Recent Events and Activities

New honors named for CEE's Lee

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

The Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa has established the Dr. David Lee Scholarship. Cooper Maniatis, a UI engineering student from Tinley Park, Illinois, has been selected as the first recipient. “The Dr. David Lee Scholarship was established to honor Dr. Lee’s longstanding contributions to civil and environmental engineering education, research, and innovation, as well as his leadership in advancing construction technologies that strengthen our transportation infrastructure,” stated Michael Kvach, executive vice president of the Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa, in announcing the first recipient. The Korean Transportation Association in America (KOTAA) has established the Dr. Hosin Lee Distinguished Best Presentation Award. Seung Jae Lieu of the Georgia Institute of Technology earned the first honor. The Korean-American Society of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineers (KSCEA) has established the Hosin Lee Young Professor Award, in recognition of Lee’s “exceptional contributions and enduring impact on our community.” The first award will be given in August. “We sincerely appreciate Dr. Lee’s generosity and vision,” stated Soolyeon Cho, KSCEA president. “His support will enhance the visibility and prestige of this award and motivate early-career faculty to strive for excellence and leadership in our field.” Lee, a native of South Korea, joined the College of Engineering in 1999 and is a professor of civil and environmental engineering. Lee is a faculty affiliate of the Iowa Technology Institute and also directs the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT). 

https://engineering.uiowa.edu/news-all/2026/01/new-honors-named-cees-lee

Hosin "David" Lee recognized for “exemplary leadership, visionary service, and profound impact”
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Lee poses with his award with a man on each side
Kyeong Ho Yang, chairman of the honors and awards committee, Hosin "David" Lee, and Jae Hyeon Ryu, president of KSEA, left to right, pose for a picture after Lee receives the distinguished service medal.

The Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) has awarded Hosin “David” Lee, a University of Iowa professor of civil and environmental engineering, with its 2025 Distinguished Service Membership Award, citing his “exemplary leadership, visionary service, and profound impact.”

Lee was honored at the 38th U.S.-Korea Conference (UKC), which occurred August 5 to 9 in Atlanta and was attended by over 1,000 people.

The association credited Lee, KSEA’s 40th president, for elevating the organization to “unprecedented heights" by expanding its reach and visibility and achieving its highest-ever budget of $2.7 million, expanding membership by 31%, and contributing over $600,000 to the reserve fund.

The award citation reads, in part, “A globally respected scholar in civil and environmental engineering, Dr. Lee has advanced sustainable construction technologies and infrastructure systems through pioneering research, editorial leadership, and keynote lectures on five continents."

Lee, who joined the College of Engineering in 1999, is a faculty affiliate of the Iowa Technology Institute and directs the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT).  

https://engineering.uiowa.edu/news-all/2026/01/new-honors-named-cees-lee

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Hosin “David” Lee, a civil and environmental engineering professor, has been invited as a keynote speaker at two premier international conferences in his research field, which focuses on improving sustainability of asphalt pavement.  The 8th International Conference on Bituminous Materials and Pavements is in Thessaloniki, Greece on June 12-14. There Lee will deliver a speech titled, “Cool Mix Asphalt: Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt.”  The 10th International Conference on Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Pavements is in Guimaraes, Portugal on July 24-26. Lee will present a talk titled, “Comprehensive Evaluation of Asphalt Pavement Recycling Strategies.” Lee joined the College of Engineering in 1999 and directs the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT). He is also a faculty affiliate of the Iowa Technology Institute. 

Thursday, November 11, 2021
University of Iowa Technology Institute

The Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa (APAI) has honored a University of Iowa Technology Institute (ITI) faculty affiliate and student for their research into a cost-effective and eco-friendly pavement mix.

