2025 Lindback Winner - Yusuf Mehta

Dr. Yusuf Mehta was born in Mumbai, India where he completed high school. He was always interested in designing dams. However, the competition in India is very high regarding college entrance exams.  Nevertheless, he was selected in Civil Engineering! He completed his Bachelors in Civil Engineering at the University of Mumbai in 1993. He received his MS at the University of Oklahoma in 1994. He then received his PhD in Civil Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1999. During his doctoral studies, he pivoted from structural engineering to pavement materials. The most rewarding part of conducting research in pavement materials is the potential to see its impact in the real world within a few years after the research is completed. Before joining Rowan University in 2001, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida.

In the past 23 years, he has been teaching a wide variety of courses in civil engineering. He started the Engineers Without Borders chapter in 2003, when there were only 20 or so student chapters in the nation. He was instrumental in the development and expansion of Rowan's doctoral program in Engineering. In 2015, he developed the Center for Research and Education in Advanced Transportation Engineering Systems (CREATES). He has received the Distinguished Civil Engineer Award from ASCE, ASCE-NJ Educator of the Year Award, Louis J. Pignataro Memorial Transportation Engineering Education Award, the ASEE Mid-Atlantic American Society of Engineering Education Section Outstanding Teaching Award, and Rowan University Faculty Research Achievement Award.

4/14/25