Alaina Dickason Roberts

Alaina Dickason Roberts is currently an Assistant Professor in the Civil Engineering and Construction Management Department at Norwich University. She grew up in Vermont, earned her BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont (UVM) and worked for The Boeing Company for more than a decade before returning to graduate school for her PhD. During her time at Boeing, she supported the 767, 787-8, 787-9, 787-10, Tanker, 777X, Chinook, and V-22 aircraft first as a structural analyst, then as a project lead, and finally as a project manager. She also took a four-month long international assignment as a procurement agent at a sub-tier supplier out of London in support of the fabrication of the first 787-9.

Dr. Roberts earned her MS in Civil Engineering from Columbia University while working for Boeing and completed a Civil Engineering PhD at UVM in 2025. Her dissertation is titled “Detection and Localization of Fatigue Damage in Structures Using Identified Changes in Damping.” The methodology she developed can be used to enhance real-time assessments of fatigue-critical structure with the potential to provide critical information on structural damage prior to catastrophic failure.

Dr. Roberts is currently chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Center for Technical Advancement (CTA), is the past chair of ASCE’s Aerospace Division (ASD) Executive Committee, was chair of the COVID-delayed 2021 ASCE ASD Earth & Space Conference, and developed the day-long, short course for the 2018 ASCE ASD Earth & Space Conference. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Ph.D. Civil Engineering, University of Vermont
M.S. Civil Engineering, Columbia University
B.S. Civil Engineering, University of Vermont

AP 630 Graduate Level Wood, Steel, & Concrete Structures for Architects
AP 632 Graduate Level Statics and Mechanics of Materials for Architects

CE 044 Conference
CE 105L Civil Engineering Applications Lab
CE 321L Civil Engineering Materials Laboratory
CE 348 Structural Analysis
CE 351 Statics and Mechanics of Materials for Construction Managers and Architects
CE 457 Wood, Steel, & Concrete Structures
CE 458 Structural Issues in Construction
CE 479 Senior Design Project
CE 480 Senior Design Project

EG 201 Engineering Mechanics – Statics
EG 477 Special Projects Technical Elective – Structural Analysis

EGCM 401L Pre-Construction Management Lab
EGCM 479 Senior Design Project
EGCM 480 Senior Design Project

Van Susante, Paul and Roberts, Alaina D., eds. 2021. “Earth and Space 2021: Space
Exploration, Utilization, Engineering, and Construction in Extreme Environments.” Selected papers from the 17th Biennial ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments. Held virtually April 19-23, 2021. 1434 pp.

Van Susante, Paul and Roberts, Alaina D., eds. 2021. “Earth and Space 2021: Materials, Structures, Dynamics, and Control in Extreme Environments.” Selected papers from the 17th Biennial ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference on Engineering, Science,Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments. Held virtually April 19-23, 2021. 608 pp.

Malla, Ramesh B., Goldberg, Robert K., and Roberts, Alaina D., eds. 2018. “Earth and Space 2018: Engineering for Extreme Environments.” Proceedings of the 16th Biennial ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments. Cleveland, Ohio, April 9-12, 2018. 1251 pp.