Dr. Ziehl oversees and maintains an active research program in the areas of nondestructive evaluation, structural health monitoring, in-situ evaluation, repair and strengthening, composite materials, and prestressed/reinforced concrete structures. His research team is carrying out several projects funded by both government and private sources. These include: 1) Damage Identification Algorithms for Composite Structures; 2) Characterization of Nanocomposite Concrete; 3) Evaluation Criteria for In-situ Load Testing; 4) Investigation of Spliced Concrete Pile Connections; 5) Characterization and Development of Guidelines for Lightweight Self-Consolidating Concrete Bridge Girders; and 6) Repair of Cracked Prestressed Girders. Several new projects will be starting in the near future.

Professor Ziehl works closely with three PhD students (Shawn Carey, Francisco Barrios and Nicholas Jack), four MS students [David Connor, Joel Fuziol, Jeremy Godwin, and Alex Colmorgan (co-advised)] and three undergraduate students. Two PhD candidates recently graduated. Dr. Yizhuo Chen defended his PhD in May 2007 and Dr. Zhiwei Liu defended his PhD in August 2007. Both joined Burns and Roe and are working in design and analysis with an emphasis on nuclear structures. Dr. Ziehl will have two to three openings in his group for PhD students with an interest in prestressed concrete analysis and design, nanotechnology with emphasis on cement-based materials, and development of damage identification algorithms.