Dr. Ricardo Zaurin is an associate lecturer in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering in UCF's College of Engineering and Computer Science.

His research interests include structural health monitoring of fixed and movable bridges, damage detection and identification, condition assessment, numerical simulations, and non-destructive evaluation of existing structures, and design and implementation of smart structures.

Lately, he has dedicated all his efforts to research engineering education to find and implement better ways of teaching and learning, including active learning, project-based homework, adaptive learning, experiential learning, and high impact practices.

Dr. Zaurin earned a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Oriente in Venezuela and a master's degree in Information Technology from the school. At UCF, he earned a master's and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. His professional experience includes being president and CEO of his own civil engineering and land development company.

As a first-generation college graduate, he believes strongly that the key to success and advancing in life is hard work and education. His honors at UCF include receiving College Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Awards and the 2022 AIM High Impact Individual Award for his dedication and success in reducing the cost of instructional materials for his students.

• Zaurin and S. Pal “A Mentorship And Module-Based System To Ensure The Adequacy Of Required Prerequisite Knowledge For Enhancing Student Success In Engineering,” in Proceedings of the 129th American Society for Engineering Education National Conference (129th ASEE-2023).


• Pal, R. Zaurin, “Project-Based Homework: an Ongoing Study on Engineering Analysis-Dynamics” in Proceedings of the 128th American Society for Engineering Education National Conference (128th ASEE-2021), Long Beach, California, July 26 – 29, 2021.


• Zaurin, S. Dey Tirtha, N. Eluru, “A Comparison between Mixed-Mode and Face-to-Face Instructional Delivery Approaches for Engineering Analysis: Statics.,” in Proceedings of the 127th American Society for Engineering Education National Conference (127th ASEE-2020), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 21 – 24, 2020. 16 pages. https://peer.asee.org/33985


• Zaurin, S. Dey Tirtha, N. Eluru, “A Comparative Analysis of the Students’ Performance in Two Statics Courses Due to the Inclusion of an Adaptive Learning Module (ALM) to Review the Mathematics Prerequisite Knowledge,” in Proceedings of the 127th American Society for Engineering Education National Conference (127th ASEE-2020), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 21 – 24, 2020. 14 pages.  https://peer.asee.org/authors/39483


• Zaurin, “Quantitative Analysis on Students Success and Class Satisfaction by Comparing Three Different Modalities of Assessments for a Large Engineering Gateway Course,” in Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Southeastern Section Conference (ASEE-SE 2020), Auburn, AL, USA, March 10-12, 2019. 9 pages. Paper ID: 51. https://papers.asee-se.org/openconf/modules/request.php?module=oc_program&action=view.php&id= 51&type=4&a=


• Zaurin, “Blended Instructional Delivery for a Large Engineering Course: A Step by Step Case Study Description,” in Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Southeastern Section Conference (ASEE-SE 2020), Auburn, AL, USA, March 10-12, 2019. 9 pages. Paper ID: 52. http://www.aseese.org/proceedings/ASEE2020/papers2020/52.pdf


• Zaurin, “Learning by Doing: Collaborative Active Learning Hands-On ProjectBased Homework for a Large Gateway Engineering Class,” in Proceedings of the 126th American Society for Engineering Education National Conference (126th ASEE-2019), Tampa, FL, USA, June 15 – 19, 2019. 16 pages. https://peer.asee.org/learning-by-doing-collaborative-active-learning-hands-onproject-based-homework-for-a-large-gateway-engineering-class.pdf


• Zaurin, “Investigating the Impact on Students’ Engagement, Perception, and Success of Several Active Learning Strategies for a Large Gateway Engineering Course: Statics,” in Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Southeastern Section Conference (ASEE-SE 2019), Raleigh, NC, USA, March 10-12, 2019. 7 pages.  http://www.asee-se.org/proceedings/ASEE2019/papers2019/19.pdf


• Zaurin, “Preparing the Engineering Student for Success with IDEAS: A Second Year Experiential Learning Activity for Large-size Classes,” in Proceedings of the 125th  American Society for Engineering Education National Conference (125th ASEE-2018), Paper ID #21771, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, June 24-27, 2018. 21 pages. https://peer.asee.org/preparing-the-engineering-student-for-success-with-ideas-asecond-year-experiential-learning-activity-for-large-size-classes.pdf