Girish Agrawal, J.D. (UC Berkeley), Ph.D. (Purdue University), Professor

I work at the intersections of engineering, law and policy, advocating for strong transport safety policies in India, enabled by specific legislation, and anchored in a prudent combination of domain expertise and stakeholder concerns. A parallel research focus is on urban areas in India, where I study the urban heat island effect, air quality, and vehicular noise pollution. I came back to academic research in 2012, after 20 years of professional practice as a civil engineer in the US. I have done more than 150 major consulting projects in my professional career. I have expertise in engineering design and construction quality control for transport infrastructure projects such as highways, metro systems, and ports. I have fifty-plus archival publications, including 25+ in the last 5 years. Three of the papers based on my doctoral dissertation, completed in 1992, continue to be cited nearly 30 years later. A book I co-authored on the application of anti-discrimination legislation in India, Dalits and The Law, published in 2005, is held by more than 35 law libraries around the globe and is a prescribed textbook in several law school curricula. I hold three professional licenses in California—a PE and a GE, and a license to practice law. I am also enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi.

EDUCATION

  • Juris Doctor, UC Berkeley, School of Law, Berkeley, California, 2006 
  • PhD (Geotechnical Engineering), Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1992
  • M.S.C.E (Geotechnical Engineering), Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1987
  • B.Tech. (Civil Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, 1985

PUBLICATIONS

Journals

  1. Goel R, Tiwari G, Varghese M, Bhalla K, Agrawal G, Saini G, Jha A, John D, Saran A, White H, Mohan D. (2024). “Effectiveness of road safety interventions: An Evidence and gap map. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 20(1), DOI: 10.1002/cl2.136
  2. Budhiraja, B., Pathak, P., Agrawal, G., and Sengupta, R. (2021). “Satellite and Ground Estimates of Surface and Canopy Layer Urban Heat Island: Comparison and Caveats.” International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research, 12(4), 1-21,
  3. Agrawal, G., Mohan, D., and Rahman, H. (2021). “Ambient air pollution in selected small cities in India: Observed trends and future challenges.” IATSS Research, 45(1), 19-30, DOI: 10.1016/j.iatssr.2021.03.004.
  4. Budhiraja, B., Agrawal, G., and Pathak, P. (2020). “Urban heat island effect of a polynuclear megacity Delhi – Compactness and thermal evaluation of four sub-cities.” Urban Climate, 32, DOI: 10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100634.
  5. Upadhyay, S., Mondal, T., Pathak, P., Roy, A., Agrawal, G., and Bhattacharya, S. (2019). “A network theoretic study of potential movement and spread of Lantana camara in a part of Rajaji Tiger Reserve, India.” Ecological Complexity, 40, Part A, DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2019.100793.
  6. Budhiraja, B., Gawuc, L., and Agrawal, G. (2019). “Seasonality of surface urban heat island in Delhi city region measured by local climate zones and conventional indicators.” IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 12(12), 5223-5232, DOI: 10.1109/jstars.2019.2955133.
  7. Bhalla, K., Sriram, V., Arora, R., Ahuja, R., Varghese, M., Agrawal, G., Tiwari, G., and Mohan, D. (2019). “The care and transport of trauma victims by layperson emergency medical systems: a qualitative study in Delhi, India.” BMJ Global Health, 4(6), DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001963.
  8. Mann, D., Agrawal, G., and Joshi, P.K. (2019). “Spatio-temporal forest cover dynamics along road networks in the Central Himalaya.” Ecological Engineering, 127, 383-393, DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2018.12.020.
  9. Russell M. Smith, Prasad Avinash Pathak & Girish Agrawal (2019). “India’s ‘smart’ cities mission: A preliminary examination into India’s newest urban development policy.” Journal of Urban Affairs, 41(4), 518-534, DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2018.1468221.
  10. Agrawal, G. (2013). “Is public interest litigation an appropriate vehicle for advancing road safety.” Economic and Political Weekly, 48(48), 84-89.
  11. Agrawal, G., and Mandavilli, A. (2012). “Partners in Crime: Land Acquisition by POSCO and the Pliant State,” Reflections, 2(3), Monterey, U.S.A. Available at http://centre4conflictstudies.org/reflections/2012/07/03/partners-in-crime-land-acquisition-by-posco-and-the-pliant-state/
  12. Penumadu, D., Agrawal, G., and Chameau, J.-L. A. (1992). “Discussion of “Knowledge–based modeling of material behavior with neural networks” by J. Ghaboussi, J. H. Garrett Jr. and X. Wu (January, 1991, Vol. 117, No. 1).” ASCE J. Eng. Mech., 118(5), 1057-1059.
  13. Agrawal, G. (1992). “Discussion of “Analysis of membrane penetration in triaxial test” by Steven L. Kramer, N. Sivaneswaran, and R. O. Davis (April, 1990, Vol. 116, No. 4).” ASCE J. Eng. Mech., 118(1), 221-224.
  14. Agrawal, G., and Altschaeffl, A.G. (1991). “Effect of water-content variability in design of clay embankments.” ASCE J. Geotech. Eng., 117(4), 673-683.
  15. Muhunthan, B., and Agrawal, G. (1990). “Discussion of “Drained permanent deformation of sand due to cyclic loading” by Ching S. Chang and Robert V. Whitman (October, 1988, Vol. 114, No. 10).” ASCE J. Geotech. Eng., 116(8), 1270–1273.
  16. Thevanayagam, S., Agrawal, G., and Altschaeffl, A.G. (1989). “New basis for earthwork specification for clay soil.” ASCE J. Geotech. Eng., 115(11), 1599-1616.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

