Rafael O. Tinoco, PhD
tinoco@illinois.edu
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
• PhD Cornell University 2011
• MS Cornell University 2008
• BS Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2005
PhD Students
Kamil Czaplinski
kczapl2@illinois.edu
Research Topic: Morphodynamics of living shorelines
Yihui Wang
yw75@illinois.edu
Research Topic: Sargassum drift in coastal areas
Juan Martin Andrade
juanma4@illinois.edu
Research Topic: Assessment of micro-hydrokinetic turbines
Salman Alkhidhr
salmana4@illinois.edu
Research Topic: Oyster-reefs as nature-based coastal protection
MS Students
Emaly Culich
eculi2@illinois.edu
Research Topic: Hydrokynetic energy in shallow streams
Undergraduate Research Assistants:
- Contact us to join our group!
Alumni
PhD Degrees:
Hojung You – PhD 2024
Now Postdoctoral Scholar at WHOI
Thesis: Analysis of the effects of coherent flow structures on the transport of particles around submerged obstacles in streams.
Vindhyawasini Prasad – PhD 2024
Now Assistant Professor at IIT-Roorkee
Thesis: Development of bubble screen deterrents for controlling movements of invasive carp eggs and larvae in streams
Pallav Ranjan – PhD 2023
Now Postdoc in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego
Thesis: Bridging gaps between numerical and physical modeling of aquatic vegetation: Experimental bias, near-bed hydrodynamics, and sediment-induced turbulence modulation
Katherine Strailey – PhD 2022 (Co-advisors: Suski, Cienciala)
Now Large River Fisheries Ecologist with the Illinois River Biological Station.
Thesis: These turbulent times: interactions between fish and turbulence-generating simulated instream restoration structures and their influence on fish energy use and habitat selection.
Chien-Yung Tseng – PhD 2022
Now Assistant Professor at Colorado State University
Thesis: From substrate to surface: an integrated study on the interfacial transfer and sediment suspension based on a turbulence perspective in vegetated flows
Jorge San Juan – PhD 2021.
Now Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University .
Thesis: The role of aquatic vegetation on oscillatory flows and sediment transport .
Andres F. Prada Sepulveda – PhD 2020.
Now Scientific specialist in environmental engineering at Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.
Thesis: The effect of turbulence on survival, dispersal, and swimming behavior of grass carp eggs and larvae.
MS Degrees:
Henry Doyle, MS 2024.
Thesis: Development of preserved, fluorescent-dyed invasive carp eggs for particle tracking velocimetry in transport and dispersal control experiments
Jacob Drimer, MS 2024.
Thesis: Development of an experimental framework for hydrodynamic characterization of hydrokinetic turbines in laboratory facilities
Salman Alkhidhr, MS 2023
Thesis: Oyster reefs as alternatives to mitigate coastal erosion: A study of hydrodynamics and sediment transport around oyster castles
Juan Martin Andrade, MS 2022.
Thesis: Effect of plastics on sediment mobility in rivers and coastal areas
Pallav Ranjan, MS 2018.
Thesis: High-resolution numerical investigation of hydrodynamics and sediment transport within emergent vegetation canopy
Andrew Leman, MS 2018. Now at McMillen Jacobs Associates, Utah. Thesis: Identifying the dominant physical processes for mixing in full-scale raceway tanks.
Jieyu Qin, MS 2018. Now at Powerlong Real Estate Holdings Limited, Shanghai. Thesis: Experimental study of fish response to turbulent flow fields generated by in-stream structures.
Students Research Assistants:
Postdocs:
Clark Dennis – Postdoctoral Researcher 2021
Research Topic: Identifying turbulence features that alter trap efficiency of upstream-swimming lamprey
Students Research Assistants:
Mei Feng, REU, Summer 2026.
Kamila Castillo, Fall 2025.
Mackenzie Winter, Fall 2025.
Jacqueline Nava, Fall 2025..
Lucy Kleczewsky, REU, Fall 2024, Spring 2025.
Katherine Watzke, REU, Fall 2024, Spring 2025.
Angelo Guzzo, NSF REU, Fall 2023.
Arannya Roy, REU, Fall 2022.
Christina Thompson, NSF REU, Summer 2022.
Wenhao Chen, NSF REU, Summer 2022.
Michael Molloy, REU, Spring 2022.
Lillian Lau, REU, Fall 2019-Spring 2020
Firas Rababaa, NSF REU, Spring-Fall 2020.
Ashley Dominick, Researchers Initiative Program, Spring 2019.
Anna States, Researchers Initiative Program, Spring 2019.
Peter Regan, Spring 2019.
Yuehao Shi, Spring 2019
Ryan Osborn, REU Program – Summer 2018, Fall 2018.
Justin Shen, Researchers Initiative Program, Spring 2018.
Elizabeth Ramos, Researchers Initiative Program, Spring 2018.
Joseph Spadoro, BS 2016, MS 2018. Current Position: Transmission Line Engineer at Sargent and Lundy.
Melanie Holland, REU Program Spring 2016-Summer 2017, now a graduate student at University of Colorado Boulder.
Gerardo Veliz, SROP 2016, Now a graduate student at CEE, Cornell University.
Johannes Oeij, REU Program, Summer-Fall 2017.
Lisha Qu, REU Program, Fall 2016. Now Process Mechanical Engineering at Globaltech, Inc.