Faculty Directory

Biography

Innovative approaches to educate Colorado School of Mines students about civil engineering applications in geotechnical and structural engineering, land development, construction practices, risk assessment, and optimizatio

Education

• PhD, Engineering Systems, Colorado School of Mines, 2008
• MS, Engineering Systems, Colorado School of Mines, 2004
• BS, Civil Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 2002

Research

• Design of reinforced concrete using mixed integer nonlinear programming
• Energy efficient building design
• Optimization for Energy and Renewable Energy Implementation
• Advanced Explosive Processing
• Supply chain management
• Experimental design and verification of explicit solution methods
• Explicit versus implicit solution methods for engineering systems
• Optimal operating conditions for water treatment processes
• Rapid development of tunnels for underground mines
• Determining latitude and longitude by solution of a path of a Gnomons shadow
• Optimization for construction and shape of concrete dams
• Optimal construction site layout for mass concrete placements

Publications

• Guerra, A., Petr, V. and Griffiths, D.V. (2013). “Radial Fractures in Rock Under the Action of Explosives,” 6th International Conference on Discrete Element Methods, August 5-6, Golden, Colorado.
• Guerra, A., A. Newman and S. Leyffer (2011). “Concrete Structure Design Using Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming with Complementarity Constraints.” SIAM Journal on Optimization, 21(3): 833-863.
• Guerra, A. and Kiousis, P.D. (2006) “Design Optimization of Reinforced Concrete Structures,” Computers and Concrete. 3, 5. 313.

Awards & Honors

• Martin Luther King Jr Award – (campus award) 2020
• W.M. Keck Mentorship Award – (campus award) 2018
• SHPE Region 3 Advisor of the Year award – 2018
• Excellence in Civil Engineering Education Fellow (2015)
• Outstanding Faculty Award, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Minority Engineering Program, Colorado School of Mines (2012-2013, 2013-2014)
• Colorado School of Mines Women’s Volleyball Professor Appreciation (2010, 2012,2014,2015,2016,2018,2020)
• Bureau of Reclamation Star Award for superior performance rating (2005, 2006, and 2007)
• United States Air Force Academy Water Polo Academic All-American (1999)

Affiliations

• Ben L. Fryrear Endowed Chair for Innovation and Excellence (2023-2026)
• Denver Kids Inc Board of Directors (2025-2028)
• Faculty Advisor for the Mines Chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (2012-Present)
• Chair, Mines Latinx Community Alliance (2019-2023)
• Chair, ASCE Concrete Canoe Rules Committee (2019-2021)

Additional Information