  1. Rahman, H., and Agrawal, G. (2024). “A Cost-Effective Approach for Determining the Baseline Level of Particulate Matter that Impacts Human Health in Small Towns in India.” NERPS 2024, March 6-9, 2024, Hiroshima, Japan.
  2. Tiwari, G., Goel, R., Bhalla, K., Varghese, M., Agrawal, G., Saini, G., Jha, A., John, D., Sharan, A., White, H., and Mohan, D. (2022). “An evidence and gap map of the effectiveness of road safety interventions.” Safety 2022, 14th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, November 27-30, 2022, Adelaide, Australia. [Paper presented by Dr. Geetam Tiwari, abstract published in: BMJ Injury Prevention, 28 (Suppl 2):A36.1-A36, DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2022-safety2022.107.]
  3. Agrawal, G., Rahman, H., Mondal, A., and Reddy, P.K. (2022). “Visualizing Spatio-Temporal Variation of Ambient Air Pollution in Four Small Towns in India.” In: Rage, U.K., Goyal, V., Reddy, P.K. (eds) Database Systems for Advanced Applications. DASFAA 2022 International Workshops. DASFAA 2022. Lecture notes in Computer Science, 1328, 417-436, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-11217-1_30.
  4. Chandra Shekar N., Reddy, A.S., Reddy, P.K., Mondal, A., and Agrawal, G. (2022). “Air Quality Data Collection in Hyderabad using Low Cost Sensors: Initial Experiences.’ In: Rage, U.K., Goyal, V., Reddy, P.K. (eds) Database Systems for Advanced Applications. DASFAA 2022 International Workshops. DASFAA 2022. Lecture notes in Computer Science, 1328, 402-416, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-11217-1_29.
  5. Agrawal, G. (2019). “Whose City? Securing the rights of pedestrians in urban India.” Proc., ICoRSI Intn’l Symposium on Safety of Vulnerable Road Users, March 25-26, 2019, Changsha, China. Available at: https://www.icorsi.org/icorsipblications.
  6. Mann, D., Agrawal, G., and Joshi, P.K. (2018). “Road network development and forest fragmentation: an inter-state analysis.” IENE 2018 Int’l Conference: Crossing borders for a greener and sustainable transport infrastructure, September 10-14, 2018, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. [Oral presentation (“Lightning Talk”) by Ms. Mann. Abstract on page 96 of abstract book. Available at: https://www.iene2018.info/media/1406/iene-2018-abstractsbook-def.pdf]
  7. Gunturu, A, and Agrawal, G. (2018). “Ecological effects of pipelines: a case study of the Bailadila-Visakhapatnam iron ore slurry pipeline.” Proc., IENE 2018 Int’l Conference: Crossing borders for a greener and sustainable transport infrastructure, September 10-14, 2018, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. [Poster presentation by Mr. Gunturu. Abstract on page 174 of abstract book. Available at: https://www.iene2018.info/media/1406/iene-2018-abstractsbook-def.pdf]
  8. Sengupta, R., Agrawal, G., Mondal, A., Pathak, P., and Sarkar, D. (2018). “Manipulating objects to cultivate fields: A Spatio-Temporal Data Structure for Sensor placements for measuring the Urban Heat Island phenomenon.” 10th International Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience2018), August 28-31, 2018, Melbourne, Australia. Available at: doi: 10.4230/LIPIcs.GIScience.2018.23 [Extended abstract published, no paper, oral presentation only]
  9.  Budhiraja, B., Agrawal, G., and Pathak, P. (2018). “Surface urban heat island effect of a polynuclear megacity Delhi – Morphological and thermal evaluation of three sub-cities.” Proc., Tenth International Conference on Urban Climate (ICUC10), August 6-10, 2018, New York City, NY, USA. [Oral presentation by Ms. Budhiraja.] [American Meteorological Society]
  10. Mann, D., Joshi, P.K., and Agrawal, G. (2018). “Open source platform for understanding forest cover dynamics – observing earth from space.” Proc., IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS 2018), July 23-27, 2018, Valencia, Spain, 5255-5257. DOI: 10.1109/IGARSS.2018.8518506.
  11. Agrawal, G., Pathak, P., Sengupta, R., and Budhiraja, B. (2017). “Urban Heat Island Effect: analysis and verification of large volumes of heterogeneous data collected at high velocity.” Presented as a Tutorial at: 5th Int’l Conference on Big Data Analytics, BDA 2017, December 12-15, 2017, Hyderabad, India.
  12. Agrawal, G. (2017). “Securing the Rights of Pedestrians is the Key to Smart, Sustainable Cities – a Law and Policy Approach.” Proc., ASCE Int’l Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure: Policy, Finance, and Education, October 26-28, 2017, New York City, NY, USA, 354-366, DOI: 10.1061/9780784481202.034.
  13. Aleem, A., George, P., Natarajan, P., Verma, R., Mondal, A., and Agrawal, G. (2017). “Crowdsourcing an Earthquake early warning system for the Indian Subcontinent.” Proc., ASCE Int’l Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure: Sustainable Cities for an Uncertain World, October 26-28, 2017, New York City, NY, USA. [Poster paper.]
