badhon, F.F.*, Zaman, M.N.B., Bhandari, P., Islam, M.A., Hossain, M.S. (2021). Performance of Recycled Plastic Pins (RPP) for Improving the Bearing Capacity of MSE Wall Foundation Soil. In International Foundations Congress & Equipment Expo (IFCEE), Dallas, Texas, USA, 521-529. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483411.049
  12. Islam, M. A.*, Islam, M. S. and Elahi, T. E. (2020). Effectiveness of Vetiver Grass on Stabilizing Hill Slopes: A Numerical Approach. In Geo-Congress 2020: Engineering, Monitoring, and Management of Geotechnical Infrastructure (pp. 106-115). Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482797.011
  13. Ahmed, A.*, and Islam, M. A. (2020, February). Effect of Using Geosynthetics in Mitigation of Freeze-Thaw through Numerical Analysis. In Geo-Congress 2020: Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Special Topics, Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers, 436-445. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482810.046
  14. Ahmed, A., and Islam, M. A.* (2020). Parametric Study on Ground Settlement of Sand and Clay Layer due to Horizontal Directional Drilling. In UESI Pipelines 2020 Conference, San Antonio, Texas. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483206.060

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Presentations

  1. Ahmed, A.*, Islam, M.A., and Pandey, P. (2022, January). Evaluation of Field Soil Water Characteristic Curve Generated Flow Parameters in Numerical Modeling, 101st Annual Meeting of Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
  2. Islam, M.A.*, Hossain, M.S., Badhon, F.F. and Bhandari, P. (2022, January). Performance Evaluation of Recycled Plastic Pin and Geosynthetic Platform Supported Embankment over Soft Soil: A Numerical Study. Proceedings, 101st Annual Meeting of Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
  3. Ahmed, A.* and Islam, M.A. (2020, January). Effectiveness of Geosynthetics as Insulation to Freeze-Thaw: Field Instrumentation and Numerical Modeling, Proceedings, 99th Annual Meeting of Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.

Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings

  1. Gupta, A., Islam, M. A., & Alam, M. J. B. (2023). Numerical Evaluation of Slope Stability based on Temporal Variation of Hydraulic Conductivity. In 8th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils (UNSAT 2023), 382, 24003. EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202338224003
  2. Sakib, S., Gupta, N., Gupta, A., Islam, M.A.* & Islam, T. (2022). Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Anaerobic Bio-Digesters for Rural Areas in Developing Countries, Proceedings, 5th ISWA-YPG Online Conference, End of Business as Usual in Waste Management: The Role of Young Professionals, 24.
  3. Ahmed, A.*, Alam, M.J.B., Islam, M.A. and Hossain, M.S. (2021). Comparison of numerical modeling results from laboratory and field obtained unsaturated flow parameters. 3rd Pan-American Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/202133702008
  4. Abha, A. T.*, Islam, M. A., Hoque, E., & Shikder, F. H. (2020). Effect of variation of water level and geometry on the stability of the Padma riverbank slope for different soil properties, Proceedings, 5th International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD 2020), Khulna, Bangladesh.
  5. Elahi, T. E.*, Islam, M. A., & Islam, M. S. (2019). Effect of vegetation and nailing for prevention of landslides in Rangamati, Proceedings, International Conference on Disaster Risk Management (ICDRM-2019), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  6. Elahi, T. E.*, Islam, M. A., & Islam, M. S. (2018). Stability analysis of selected hill slopes of Rangamati, Proceedings, 4th International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ICACE-2018), Chattogram, Bangladesh.
  7. Islam, M.S.* and Islam, M.A. (2018). Reduction of landslide risk and water-logging using vegetation, International Conference on Civil and Environmental Engineering (ICCEE) 2018, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Vol. 65, 06003.
  8. Islam, T., Islam, M. A.*, Islam, M. S., Abedin, M. Z. (2017). Effect of Fine Content on Shear Strength Behavior of Sandy Soil, Proceedings, 14th Global Eng. & Tech. Conference, BIAM Foundation, 63 Eskaton, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  9. Chowdhury, M. E.*, Islam, M. A., Islam, M. S. (2017). Shahriar, M. S., Alam, T., Design, Operation and Performance Evaluation of a Portable Perforated Steel Tray Rainfall Simulator, Proceedings, 14th Global Eng. & Tech. Conference, BIAM Foundation, 63 Eskaton, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  10. Islam, M. A.*, Islam, M. S., Islam, T. (2017). Landslides in Chittagong Hill Tracts and Possible Measures, Proceedings, International Conference on Disaster Risk Mitigation, Dhaka, Bangladesh, September 23 – 24.
  11. Islam, M.S.*, Sarker, L., Islam, M.A., Islam, M.A., Karim, R. (2016). Consideration of soil properties for stability analyses of Padma and Jamuna river bank, Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering, CUET, Chittagong, Bangladesh, 21-23 December.
  12. Islam, M. A.*, Abedin, M. Z., Shahriar, A.R. (2016). Bottom plugging effect of open-ended displacement pipe pile in loose sandy soil, Proceedings of BUET-ANWAR ISPAT 1st Bangladesh Civil Engineering SUMMIT, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2016.
  13. Shahriar, A. R.*, Abedin, M. Z., Islam, M.A. (2016). Factors affecting thixotropic hardening of Bangladesh clays, Proceedings of BUET-ANWAR ISPAT 1st Bangladesh Civil Engineering SUMMIT, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  14. Hossen, B., Islam, M.A., Jadid, R.* (2015). Effect of Specimen Size on compressive Strength of Concrete, First International Conference on Advances in Civil Infrastructure and Construction Materials, MIST, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 14-15 December.