Cosentino, Paul
Paul Cosentino
Professor | College of Engineering and Science - Mechanical and Civil Engineering
2019 to 2024 Edward H Kalajian Professor
Contact Information
Expertise
Personal Overview
Dr. Cosentino has 40 years of research, teaching, and consulting experience. This background has allowed him to teach 18 courses, from the freshman to graduate levels. He strives to teach FUNdamentals at every level, whether it be freshman or graduate level. His wide breadth of knowledge also enabled him to serve as the Principal Investigator on $5 million in funded research for 26 state and nationally funded projects. He has worked with 14 faculty in civil, mechanical, systems, computer, and electrical engineering plus environmental science. He has authored over 50 journal papers and reports. His researd has truly paid off, with a $10 million dollar test road constructed on SR 301 in Stark Fl and geotechicnal consultants around the US using his instrumetned testing eqipment to save their clients hundreds of thousands of dollars.
His research expertise within the geotechnical/highway engineering field is vast. It includes the sustainable reuse of waste materials, instrumentation, and deep foundation works. He, along with a team of colleagues, has developed reuse applications for a wide range of waste materials; including waste glass, waste tires, waste-to-energy ash, reclaimed asphalt, and reclaimed concrete pavements. The instrumentation work has dramatically improved the use of the pressuremeter throughout the country. He also developed fiber optic sensors for measuring pressures in soils, chloride content, and traffic classification systems. Recently, he has also been heavily involved with research in the deep foundation area, heading studies on excessive pile-driving rebound that helped FDOT avoid the problem and clearly identify the Florida soils that produce the phenomenon.
Dr. Cosentino has also been heavily involved in the American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter, having served as the faculty advisor for over 30 years. During this time Florida Tech won the National Concrete Canoe Competition (the only private university to ever accomplish this feat) hosted the event twice, qualified for Nationals eight times, and established an endowment for the student chapter in honor of our late Alumni Eric Primavera which you can access through this link: https://www.fit.edu/giving/what-to-support/asce-student-chapter/
Educational Background
- Doctor of Philosophy, Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, August 1987
- Master of Science, Civil Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, December 1982
- Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, April 1978
Professional Experience
Dr. Cosentino has a unique combination of industrial and academic experience, which lends real-world knowledge to his classroom teaching. He has worked on numerous geotechnical and geo-environmental consulting projects; reviewed papers and proposals for national research organizations and is a registered Professional Engineer in Florida. He is a member of ASCEs Airfield Pavements Committee, the Transportation Research Board's Soil and Rock Instrumentation Committee and TRBs University Representative. He has served as a lecturer for short courses on landfill design, and pavement design with shallow and deep foundations.
Current Courses
- CVE 1000 Introduction to Civil Engineering
- CVE 4000 Engineering Economics
- CVE 4060 Transportation Engineering
- CVE 4020 and 5025 Foundation Design
- CVE 5020 Geotechnical Engineering
- CVE 5061 Pavement Design
Selected Publications
- Cosentino P.J. and Misilo III Thaddeus J. Comparing Engineering Properties of Small Diameter Pressuremeter Tests to Clegg Impact Hammer Tests in Cemented Coquina Base and Sandy Subgrades, ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal, Paper GTJ 2019-0421. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20190421.
- Cosentino P.J., and Horhota, David J., (Under Second Review June 2020). How Soils Can Help Predict High Rebound of Prestressed Concrete Displacement Piles, Journal of Deep Foundations Institute Manuscript Number DFI-206.
- Shaban, A. M., and Cosentino, P. J., (2017) “Development of the Miniaturized Pressuremeter Test to Evaluate Unbound Pavement Layers” Journal of Testing and Evaluation, ASTM Vol 45 Issue 2.
- Shaban, A. M., and Cosentino, P. J., (2017) “Characterizing Structural Performance of Unbound Pavement Materials Using Miniaturized Pressuremeter and California Bearing Ratio Tests” Journal of Testing and Evaluation, ASTM Vol 45, Issue 3 JTE20150371.
- Shaban, A. M. and Cosentino, P. J., (2016) “Comparative Analyses of Granular Pavement Moduli Measured from Light Weight Deflectometer and Miniaturized Pressuremeter Tests” accepted for publication in Transportation Research Board Journal.
- Shaban, A. M. and Cosentino, P. J., (2016) “Modeling Long-Term Deformation Behavior of Unbound Pavement Layers Using the Single Stage Pressuremeter Creep Test” Geotechnical Testing Journal, ASTM Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 813-826.
