Dr. Michael C. Brown, a research scientist at the Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) and a three-time graduate of Virginia Tech’s Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is among this year’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award winners.



The Research Council, located in Charlottesville, is the research division of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and is a partnership of VDOT and the University of Virginia. In addition to his research on innovative structures and bridges, Dr. Brown also manages the Smart Road program for VDOT and VTRC and is the Research Council’s Information Technology manager. Dr. Brown attributes his success to the support of his colleagues, and believes personal advancement is secondary to the success of an organization. He therefore strives to ensure that his contributions ultimately add value to VDOT and the Commonwealth.



Before going to college, he knew, despite his aptitude for English over math and science, that he wanted to be an engineer, knowing he’d never lack for employment. After receiving the Marshall Hahn Engineering Scholarship to attend Virginia Tech, Dr. Brown earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering in December 1991. Upon graduation, he joined Law Engineering and Environmental Services in Chantilly, Va., as a project engineer.



While at Law Engineering, he conducted structural and building envelope evaluations and condition assessments and designed structural and waterproof rehabilitation projects. For his work, Law Engineering awarded Dr. Brown the firm’s Employee of the Year award in 1994. From this experience, he became a Professional Engineer in Virginia in 1998.



During this time, Dr. Brown called one of his former professors, Dr. Richard E. Weyers, in search of candidates for positions he had available at Law Engineering. Weyers in turn said he was seeking graduate students for National Science Foundation Fellowships he had available and to inform others about the opportunity. Dr. Brown pondered his former mentor’s words and decided he wanted to seize the chance to further his education.



Upon application, Dr. Brown received a NSF Graduate Research Traineeship in Civil Infrastructure Systems from 1997 to 2001, which supported obtaining his master’s and doctorate. In 1998, while working on his degrees, he served the College of Engineering as a graduate lecturer. From this experience, he developed his enduring desire to teach.



After receiving his doctorate, he joined the Virginia Transportation Research Council, located on the grounds of U.Va. At VTRC, Dr. Brown continues to conduct and oversee research, technical assistance and technology transfer activities regarding design, maintenance, evaluation, repair and rehabilitation of bridges and other transportation structures.



In 2003, he received the Research Council’s Horizon Award for Outstanding Productivity and Achievement. In 2004, Dr. Brown added two new titles to his resume – program manager for both VDOT’s Smart Road and the Mid-Atlantic University Transportation Centers (MAUTC). As Smart Road program manager, he is VDOT’s liaison to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), provides administrative, financial and programmatic oversight to the program and ensures compliance with the agreement between the Research Council and VTTI.



Serving as the Research Council’s MAUTC program manager until 2006, he provided program oversight for VDOT’s matching funds to the MAUTC programs at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. Dr. Brown sees the MAUTC program as a valuable tool to train future transportation professionals at both the undergraduate and graduate level.



In 2006, Dr. Brown became the Research Council’s Information Technology manager. (He still oversees the Smart Road.) As IT manager, he coordinates the technology needs for the Research Council and VDOT’s Knowledge Management office, also in the same building with VTRC. He also is the primary liaison with the Virginia Information Technology Ad-ministration (VITA) and manages the programming for the Research Council’s web site.



Since 2003, he has served as an adjunct lecturer in U.Va.’s School of Engineering. In 2005, Dr. Brown became one of a group of appointed visiting assistant professors in a new Graduate Pavements Program that he and his Research Council colleagues formed at U.Va.



His relationship with the civil and environmental engineering department at Virginia Tech has never ceased as he continues to work with faculty on research projects funded by VTRC, the FHWA’s Innovative Bridge Research and Construction Program, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program.



His professional memberships include the American Concrete Institute, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, and the Transportation Research Board (TRB). He currently chairs ACI’s Concrete Bridge Construction, Maintenance and Repair committee and is a member of the Corrosion and Service Life committees. He is also a member of TRB’s Corrosion and Structures Maintenance committees.



Dr. Brown lives in Earlysville, Va., with his wife Julie, son Alex, and daughter Meghan.