Villanova University was founded in 1842 by the Order of Saint Augustine. To this day, Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition is the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. Villanova prepares students to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.


The strength of the Villanova experience comes in part from the University’s welcoming community. All members are bonded together by a shared responsibility to uphold the ideals of Saint Augustine and let the principles of truth, unity and love guide their lives. The Villanova community helps students grow intellectually, professionally and spiritually, and challenges them to reach their full potential.


The University’s rigorous academic experience, rooted in the liberal arts, forms an environment in which students and professors are partners in learning. The Villanova community is dedicated to providing a personalized experience that fosters every student’s intellectual and spiritual well-being. As part of their education, students are encouraged to enrich their own lives by working for those in need. Through academic and service programs, students use their knowledge, skills and compassion to better the world around them.


There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University’s six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. These colleges are the setting for an experience that develops both the heart and the mind, and creates the atmosphere where students are called to ignite change.


Villanova University is located in a suburban community 12 miles west of Philadelphia, Pa.

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Presented annually by the Philadelphia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers for remarkable accomplishments in the civil engineering profession, the award is the Philadelphia Section’s highest recognition.

2023 Philadelphia Civil Engineer of the Year Award

The award recognized Dr. Traver for his outstanding body of work and involvement in advancing the scientific basis for resilient stormwater green infrastructure practices.

2023 AAWRE Outstanding Research & Innovation Award

This award is presented to a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers for demonstrating a life-long level of commitment to environmental or water resources engineering through public service, research or education.

2019 Recipient of Environmental and Water Resources Institute Lifetime Achievement Award

The Outstanding Faculty Research Award award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates the highest standards of excellence in research, scholarship and contributions to their field. Dr. Traver received this award for his scholarship in stormwater management and sustainable engineering.

2016 Villanova University Outstanding Faculty Research Award

Awarded by the Commanding General of the United States Corps of Engineers for Dr. Traver's role on the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) External Review Panel, charged with determining the cause of New Orleans’ levee system failure during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 .

2007 Outstanding Civilian Service Medal

Awarded to recognize Dr. Traver's leadership of the American Society of Civil Engineer's (ASCE) Task Committee on Flood Safety Policies and Practices.

2014 ASCE William H. Wisley American Civil Engineer Award

Retired LTC of the U.S. Army Reserve

Associate Editor and Co-Founder of the ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment

Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) 

Diplomat and Former President of the American Academy of Water Resource Engineers

Committee Member of the National Research Council Committee that authored “Urban Stormwater Management in the United States” (2009)

Steering committee of the Water Environmental Federation Stormwater Institute

Quantifying the Impact of Soil Moisture Sensor Measurements in Determining Green Stormwater Infrastructure Performance

Quantitative Analysis of the Water Budget of a Rain Garden in Pennsylvania

A 15-year analysis of precipitation and rain garden response

Evapotranspiration in green stormwater infrastructure systems

Selected papers from the 2011 Low Impact Development Conference, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 25-28, 2011. Sponsored by the Low Impact Development Committee of the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE As federal, state, and local governments realize that traditional approaches to stormwater management are not achieving the desired environmental protection goals, they are increasingly adopting low impact development (LID) technology as the preferred approach to stormwater management in land development and redevelopment. Low Impact Development Technology: Design Methods and Case Studies contains 22 papers that address a wide range of LID design applications and includes a number of practical case studies. Topics include: rain gardens and bioretention systems; green streets and hardscapes; green roofs; and watershed restoration. A companion volume, Low Impact Development Technology: Implementation and Economics, is also available. Both collections will be of interest to engineers, land planners, and government officials working on stormwater management and land use policy.

Low Impact Development Technology: Design Methods and Case Studies

Selected papers from the 2011 Low Impact Development Conference, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 25 28, 2011. Sponsored by the Low Impact Development Committee of the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE Insite development, the rapid adoption of low impact development (LID) technology for stormwater management, can create conflicts among the various municipal agencies tasked with overseeing land use decisions. Low Impact Development Technology: Implementation and Economics contains nine papers that address implementation procedures and the economic impact of LID technology.  Topics include: regulations and codes; planning and information exchange; policy incentives; outreach activities; operations and maintenance considerations; and life-cycle costs and performance metrics. A companion volume, Low Impact Development Technology: Design Methods and Case Studies, is also available. Both collections will be of interest to engineers, land planners, and government officials working on stormwater management and land use policy.

