Yang Lu

Associate Professor

Department: Civil Engineering
Office Phone: (208) 426-3783
E-mail: yanglufrank@boisestate.edu
Office: ERB 4143
Personal Webpage:
Yang Lu’s Civil Engineering Profile   Yang Lu’s Personal Webpage

• Data science-enabled resilient system modeling
• Critical infrastructure network interdependency quantification
• Emergency preparedness
• Natural disaster risk analysis

Dr. Yang Lu (P.E.) is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Boise State University. Prior to joining Boise State, he was an ARRA Fellow Research Associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he developed a micromechanics-based mechanistic approach to predicting infrastructure materials performance under climate change-induced impacts. He obtained his M.S. in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. in Transportation Infrastructure Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Dr. Lu’s research areas include natural disaster risk analysis, emergency preparedness, quantification of critical infrastructure network interdependencies, and the application of data science in modeling resilient systems. His recent publication in Nature Scientific Report, which discusses innovative methodologies for assessing multi-hazard risks in socially vulnerable communities, has gained wide attention in community resilience society. He has also led a project on multi-hazard risk assessment, contributing to the development of more robust preparedness strategies in a full-scale community.
Dr. Lu’s current projects involve developing AI-driven models for predicting infrastructure failures in extreme weather events and collaborating with local governments on improving emergency response protocols. These initiatives underscore his commitment to integrating advanced data analytics into practical, real-world applications. Dr. Lu aims to develop more nuanced models of infrastructure resilience that can inform national policy on disaster preparedness and mitigation. The broader impact includes enhancing community safety, reducing economic losses due to disasters, and contributing to the global body of knowledge in this field. He is the recipient of the prestigious NIST outstanding associate award. He has published 50+ peer reviewed journal papers and 20+ peer reviewed conference proceedings.

Dr. Lu is affiliated with a number of professional organizations, including ASCE, ACI, ICE, and TRB, where he serves on 9 technical committees and as an active reviewer for 20+ journals. He also serves as an editorial board member for three journals.

• Local governments and stakeholders

Dr. Lu’s impetus for seeking collaboration is to synergize expertise in data science with practical insights from fields like climate change-induced hazard preparedness, thereby creating a multidisciplinary approach to disaster resilience from local to community scale. He is enthusiastic about discussing potential collaborative ventures and exploring how our combined expertise can pave the way for groundbreaking research. Areas for Potential Collaboration:

1. Joint Data Collection and Analysis: Working with partners to gather and analyze large-scale data sets on infrastructure performance under various stress conditions.

2. Model Development and Validation: Collaborating on the development of sophisticated simulation models, validated through shared expertise and diverse datasets.

3. Grant Applications: Jointly applying for research grants, especially those focused on interdisciplinary approaches to disaster resilience.

4. Publication and Knowledge Dissemination: Co-authoring research papers and organizing academic symposia to disseminate findings and best practices.

• CE 340
• CE440/540
• CE442/542
• CE497/597 Civil Infrastructure Condition Assessment
• CE350
• CE-EC 100-002

• Doctoral student, Master’s student, and Undergraduate