AI in Civil Engineering: From Everyday Use to Workflow Integration is a 60‑minute panel discussion designed for civil engineers who want to move beyond AI hype and understand how today’s generative tools can actually fit into real projects and careers. Four panelists from consulting, systems automation, water resources, and academia will share how they use AI in practice, from everyday tasks like drafting, research, and analysis to workflow automation, custom tools, and risk‑aware decision‑making. Attendees will hear practical examples, lessons learned, and cautions surrounding the use of AI in Civil Engineering.

Panelists

• Sonali Tyagi, Ph.D. Candidate at Purdue University in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence

Sonali is a Ph.D. Candidate at Purdue University in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, with research focused on the responsible use, misuse, and security implications of generative AI and large language models. Her work examines how emerging AI tools are being adopted across online environments and what this means for safety, risk management, and professional practice. She has experience in cybersecurity research, AI-enabled analysis, and teaching technical topics to students and professionals. Through her academic and industry experience, she is interested in helping practitioners understand how tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and open-source models can support everyday workflows while also recognizing their limitations, risks, and ethical considerations.

• Niraj Acharya, VP of Marketing and Business Development at TNP

Niraj Acharya is the VP of Marketing and Business Development at TNP, a licensed professional engineer, former President of the ASCE Fort Worth Branch, and former ASCE Young Engineer of the Year. At some point, he made the completely reasonable decision to “play around with ChatGPT for a weekend.” That was several hundred prompts ago. He now builds AI assistants for numerous tasks and is only a few questionable decisions away from asking ChatGPT to raise his children. His coworkers have learned that whenever Niraj says, “I had an idea last night…,” their calendars are about to get much more interesting. Niraj would like everyone to know that he’s using AI responsibly. For legal reasons, he has been advised to clarify that ChatGPT has never been listed as an emergency contact.

• John Michael Freeman, Systems Automation Specialist at Consor Engineers

John Michael is the Systems Automation Specialist at Consor Engineers. He is a licensed PE with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University and a SPRAT Level II climber. He started out inspecting and load-rating bridge, climbing the same structures he now helps digitize with 3D photogrammetry. His work has since moved toward AI and automation, including building production software and field-data tools for the firm using agentic coding environments like Claude Code and helps shape how the organization adopts AI across its engineering practice. His broader aim is raising AI literacy, especially among fellow engineers, helping them move past chatbot novelty toward building and operating tools that hold up in real practice, while staying honest about where these systems fail.

• Thomas Poulose, Project Manager at Consor Engineers

Thomas Poulose, PE, CFM, ENV SP, is a Water Resources Manager with more than 13 years of experience in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, floodplain management, and drainage engineering. His work focuses on large-scale watershed and transportation infrastructure projects. Thomas was introduced to Python during his graduate studies and later expanded his automation skills through self-learning and practical application in engineering modeling. He has since incorporated AI tools, Python scripting, and Microsoft Copilot into his workflow to improve efficiency, automate repetitive tasks, and support data-driven decision-making. As both an engineering practitioner and technology advocate, he is passionate about exploring the opportunities AI presents for the engineering profession while emphasizing the importance of validation, ethical use, and understanding the limitations of AI-driven solutions.