  14. Bhattacharya, S., Pathak, P. A., Agrawal, G., and Upadhyay, S. (2017). “A network-theoretic modelling of spatial distribution of Lantana camara in Rajaji Tiger Reserve, India.” Proc., The International Society for Ecological Modelling Global Conference 2017 (ISEM 2017), September 17-21, 2017, Jeju, South Korea.
  15. Budhiraja, B., Pathak, P., and Agrawal, G. (2017). “Spatio-temporal variability of urban heat islands in local climate zones of Delhi NCR.” Proc. SPIE 10431, SPIE Remote Sensing 2017, Remote Sensing Technologies and Applications in Urban Environments II (Heldens, W., Chrysoulakis, N., Erbertseder, T., and Zhang, Y., Eds.), September 11-14, 2017, Warsaw, Poland. DOI: 10.1117/12.2280253.
  16. Budhiraja, B., Pathak, P., and Agrawal, G. (2017). “Urban heat island dynamics in local climate zones of Delhi.” International Conference on Urban Geoinformatics, February ?, 2017, TERI University, Delhi. [Poster presentation by Ms. Budhiraja]
  17. Pathak, P.A., Bhattacharya, S., and Agrawal, G. (2016). “Combining geographic information with network theory to model the spread of invasive plant species.” Proc., EcoSummit 2016 – Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change, 5th International EcoSummit Congress, August 29 to September 1, 2016, Montpellier, France.
  18. Devulapalli, H., and Agrawal, G. (2017). “Mapping Bus Transit Services in Hyderabad – an illustrative example of the use of open geospatial data.” Transportation Research Procedia, 25, 4196-4206, DOI: 10.1016/j.trpro.2017.05.369.
  19. Pathak, P., Deshpande, R., and Agrawal, G. (2016). “Land-use and transport mode choice in a planned peri-urban area in India.” Proc., 14th World Conference on Transport Research, July 10-15, 2016, Shanghai, China.
  20. Smith, R.M., Pathak, P., and Agrawal, G. (2016). “India’s ‘Smart’ Cities Solution: An Examination into the Spatial Dynamics of India’s Newest Planned Urban Areas.” Presented at the 46th Annual Conference of the Urban Affairs Association, March 16-19, 2016, San Diego, California.
  21. Pathak, P., Deshpande R., and Agrawal, G. (2015). “GIS as a Tool for Rapid Assessment of access to of Active Transportation in a Planned Peri­Urban Region in India.” Proc., Moving Active Transportation to Higher Ground: Opportunities for Accelerating the Assessment of Health Impacts, April 13-14, Washington, D.C.
  22. Deshpande, R., Vinayakamurthy, M., and Agrawal G. (2015). “Evaluation of Public Transport System from User Perspective – A Case Study of Tirupati, India.” Proc., International Highway Technology Summit 2015 (IHTS 2015), April 21-23, Shanghai, China.
  23. Agrawal, G. (2014). “Rapid mapping and characterization of localized subgrade anomalies under a deep fill using a cone penetrometer.” Proc., Third International Symposium on Cone Penetration Testing (CPT’14), May 12-14, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1029-1038.
  24. Agrawal, G. (2014). “The limitations of public interest litigation as a vehicle for advancing road safety in India.” Proc., Transportation Research Board 2014 Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
  25. Agrawal, G., Pekin, O., and Chandra, D. (2010). “Estimating relative compaction of existing artificial fills using the CPT.” Proc., Second International Symposium on Cone Penetration Testing (CPT’10), Vol. 3, Huntington Beach, California.
  26. Agrawal, G., Weeratunga, G., and Somasundaram, S. (1996). “Estimating soil behavior parameters using an artificial neural network.” Proc., Transportation Research Board 1996 Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
  27. Agrawal, G., Thevanayagam, S., and Altschaeffl, A. (1995). “Estimation and prediction in geotechnical engineering: a phenomenological approach.” Proc., Second ASCE Congress on Computing in Civil Engineering, Atlanta, GA.
  28. Agrawal, G., Weeraratne, S., and Khilnani, K. (1994). “Estimating clay liner and cover permeability using computational neural networks.” Proc., First ASCE Congress on Computing in Civil Engineering, Washington, D.C., 115-122.
  29. Agrawal, G., Frost, J.D., and Chameau, J.-L.A. (1994). “Data analysis and modeling using an artificial neural network.” Proc., Thirteenth International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Oxford and IBH, New Delhi, 1441-1444.
  30. Agrawal, G., and Chameau, J.-L.A. (1992). “Adjustment factors for field control of pile driving.” Proc., Fourth International Conference on the Application of Stress Wave Theory to Piles, Balkema, Rotterdam, 389-394.
  31. Agrawal, G., and Chameau, J-L. A. (1991). “Fuzzy classification in geotechnical data analysis: implementation using a neural network.” Proc., 1st Int’l Workshop on Industrial Applications of Fuzzy Control and Intelligent Systems, Texas A&M, College Station, Texas.

