Dr. Brake was born in Miami, FL. to Cuban and American parents. He attended Miami Sunset Senior High School and Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI, USA), where he received three degrees in civil engineering: B.S. (2005), M.S. (2008) and Ph.D. (2012). During his tenure at Michigan State University, he received a number of accolades and awards: Park-Deaver Scholarship Award (2003-2005), Outstanding Engineering Scholarship Award (2005-2006), Travel Fellowship Award (2010), Outstanding Civil Engineering Teaching Assistant Award (2011) and the Outstanding Civil Engineering Ph.D. Student Award (2012).

Dr. Brake joined Lamar University in Fall 2012 and has since developed nine courses, three of which were never offered at Lamar before his arrival. The courses include: Project-Based Introduction to Civil Engineering-CVEN 1101, Statics-CVEN 2301, Engineering Material Systems-CVEN 3200, Structural Analysis I-CVEN 3340, Structural mechanics-ENGR 4301, Reinforced Concrete Design I-CVEN 4380, Advanced Pavement Analysis and Design-ENGR 5301, Structural Dynamics-ENGR 5301 and Undergraduate Research-ENGR 4301.

He has received superb evaluations thus far. He was awarded the LU Presidential Faculty Fellowship in Teaching Innovation in 2015 to develop a hands-on project-based Introduction to Civil Engineering course and was able to publish several papers related to the effort. He serves on the Transportation Research Board (TRB) technical committee AFN20: Properties of Concrete and has presented his research at several major conferences, some of which include: ASEE in New Orleans (2016), ASCE T&DI in Miami, FL. (2015), TRB in Washington D.C. (2011-2016), International Conference of Concrete Pavements in Quebec City, Quebec (2012) and EUPave in Carmona, Spain (2010).

Dr. Brake is married and has two children. He enjoys to travel and has been fortunate enough to have visited 45/50 states and has traveled to Canada, Central America and Europe several times. He loves to ski and snowboard and has done so at Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Big Sky, Whitefish Mountain and Blue Mountain.

He also enjoys deep sea fishing and has fished the waters off Key Largo, FL. and caught Mahi-Mahi, Tuna, Grouper, Red and Yellow-Tail Snapper, Shark, Barracuda, King Fish, Mackerel and Wahoo. He has also fished in Lake Michigan for King Salmon and Lake Huron for Walleye. He also enjoys hiking and on-shore bait and fly fishing in remote areas. He has fished mountain lakes and streams in Northwest Montana near Glacier National Park on several occasions for Rainbow, Cutthroat, and Brown Trout. Overall, he loves to explore, learn, and teach his children and students about his life and research experiences.

Professional Service

Professional Committee memberships and Invited Panelist

• member and Secretary, Transportation Research Board AFN20: Properties of Concrete, 2013-current
• Committee Friend, Transportation Research Record: AFN10: Basic Research and Emerging Technologies Related to Concrete
• Committee Friend, Transportation Research Record: AFD50: Design and Rehabilitation of Concrete Pavements
• Presiding Officer, Transportation Research Board Lectern Session: Properties of Concrete: Testing and Specifications, Washington, D.C., 2017
• Panelist, LU STEM Teacher’s Workshop, Beaumont, TX., June 2016
• Presiding Officer and Moderator, Transportation Research Board Workshop: Use of Sensors in Highway Concrete Applications, Washington, D.C., 2016

Professional Society membership

• member, Chi Epsilon
• member, International Society of Concrete Pavements (ISCP)
• member, American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
• Associate member, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Journal/Conference Paper Referee

• Reviewer: Engineering Fracture mechanics
• Reviewer: Construction and Building Materials
• Reviewer: Advances in Structural Engineering
• Reviewer: American Society of Engineering Education
• Reviewer: Transportation Research Record: AFN20: Properties of Concrete
• Reviewer: International Journal of Pavement Engineering
• Reviewer: ASCE Journal of Civil Engineering Materials
• Reviewer: Transportation Research Record: AFD50: Design and Rehabilitation of Concrete Pavements
• Reviewer: Road Materials and Pavement Design
• Reviewer: Transportation Research Record: AFN10: Basic Research and Emerging Technologies Related to Concrete

Service as a Commentator, Panelist, Discussant at Professional Meetings

• Presiding Officer, Transportation Research Board Lectern Session: Properties of Concrete: Testing and Specifications, Washington, D.C., 2016
• Panelist, LU STEM Teacher’s Workshop, Beaumont, TX., June 2016
• Presiding Officer and Moderator, Transportation Research Board Workshop: Use of Sensors in Highway Concrete Applications, Washington, D.C., 2016

University Service

Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, Aug. 2012 – Current

University

• Quality Enhancement Program (QEP) College of Engineering Representative, 2017-Present
  • QEP Marketing Committee, 2017-Present
  • QEP Literature Review Committee, 2017-Present
• Faculty Senate member, 2016-Present
  • Chair, Faculty Senate Development Leave Committee, 2017
  • Faculty Senate Development Leave Committee member, 2016-Present
  • Faculty Senate Executive Committee member, 2017-Present
• Lamar University Undergraduate Exposition Panel Reviewer, 2017
• Lamar University SURF Proposal Reviewer, 2017
• Panel moderator, Lamar University Undergraduate Research Conference, 2016

 Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

• Chair, CEE Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, 2017-Present
• CEE Dept. ABET Coordinator, 2017-Present
• High School Open House Host and Presenter, 2012-2016
• CEE Department Chair Search Committee member, 2016
• Chair, CEE Visiting Professor Structural Engineering search committee, 2015
• Technical Faculty Adviser and Chaperone, Steel Bridge Team and Concrete Canoe Team; traveled with team to Corpus Christi, Tyler, Arlington, and Austin, TX.

 College of Engineering

• Lamar University SMART Math Camp Presenter: Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept., 2017
• Lamar University LITE SENIOR Instructor and Presenter, 2017
• STEM Educator Outreach: Presenter: “Building Student Confidence and Motivation with Hands-On Engineering Design Projects”, 2017
• Guest Lecturer, CMGT 2420: Introduction to Civil Engineering and the benefits of going to graduate school, 2017
• Guest Lecturer, INEN 1101: Introduction to Engineering, 2014-2016
• O.E. Dean search committee member, 2014 & 2015
• Research and Teaching Laboratory Safety Committee, 2015
• B.S. IT Transfer and Retention Committee, 2016
• K-12 Outreach: Introduction of Girls to Engineering Lab and Research Presentation, 2015
• K-12 Outreach: LITE Engineering Summer Camp: “Introduction to civil engineering and hands-on exercises”, 2014-2016
• STEM Educator Outreach: Presenter: “Effective Engineering Teaching: From Theoretical to Real-World Applications”, 2014
• Faculty Adviser, Engineers Without Borders, 2013-2015
• Graduation Commencement Marshal, 2013, 2016