Robin Chowdhury
Robin Chowdhury鈥檚 uncle encouraged him to pursue civil engineering because in their hometown of Cox鈥檚 Bazar, Bangladesh, the government has aimed to double the number of foreign tourists by the year 2021 鈥� which would lead to massive infrastructure development. It鈥檚 a lofty goal, but for a country with the longest beach in the world looking to grow its economy, increasing tourism seems the obvious choice.
But now the country has another challenge on its hands 鈥� an influx of refugees crossing Bangladesh鈥檚 southeastern border, fleeing religious violence in Myanmar.
For the increase in population to be managed properly, and for tourism to flourish, the country needs a quality road network, along with sustainable airstrips, to get people where they want to go 鈥� and supplies where they need to be.
鈥淭he government of Bangladesh realized that if we develop that system, we can be a leader in Southeast Asia,鈥� Chowdhury said.
With his eye toward the future, Chowdhury came to the 果冻传媒麻豆社 in January 2017 to study pavement engineering under Assistant Professor Emad Kassem in the College of Engineering.
The master鈥檚 student graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 in civil engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in the capital city, Dhaka, in 2013. He then went to work for a Bangladeshi company that focuses on infrastructure and development projects. There he was a junior material engineer, designing the mix and assuring the quality of materials used for paving a new bridge being built 鈥� the 11th longest in the world.
Chowdhury wanted to advance his skillset, so he looked toward master鈥檚 programs in the U.S. Field work was an important component of his studies, and the applicability of Kassem鈥檚 research seemed invaluable.
Now Chowdhury is responsible for assessing the ability of the unbound material in pavement, known as aggregate to recover from deformation after traffic passes over it.
After receiving his master鈥檚 degree from U of I in fall 2018, Chowdhury plans to begin a doctoral program. Then he鈥檒l return to Bangladesh to implement what he鈥檚 learned.
As his country expands its infrastructure to meet its development goal, Chowdhury said that it will need to widen highways from the capital city of Dhaka to the tourism destinations in the southeast, along the Bay of Bengal.
鈥淭he Bangladeshi government is working to develop the infrastructure,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have only a two-lane highway to connect the capital city to Cox鈥檚 Bazar, which is not adequate enough to transport all those tourists. Now they鈥檙e planning to add two more lanes to make it four.鈥�
In order for the new road construction to be sustainable, however, Chowdhury said improvements have to be made in how pavement is engineered. He hopes that鈥檚 where he comes in, working for a Bangladeshi construction company.
鈥淢y entire life, my dream was to be an engineer,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was it. I knew that whenever you become an engineer, you will be welcomed and appreciated by any group of people. As we鈥檙e developing, we need a good transportation system to get our GDP where we want it, trying to become an economically sustainable country. We have to keep up with the pace of construction improvement.鈥�
Article by Kate Keenan, College of Art and Architecture
Published in Spring 2018