- Jarushi F., Cosentino, P. J, Kalajian, E., and Dekhn H., (2015) CPT Pore Water Pressure Correlations with PDA to Identify Pile Drivability Problem”, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Environmental, Ecological, Geological and Geophysical Engineering Vol:9 No:2.
- Jarushi F., S. AlKaabim, and Cosentino, P. J, (2015) “A New Correlation between SPT and CPT for Various Soils”, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Environmental, Ecological, Geological and Geophysical Engineering Vol:9 No:2. (3 Citations)
- Jarushi F., Cosentino, P. J, and Kalajian E. H., (2013) “Piezocone Penetration Testing in Florida High Pile Rebound Soils” Deep Foundation Institute Journal Vol 7 Issue 2 pp. 28-45.
- Jarushi F., Cosentino, P. J, and Kalajian E. H., (2013) “Using Fines Content and Uncorrected SPT Blow Counts of Soils to Predict High Pile Rebound” Journal of the Transportation Research Board 13-2880. (3 Citations)
- Jarushi F., Cosentino, P. J, and Kalajian E. H., (2013) “Prediction of High Pile Rebound with Fines Content and Uncorrected Blow Counts from Standard Penetration Tests” Journal of the Transportation Research Board 13-2880. (3 Citations)
- Jarushi F., Cosentino, P. J, and Kalajian E. H., (2013) “Prediction of High Pile Rebound with Fines Content and Uncorrected Standard Penetration Blow Counts” Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2363 Soil Mechanics, pp., 47-55.
- Cosentino, P. J, Bleakley, A. M., Sajjadi, A., and., Petersen A. J., (2013) “Evaluating the Laboratory Compaction Techniques of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement” Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2335 Geomaterials, pp., 89-98.
- Bleakley A. M., and Cosentino, P. J, (2013) “Improving the Properties of RAP for Roadway Base Applications through Blending and Chemical Stabilization” Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2335 Geomaterials, pp., 20-28.
Articles Submitted To Refereed Journals Or Books
- Cosentino P.J., and Misilo III Thaddeus J. (Submitted October 2019). “Comparing Engineering Properties of Small Diameter Pressuremeter Tests to Clegg Impact Hammer Tests in Cemented Coquina Base and Sandy Subgrades" , ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal (In Press).
- Dekhn H., Kalajian E.H., Cosentino P.J. Jarushi F., (Submitted August 2019) “Prediction of Pile Rebound Using CPT based Soil Behavior Type (SBT) Charts, Transportation Research Record, Washington D.C.
- Cosentino P.J., and Horhota, David J., (Submitted June 2019). “Behavior of Soils Producing High Rebound During Driving of Displacement Piles,” Journal of Deep Foundations Institute Manuscript Number DFI-206.
Recognition & Awards
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2024 Student Life Hall of Fame Advisor Award
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2019 Edward H. Kalajian Endowed Professorship
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2017-2018 Student Life Advisor of the Year
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1999 Faculty Excellence Award Service
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1999 Outstanding Service for Division of Engineering Science
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1995 Outstanding Research Contribution Award College of Engineering
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Registered Professional Engineer #46474 Florida
Research
Dr. Cosentino's research expertise within the geotechnical/highway engineering field is vast. It includes the reuse of waste materials, instrumentation, artificial intelligence, and deep foundation works. He, along with a team of colleagues, has developed reuse applications for a wide range of waste materials; including waste glass, waste tires, waste-to-energy ash, reclaimed asphalt, and reclaimed concrete pavements. The instrumentation work has dramatically improved the use of the pressuremeter throughout the country. He also developed fiber optic sensors for measuring pressures in soils, chloride content, and traffic classification systems. He has also been heavily involved with research in the deep foundation area, heading studies on pile rebound that helped FDOT avoid the problem and identify the Florida soils that produce the phenomenon. He is now working on a small diameter pressuremeter called the SSMini for compaction quality control.
Dr. Cosentino's research interests include:
- Developing the SSMini Pressuremeter for Compaction Quality Control [U.S. Patent Application No.: 18/613,944]
- Evaluating the Dynamic Response of Piles The Rebound Driven in Florida Fine Silty Sands
- Automating the PENCEL Pressuremeter for Predicting the Soil Response to Lateral Loads
- Evaluating the Variability and Creep Characteristics of Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP)
- Developing Re-use Applications and Economic Benefits for Waste Concrete
- Developing Re-Use Applications and Improving the Economic Benefits of Florida’s Waste Materials
- Developing Geotechnical Applications for the Fiber Optic Pore Water Pressure Sensor
- Developing Specifications for Using Recycled Asphalt Pavement as Base, Sub-base or General Fill Materials
His Full Resume is available at: