Rate My Professor Cesar Carrasco

Cesar Carrasco, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering within the Engineering faculty at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico (1989), an MS in Civil Engineering from UTEP (1992), and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from UTEP (2000). Carrasco joined UTEP as Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering in 2000, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006 and Professor in 2013. He served as Department Chair from September 2009 to August 2018 and has directed the Future Aerospace Science and Technology Center since July 2007. Additionally, he acts as Undergraduate Program Director for Civil Engineering.

His research focuses on modeling and simulation of linear and non-linear structural and mechanical systems, computational mechanics including finite element modeling of civil infrastructure, non-destructive testing and evaluation of aerospace and civil systems, structural reliability, and risk assessment of micrometeoroid and hypervelocity impacts on spacecraft. Key publications include 'Preliminary Dust-Impact Risk Study For The "Solar Probe" Spacecraft' with Douglas Eng, Kenneth Potocki, and Ingrid Mann (International Journal of Impact Engineering, 2006); 'Selection of Critical Design Parameters for MMOD Protection in Interplanetary Missions' with Sergio Mendez and Douglas S. Mehoke (Procedia Engineering, 2013); 'Finite Element Modeling of Slab-Foundation Interaction on Rigid Pavement Applications' with M.A. Zokaei Ashtiani and S. Nazarian (Computers and Geotechnics, 2014); and 'Damage Lethality Comparison of Spherical and Cylindrical Projectiles Impacting on a System of Bumper Plates' with Octavio Melchor-Lucero et al. (International Journal of Impact Engineering, 2006). As Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator, Carrasco has managed projects funded by NASA through Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory—including micrometeoroid risk assessment for the Parker Solar Probe since 2010 and post-launch analysis (2019-2020)—Texas Department of Transportation for pavement structural capacity (2025-2028), Federal Highway Administration via Southern Plains University Transportation Center (2013-2018), NSF, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Southwest Research Institute, and New York Department of Transportation. His contributions enhance spacecraft protection against extreme-speed dust particles exceeding 300 km/s and advance pavement distress prediction and structural analysis tools.