Research Group

David F. Muñoz, Ph.D.

I am a civil engineer interested in coastal hydrological processes including compound flood dynamics, wetland change, sea level rise, land subsidence, tropical cyclone (hurricane) events, and digital twin systems in the context of climate change and anthropogenic impacts.

I work with hybrid modeling methods and frameworks to conduct local to large-scale assessments. Such methods integrate:

1) Physics-informed models including coastal, hydrodynamic, hydraulic, and hydrologic models.

2) Statistical methods for uncertainty quantification, data assimilation, and sensitivity analysis.

3) Machine learning for pattern recognition, data fusion, and prediction tasks including shallow and deep learning architectures.

4) Big data management including remote sensing (satellite) and drone observations.

Prospective Under/Graduate Student

We are always looking for new members in our team. Please, send me an email with the title “Prospective Student” and a SHORT description of your research interests. Do not forget to attach your CV/Resume. If your academic background and research interests align with potential un/funded opportunities, I will reach out to you within a week. Thanks for your interest in joining the CoRAL Lab.

Samuel Daramola

Background: Marine Science and Tecnology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria (2012-2017); Coastal Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, P.R. China (2019-2022); Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Virginia, USA (2022-2026).

Research Interests: Coastal flooding; Deep learning; Remote sensing; Coastal morphology; UAV mapping.

Hobbies: Fine art drawing and playing basketball.

Fun fact: I love listening to very old songs.

Md. Shadman Sakib

Background: I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and completed my MSc in Civil Engineering in 2022. My master’s research focused on applying Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) to analyze the impact of storm surges on estuarine bridge systems. Currently, I am pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, where my research focuses on leveraging physics-informed and data-driven models to explore the dynamics of extreme events in coastal environments. This includes investigating compound flooding, coastal erosion, sea level rise, cascading hazards, and the impacts of climate change.

Research Interests: Compound flooding, Deep Learning, Remote Sensing

Hobbies: Playing soccer, cricket, and badminton, as well as building custom computers.

Fun Fact or Motto: “Stress doesn’t come from hard work. It primarily comes from not taking action on things within your control.” - Jeff Bezos. Therefore, I like to work as hard as I can, then savor the time I have left in the day to enjoy life, stress free!

Christopher Mansky

Chris joined the CoRAL lab to conduct a master thesis on “A Machine-Learning Based Approach to Predicting Waterborne Disease Outbreaks Caused by Hurricanes”. Currently, he is working at Dewberry, Fairfax VA.