About Me
I’m Mohamad Kazma, a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University, where I also completed my PhD in Civil Engineering in 2026. I received my B.E. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Notre Dame University-Louaize, Lebanon, in 2019, and my M.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2024. My research develops scalable, control-theoretic frameworks for monitoring and informing decisions about built and natural infrastructure networks under partial sensing, uncertainty, and physical constraints.
I completed my PhD in August 2026 under the supervision of Dr. Ahmad F. Taha in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University. My dissertation, Advances in Observability for Nonlinear Networks: Theory and Application, addresses sensor allocation, observability quantification, stability analysis, network partitioning, and probabilistic node selection for nonlinear and differential-algebraic systems, with validations on power grids, water distribution networks, and combustion reaction networks. A detailed overview of my research themes and applications is available on the Research page.
Current Position
Vanderbilt University, Postdoctoral Scholar — Aug. 2026 – Present
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Nashville, TN
Dissertation
Advances in Observability for Nonlinear Networks: Theory and Application — Defense passed May 12, 2026
Advisor: Dr. Ahmad F. Taha (Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
Committee: Dr. Ahmad F. Taha (Chair), Dr. Thomas Beckers, Dr. Sankaran Mahadevan, Dr. Daniel Work
Education
Vanderbilt University
PhD, Civil Engineering — Jan. 2022 – Aug. 2026
MSc, Civil Engineering — Jan. 2022 – Dec. 2024
Notre Dame University-Louaize
BEng, Civil and Environmental Engineering — Jan. 2015 – May 2019
Contact
JH261, 2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, TN
Research Interests
My research is at the intersection of control and dynamical systems theory, combinatorial and submodular optimization, with applications to large-scale built and natural infrastructure networks. Topics of interest include: (i) observability, controllability, and safety (control barrier functions) for nonlinear and differential-algebraic systems (representing most real-world systems); (ii) sensor and actuator allocation in networked systems; (iii) uncertainty quantification and propagation in large-scale infrastructure networks; (iv) submodular and combinatorial optimization for monitoring and control; (v) scalable network partitioning and clustering; and (vi) probabilistic node selection.
Infrastructure application areas include power grids (transmission and renewable-integrated networks), drinking water distribution networks (quality and hydraulic dynamics), coupled hydrologic and hydrodynamic systems (overland flow and infiltration in watersheds), and energy balance models for climate.
Teaching
Vanderbilt University
CE 3300: Risk, Reliability, and Resilience Engineering (SP2025)
Instructor: Dr. Hiba Baroud — Taught 6 of 12 modules on probability and statistical inference using R.CE 6380-01: Applied Machine Learning (SP2024)
Instructor: Dr. Sankaran Mahadevan — Covered modern ML methods with Python for science and engineering.
Notre Dame University-Louaize
- Drilling & Production Engineering Lab, PEN 472 (FA2021)
- Environmental Engineering Lab, CEN 365 (SP2020 – SP2021)
Awards & Certifications
- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®), Expired July 2024
- Selected for the 2020 IP Valorization Grants Program at Berytech — Innovation Voucher ($25,000)
- Co-recipient, ELCIM–IRI Center of Innovation and Technology Innovation Voucher ($6,000) for project “Concrete Masonry Units Enhanced with Phase Changing Materials”
- 2nd place team, ASCE 2019 Popsicle Bridge Competition (Lebanon)
Mentoring
Summer 2026 — Clark Scholars Program, Vanderbilt University
- Sarmad A. Salman — Undergraduate, Electrical Engineering. Project on transportation networks.
- Yantak Chu — Undergraduate, Civil Engineering. Project on water distribution networks.
- Mohammad Habib — Undergraduate, Civil Engineering. Project on water distribution networks.
Summer 2025
- Sparsh Amarnani — M.S. student, Computer Science, Vanderbilt University. Project on zoning of water distribution networks for water quality control.
Invited Talks
- Scalable Control Engineering for Built and Natural Infrastructure Networks — KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Division of Decision and Control Systems, Harry Nyquist Room, Stockholm, Sweden. June 8, 2026. [Slides]
Academic Service
Journal Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, IEEE Control Systems Letters, Automatica, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, IFAC Control Engineering Practice, IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems, Systems & Control Letters, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, Water Resources Research, Water Resources Management, The Journal of Supercomputing, Engineering with Computers
Conference Reviewer: IEEE PES General Meeting, IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), American Control Conference (ACC)
Conference Volunteer: Staff Support Volunteer, 2021 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)
Professional Memberships: Member of IEEE and ASCE; IEEE Control Systems Society, IEEE Power & Energy Society, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society
Technical Skills
Programming: Python, MATLAB, R, Julia, LaTeX
Optimization: CVX, Gurobi, CPLEX, YALMIP, SeDuMi
Software: EPANET, PowerWorld, GAMS, GitHub, Power BI, Tableau, ANSYS, Abaqus, SAP2000, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, TRNSYS-18, Primavera P6, MATPOWER, Cantera, QGIS
Machine Learning: TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn
Decision Analysis: Palisade Suite (Evolver, @Risk)
Languages: Arabic (Native/Fluent), English (Fluent)
Curriculum Vitae
My CV is available here.