Dr. David Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Portland State University (PSU). He obtained his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Prior to joining PSU in 2020, Dr. Yang worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the ATLSS Engineering Research Center, Lehigh University. He has conducted research funded by prominent academic, governmental, and industrial agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA as PI), the Region 10 University Transportation Center (UTC as PI), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), among others.

Dr. Yang is the author/co-author of 34 journal papers and 6 peer-reviewed book chapters. With an H-index of 24 (Google Scholar, July 2025), he was listed as one of the Most Impactful Emerging Scientists in 2023 and 2024. He is the recipient of the 2022 Moisseiff Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the 2024 Young Scholar Award by the International Association for Bridge Maintenance and Safety (IABMAS). He is also an active member ofthe International Association for Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE).

Research Interests

Dr. Yang’s current research is focused on the climate risk assessment and management of infrastructure systems and risk-informed decision-making for deteriorating structures. Specific research interests include:

• Structural reliability and risk assessment
• Risk-based infrastructure asset management
• Risk of infrastructure systems under catastrophic events
• Interpretable artificial intelligence for life-cycle management
• Adaptation of civil infrastructure to climate change
• Decision-making under (deep) uncertainty