Books/ Book Chapters

  1. Rahman, H., and Agrawal, G. (2024) “An Assessment of The Impact of Covid Lockdown on Suspended Particulate Matter that Impacts Human Health in Small Towns in India.” In Environmental Sustainability and Resilience, Ayyoob Sharifi (ed.), Springer Nature.
  2. Agrawal, G. (2016). “Road safety law and policy.” In Transport Planning and Traffic Safety: Making Cities, Roads, and Vehicles Safer, G. Tiwari and D. Mohan (eds.) (CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, ISBN 9781498751452), pp. 305-320.
  3. Agrawal, G., and Gonsalves, C. (2005). Dalits and the Law, Human Rights LawNetwork, New Delhi.
  4. Agrawal, G., Chameau, J.-L.A., and Bourdeau, P.L. (1997). “Assessing the iquefaction susceptibility at a site based on information from penetration testing.” Artificial neural networks for civil engineers: fundamentals and applications, N.Kartam, I. Flood and J.H. Garrett, eds., ASCE, Reston, VA, 185-214.
  5. Agrawal, G., and Chameau, J.A. (1991). Driving of Thin Shells for Steel-Encased Concrete Piles. Publication FHWA/IN/JHRP-91/09. Joint Highway Research Project, Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. doi: 10.5703/1288284313419.
  6. Altschaeffl, A.G., Thevanayagam, S., and Agrawal, G. (1987). Implementation Program to Improve Embankment Design and Performance with Indiana Soils. Publication FHWA/IN/JHRP-87/6. Joint Highway Research Project, Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University, West afayette, Indiana.