Hosin “David” Lee, a UI professor of civil and environmental engineering, was recognized with the APAI Innovation in Construction Award for his contributions to the successful construction of high reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) mixes with rejuvenators. Byungkyu Moon, a UI graduate student who worked on this research project, received an APAI scholarship in 2020. “The research by Dr. Lee and others on rejuvenators is extremely important to determine if higher percentages of RAP can be allowed in mix designs, which ultimately will improve the sustainability of asphalt pavements and be a benefit to the driving public,” said Scott Dockstader, executive vice president of APAI. The APAI Innovation in Construction Award is an annual award that honors contractors, agencies, and higher education institutions for creating and advancing cutting edge technologies and methods to build innovative hot mix asphalt pavements. The APAI Executive Committee provided the Innovation in Construction Award in recognition of dedicated efforts of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and Heartland Asphalt, Inc., who contributed to the successful construction of high RAP mixes with rejuvenators. Increasing the RAP contents in pavement mixes is more environmentally friendly, as it requires less demand for new materials to be added into the mix. Iowa Department of Transportation specifications allow limited use of RAP in hot mix asphalt (HMA) paving mixtures.  “Mixes with high percentages of RAP are less ductile and are more prone to cracking than traditional pavement,” said Lee, who directs the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT) at ITI. “Adding innovative rejuvenators decreases the drawbacks to high RAP mixes and allows the pavement to withstand more stresses without cracking.” The major advantage of RAP is the financial savings that it can potentially achieve over conventional HMA by eliminating costs associated with transporting, processing, and stockpiling asphalt binder and aggregates. RAP contains valuable bituminous material and aggregates that, when allowed in mixes, can greatly reduce the price of building new pavements.

Lee honored with 'Outstanding Contribution' Award's at U.S.-Korea(UKC) sustainability conference

December 15, 2020

Hosin "David" Lee, directs the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT) at the Iowa Technology Institute. He helps member institutes and companies develop and implement their innovative new construction technologies in practice by performing objective laboratory testing and field evaluation. Recently he awards "Outstanding Contribution" by Minister Kiyoung Choi of the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of Korea and President Soolyeon Cho of Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA). Stated "Dr. Lee has a distinguished academic career and his contributions in the transportation engineering field are well recognized nationally and internationally". Lee's award acceptance ceremony was presented at the conference on Dec. 15, 2020. The award acceptance ceremony video clip is available on: Youtube, more information can be found on the Iowa Technology Institute website: Iowa Technology Institute, and available on the journal of Safetoday website (in Korean): Safetytoday.

 

 

 

 MOU between Seoul Institute of Technology (SIT) and University of Iowa 

August 16, 2019  

President Insuk Koh of Seoul Institute of Technology (SIT) visited University of Iowa to sign an MOU with Associate Provost and Dean of Headquarters International Programs Downing A. Thomas. This MOU lays out the foundation for collaborations between University of Iowa and SIT through the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT) at the University of Iowa. More Information can be found on the International Program News: News Webpage

     

 International Conference on Smart Cities (2019 ICSC) 

July 17-19, 2019  

The 2019 International Conference on Smart Cities (2019 ICSC) was chaired by Dr. David Lee, who is the President of International Society for Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Transportation Infrastructures (iSMARTi), on July 17- 19, in Seoul, Korea. The conference was very successful with over 250 people from over 20 centuries.  Brian Moon and David Hu, graduate research assistants of LACT,  gave presentations and Brian Shanahan, an undergraduate research assistant of LACT, received the best poster award runner-up award. More Information can be found on the conference website: http://icsc2019.org/ Please watch the short clip on Youtube: Vedio Clip

 

 

LACT's Research Assistant Moon Receives a Best Presentation Award at the AISIM14 

July 16, 2018  

Byungkyu Moon, Ph. D. student of Civil and Research Assistant of LACT received the Best Presentation Award on the pavement design sensitivity analysis software at the 14th Annual Inter-University Symposium on Infrastructure Manegement (AISIM14) at University of Delaware. He was also invited to give a presentation at TRB 2019.      