Low Impact Development Technology: Implementation and Economics

Dr. Robert G. Traver has been a member of the Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Program at Villanova since 1988. He previously served as Director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems (VCRWS), which joins with government and industry partners to advance the field of comprehensive stormwater management. In taking the lead with VCRWS, Dr. Traver has transformed the Villanova campus into a living laboratory with on-site experimental projects such as a green roof, rain gardens, stormwater wetlands, pervious concrete and porous asphalt. 

Dr. Traver played a significant role in the Corps of Engineers' investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System during Hurricane Katrina as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers External Panel (ERP). Dr. Traver has previously testified before Congress and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Flooding 

Green Infrastructure

Stormwater Management

Urban Watersheds

Water Resources

Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems

Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership

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two-decades-later-villanova-engineering-professor-who-assisted-in-hurricane-katrina-investigation-reflects-on-role-in-the-storms-aftermath

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit the southeastern coast of the United States, devastating cities and towns across Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and beyond. The storm caused nearly 1,400 fatalities, displaced more than 1 million people and generated over $125 billion in damages.

Rob Traver, PhD, P.E., D. WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova University, assisted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System during Hurricane Katrina, and earned an Outstanding Civilian Service Medal from the Commanding General of USACE for his efforts. Dr. Traver reflected on his experience working in the aftermath of Katrina, and how the findings from the investigation have impacted U.S. hurricane responses in the past 20 years.

Q: What was your role in the investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System? Dr. Traver: Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, USACE wanted to assess what went wrong with flood protections that had failed during the storm in New Orleans, but they needed qualified researchers on their team who could oversee their investigation. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), an organization I have been a part of for many years, was hired for this purpose. Our job was to make sure that USACE was asking the right questions during the investigation that would lead to concrete answers about the causes of the failure of the hurricane protection system. My team was focused on analyzing the risk and reliability of the water resource system in New Orleans, and we worked alongside the USACE team, starting with revising the investigation questions in order to get answers about why these water systems failed during the storm.

 
Q: What was your experience like in New Orleans in the aftermath of the hurricane? DT: My team went down to New Orleans a few weeks after the hurricane, visited all the sites we were reviewing and met with infrastructure experts along the way as progress was being made on the investigation. As we were flying overhead and looking at the devastated areas, seeing all the homes that were washed away, it was hard to believe that this level of destruction could happen in a city in the United States. As we started to realize the errors that were made and the things that went wrong leading up to the storm, it was heartbreaking to think about how lives could have been saved if the infrastructure in place had been treated as one system and undergone a critical review.

 Q: What were the findings of the ASCE and USACE investigation team? DT: USACE focused on New Orleans because they wanted to figure out why the city’s levee system—a human-made barrier that protects land from flooding by holding back water—failed during the hurricane. The city manages pump stations that are designed to remove water after a rainfall event, but they were not well connected to the levee system and not built to handle major storms. So, one of the main reasons for the levee system failure was that the pump stations and levees were not treated as one system, which was one of the causes of the mass flooding we saw in New Orleans.

 
Another issue we found was that the designers of the levee system never factored in a failsafe for what would happen if a bigger storm occurred and the levee overflowed. They had the right idea by building flood protection systems, but they didn’t think that a larger storm the size of Katrina could occur and never updated the design to bring in new meteorological knowledge on size of potential storms. Since then, the city has completely rebuilt the levees using these lessons learned.

Q: What did researchers, scientists and the general population learn from Katrina? DT: In areas that have had major hurricanes over the past 20 years, it’s easy to find what went wrong and fix it for the future, so we don’t necessarily worry as much about having a hurricane in the same place as we’ve had one before. What I worry about is if a hurricane hits a new town or city that has not experienced one and we have no idea what the potential frailties of the prevention systems there could be. Scientists and researchers also need to make high-risk areas for hurricane activity in the United States known for those who live there. People need to know what their risk is if they are in areas where there is increased risk of storms and flooding, and what they should do when a storm hits, especially now with the changes we are seeing in storm size.



Two Decades Later, Villanova Engineering Professor Who Assisted in Hurricane Katrina Investigation Reflects on Role in the Storm's Aftermath

Dr. Robert Traver, a professor of civil engineering at Villanova University, and a nationally-recognized authority on urban stormwater management, played a significant role in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System during Hurricane Katrina. 

He served as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers External Review Panel (ERP) charged with determining why the city’s levee system failed. 

 As the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, Dr. Traver looks back on what happened in New Orleans that day,  how far urban stormwater management has come since, and where it is headed in the future.

Dr. Robert Traver on Hurricane Katrina

Dr. Robert Traver speaks on the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership

Dr. Robert Traver speaks on Villanova Center for the Advancement of Sustainability in Engineering

Rob Traver, director of the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership, talks with KYW Newsradio about smart roofs and how to controll excess storm water.

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