Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: (215)204-0504
nkhoury@temple.edu

Faculty Profile

Naji Khoury joined Temple University in September 2008 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. degree and M.S. degree from the University of Oklahoma and received his B.E from the Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon. Dr. Khoury is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society for Engineering Education and United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research.

Dr. Khoury has extensive experience, skills and credentials as a researcher particularly in the area of the potential use of byproducts and waste materials in pavement and geotechnical engineering applications. During the last ten years, Dr. Khoury has been working on developing novel approaches and patentable products for sustainable infrastructure applications with ecological and economic benefits to our society. His work has been extensively published in prestigious national and international journals, including Journal of the Transportation Research Board, ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering and ASTM Journal of Testing and Evaluation.

Dr. Khoury is also studying the cyclic and static behavior of geo-materials that are partially saturated. His recent publications include the development of innovative laboratory procedures and analytical models to assess moisture hysteresis on the resilient modulus of unsaturated subgrade soils. He is currently collaborating with faculty from the University of Oklahoma on a research study funded by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Oklahoma Aggregates Association to assess the performance of newly aggregate base designs which will build durable and long-lasting pavements in our nation.

During his academic career, Dr. Khoury has published over 30 academic papers. Not only are these publications and his extensive involvement in research indicative of his outstanding contributions, but Dr. Khoury is also a peer reviewer for the Journal of the Transportation Research Board and a member of the editorial reviewer board of Scientific Journals International.

Degrees

• Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 2005.
• M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 2001.
• B.E., Civil Engineering, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon, 1999.

Research Interests

• Characterization of byproducts and waste materials for pavement and geotechnical engineering applications.
• Use of innovative materials, i.e., PlastiSoilTM, in infrastructure applications.
• Cyclic behavior of geo-materials (partially saturated) for geotechnical and pavement applications.
• Durability of cementitiously stabilized materials.
• Analytical techniques (X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy) to characterize geo-materials at a micro scale.
• Constitutive and analytical modeling of geo-materials.
• Pavement performance using non-destructive techniques (falling weight deflectometer and seismic modulus, etc.)

Selected Publications

• Zaman, M.M., Khoury, N.N. and Solanki, P. ” Finite Element Modeling of Cementitiously Stabilized Un-notched Beams Using a Smeared Fracture Approach,” ASCE International Journal of Geomechanics, in press.
• Khoury, N.N. and Zaman, M.M. “Influences of Various Cementitious Agents on the Performance of Stabilized Aggregate Base Subjected to Wet-Dry Cycles,” International Journal of Pavement Engineering, Vol. 8, Issue 4, 2007, pp. 265-276.
• Khoury, N.N, and Zaman, M. “Durability Effect on Flexural Behavior of Cementitiously Stabilized Limestone Aggregate,” ASTM Journal of Testing and Evaluation, Vol. 34, No.3, 2006, pp. 167-175.
• Khoury, N.N, and Zaman, M. “Correlation Among Resilient Modulus, Moisture Variation, and Soil Suction for Subgrade Soils,” Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Geology and Properties of Earth Materials, No. 1874, 2004, pp. 99-107.
• Khoury, N., Khoury, C., and Abousleiman, Y. “Soil Fused with Recycled Plastic Bottles for Various Geo-Engineering Applications,” Proceedings of the GeoCongress 2008, March 9-12, 2008, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Presentation made by Khoury, March 9-12, 2008, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
• Solanki, P., Khoury, N. and Zaman, M.M. “Experimental Analysis and Statistical Modeling of Cementitiously Stabilized Subgrade Soils,” Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers CD-ROM, Paper No. 08-2474, 2008, 29 pages Presentation made by Khoury, January 13-17, 2008, Washington, D.C., USA.
• Zaman, M. and Khoury, N., “Effect of Soil Suction and Moisture Content on Resilient Modulus of Subgrade Soils in Oklahoma,” Technical Report, Item 2167, ORA 125-6662, Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, February 2007.
• Khoury, N.N. and Zaman, M., “Permeability and Resilient Modulus of Different Aggregate Bases Commonly Used in Oklahoma,” Final Report, HWY04-10-OTC # 3, Oklahoma Transportation Center, Edmond, Oklahoma, November 2006.
• Navaratnarajah, S., Zaman, M. and Khoury, N.N., “Resilient Modulus of Asphalt Concrete and its Correlation with APA Rut,” Final Report, Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, August 2006.

Projects

• “Innovative Use of Plastic Waste for Road Construction,” (P.I.: N. Khoury, Co-PI.: R. Brooks). Submitted to the NCHRP IDEA program. (2-year project; Jan. 2009- Dec. 2010).
• “Tube Suction Test for Evaluating Durability of Cementitiously Stabilized Soils,” (P.I.: M. Zaman, Co-PI.: N. Khoury, and Co-P.I.: P. Solanki). Funded by the Oklahoma Transportation Center (2-year project; Oct. 2008 – Sept. 2010).
• “Stability and Permeability of Proposed Aggregate Bases in Oklahoma,” (P.I.: N. Khoury, Co-P.I.: M. Zaman). Funded by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Oklahoma Aggregates Association) (3-year project; Oct. 2006 – Sept. 2009).

Present Teaching (Fall 2008)

• CE 3331 Soil Mechanics