 

 

Workshop on How to Make Korea a Safer Place at National Assembly of Korea along with Congressman Sang-Min Lee

 July 18, 2017

 

Image may contain: 8 people, people smiling, people standing and suit

 Awardees at MAIREINFRA1

July 19 - 21, 2017

 The following individuals were recognized during the MAIREINFRA conference for their legacy worldwide in transportation, education and research significantly contributing to the socioeconomic development in developed and developing countries, worthwhile emulating for present and future generation of transportation professionals as follows:

  • Life Time Achievement Award: Waheed Uddin, Professor, University of Mississippi, USA (second from the right)​

 

  • Achievement Award: ​
1. Athanasios Nikolaides, Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (second from the left)
2. Rita Moura Fortes, Professor, Anhembi Morumbi University, Brazil (third from the left)
3. Hosin “David” Lee, Professor, University of Iowa, USA (third from the right)
 

 Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Contructed Infrastructure Facilities (MAIREINFRA1) 

July 19 - 21, 2017 

iSMARTi organized the First International Conference on Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities (MAIREINFRA1) on July 19- 21, in Seoul, Korea. The conference was very successful with over 250 people from 21 countries registered for the conference. More Information can be found on the conference website: http://maireinfra.org/       

 

 

Prof.Hosin "David" Lee on YonHap TV News 

July 19 - 21, 2017  

Prof. Hosin “David” Lee, the president of iSMARTi talks about the importance of the maintenance and rehabilitation of contructred infrastructure facilities on Yonhap News. The video clip can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otWpFjRlW6o      

 

 

 

  MOU between Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) and University of Iowa

June 10, 2016 

President Taisik Lee of Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) visited university of Iowa to sign an MOU with President Bruce Harreld. This MOU lays out the foundation for collaborations between University of Iowa and KICT through the Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT) at the University of Iowa.

 

 

LACT's Research Assistant Kim Receives a Scholarship from the APAI

December 5, 2015

Haena Kim, Master's student of Civil and Research Assistant of LACT received a scholarship from Executive Vice President Bill Rosener of Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa (APAI) at the APAI annual convention in Des Moines, Iowa. Congratulations Haena!

 

 

 

 

Hawkeye UHPC Bridge Opening Ceremony

November 10, 2015

Hawkeye UHPC Bridge was officially opened to public on November 10, 2015. This "Hawkeye UHPC Bridge" was possible through collaborations among Buchanan county, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) and Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT) at the University of Iowa.  More information

 

 

 

President and R&D Director of Namheung Chemical visit LACT

April 2 - 3, 2015

President, Mr. Jeong-Kyu Kim and R&D director of Namheung (NH) Chemical visited Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT) from April 2 to 3, 2015.

LACT presented future plans for laboratory testings on Namheung's Warm Mix Asphalt Additive, ENOVA. 

 

 

Photo: Matt Gazdziak, Ali Mokhtari, Mr.Jeong-Kyu Kim, Dr. David "Hosin" Lee, Ashkan Bozorgzad, Hannah Kim

 

Two Congressmen from Korea visit the University of Iowa 

March 11 - 13, 2015  

Two Congressmen from Korea, Honorable.Jong-Kul Lee and Honorable. Won-Sik Choi visited University of Iowa from March 11 to 13, 2015. 

LACT organized meetings with Sally Mason,the President of the university, Bill Rosener ,Vice President of APAI, Karim Abdul-Malek, Director of Center for Computer Aided Design (CCAD) and CFO/VP from CJ Palnt at Fort Dodge, Iowa and university students to develop future international relationship with Korea for their advanced technology. More information

 

Photo: Honorable.Won-Sik Choi and Honorable.Jong-Kul Lee

 

 Exhibition Booth at 2015 Greater Iowa Asphalt Conference in Des Moines, Iowa

March 5 - 6, 2015 

Laboratory for Advanced Construction Technology (LACT) presented our new technology and research projects regarding warm mix asphalt, recycled asphalt pavements and crumb rubber asphalt at the Greater Iowa Asphalt Conference organized by Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa(APAI).  

 

 

 

Photo: Hannah Kim, Ali Mokhtari, Ashkan Bozorgzad, Dr.Serji Amirkanian, Dr.David "Hosin" Lee