Reports of Research / Consulting Projects

(Representative sample from more than 150 projects completed within the past decade) - Law & Policy

  1.  Tiwari, G., and Agrawal, G. (2024). “Safe Highways in India: Challenges and Solutions.” White Paper done for The Infravision Foundation.
  2.  Tiwari, G., Mohan, D., Agrawal, G., Kalaga, R.R., Jha, K.N., and Mukerji, S. (2016). “Pedestrian Safe Public Transport Systems: Infrastructure, Operations, Vehicles, Policies And Legislation.” Report for Volvo Research and Education Funds.
  3.  Maringanti, A., and Agrawal, G. (2014). Initial Assessment of Indian Primary Sector Investments in Africa, Report prepared for Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development, June 2014, New Delhi, India.
  4.  Maringanti, A., and Agrawal, G. (2014). Analysis of Financial Regulations Governing Corporate Investments Involving Land Acquisition in India, Report prepared for Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development, June 2014, New Delhi, India.
  5.  Agrawal, G., Maringanti, A., Tiwari, G., and Mohan, D. (2013). Road safety political mapping in India. Report for Global Road Safety Partnership, FITT-IITD Contract No. GRSP2012-052, Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India.

Engineering

  1. Tiwari, G., Jha, H.N., Rao, K.R., Agrawal, G., and Mohan, D. (2015). Safety Assessment and Recommendations on Changes in Design – Patna River Front Development Project, For Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd., Patna, Bihar, India, dated January 2015.
  2. Girish Agrawal (2015). Review and redesign of pavement sections for the roadways designed for the new IIT Jodhpur campus, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, For SHiFt – Studio for Habitat Futures, dated May 23, 2015.61. Girish Agrawal (2014). Bollard Footing Design for New High-Security, Retractable Bollard Type, For KritKal SecureScan Private Limited, NOIDA, India, dated August 20, 2013.
  3. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2013). Foundation Report, Bridge Replacement, CR 200A over Stony Creek, Bridge No.11C-0245, County of Glenn, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100250-3500, dated February 25, 2013.
  4. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2012), Foundation Report, Low Water Crossing Replacement, CR 35 over Wilson Creek, Bridge No. 00L0054, County of Glenn, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100954-1004, dated July 16, 2012.
  5. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2012), Foundation Report, Low Water Crossing Replacement, CR 35 over Walker Creek, Bridge No. 00L0053, County of Glenn, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100953-1004, dated July 5, 2012.
  6. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2012), Geotechnical & Materials Report, I- 215/Nuevo Road Interchange Improvement (Caltrans EA #0Q670), Perris, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100687-2000, dated March 20, 2012.
  7. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2012), Foundation Report, Vermont Avenue Overcrossing – US 101 Bridge Widening, Caltrans Bridge No. 53-0609, Los Angeles, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 15903-2000, dated February 12, 2012.
  8. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2011), Geotechnical Engineering Investigation Report, Metro Orange Line Extension (C0943), MSE Walls – Lassen Bridge Approach Embankments, Los Angeles, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100222- 1710, dated May 1, 2011.
  9. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2011), Foundation Report, Del Mar Bridge (#001P) Earthquake Retrofit, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, San Diego County, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100647-2000, dated April 25, 2011.
  10. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2011), Foundation Report, Metro Orange Line Extension (C0943), Busway & Bike Path Bridge over Los Angeles River, Los Angeles, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100222-1730, dated January 31, 2011.
  11. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2011), Geotechnical Investigation & Design Report, Metro Orange Line Extension (C0943), Busway Pavement, Los Angeles, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 100222-1740, dated January 20, 2011.
  12. Girish Agrawal & Ross Khiabani (2010), Geotechnical Engineering Investigation Report, Tajiguas Landfill 2005 Storm Drain Distress Mitigation, Santa Barbara County, California, Willdan Geotechnical Project No. 1002366, dated September 29, 2010.

TEACHING

Dr. Agrawal is presently instructing the course on 

CV

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Girish Agrawal, J.D. (UC Berkeley), Ph.D. (Purdue University), Professor

Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Center

girish@iitd.ac.in

+91 11 2659 1147

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