Student experience

Our department is dedicated to crafting an engaging and rewarding experience for our undergraduate students in and outside the classroom. We offer a variety of extracurricular activities—from conducting research with faculty to continuing your studies around the world—that encourage you to apply the skills you learned in real-world, hands-on opportunities.

Student groups | Internships | Study abroad | Research

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Undergraduates present research at Meeting of the Minds 2024 Opens in new window

Engineering undergraduate students had a wonderful showing at Meeting of the Minds, displaying posters, giving presentations, and demonstrating projects they have worked on this past academic year.

EWB Zimbabwe project wins TechSpark Best Design Award

The Engineers Without Borders (EWB) group at CMU has received the TechSpark Engineering Exposition’s Best Design Award for their biogas digester project in Zimbabwe, utilizing manure for biogas and fertilizer, reducing reliance on harmful firewood. This award honors the team’s rigorous engineering analysis and collaborative efforts currently led by CEE senior Judy (Shiyu) Zhu.

Shaping future STEM leaders: Green awarded DoD SMART Scholarship

Junior Harrison Green has been awarded the prestigious SMART Scholarship, providing full tuition coverage, mentorship, and post-graduate employment with the Department of Defense. This opportunity enables students like Green to gain hands-on experience and contribute to national security initiatives, further enhancing the nation's STEM workforce.

Arcade adventures: building the ASCE Roller Coaster Tycoon Booth

ASCE's Roller Coaster Tycoon Booth stole the show at Spring Carnival, winning both the People's Choice Award and first place in the Blitz category. Led by CEE juniors Mia Constantin and Samuel Chen, along with senior Justin Peng, the ASCE team overcame challenges ranging from warped materials to rain leaks in constructing an immersive arcade experience.

Investing in tomorrow's engineers: two students receive Menard-DFI scholarship

Aurora Fuchs and Justin Peng have been awarded prestigious scholarships from the Menard-DFI Educational Trust in recognition of their exceptional achievements and dedication to engineering.

Connecting futures: the power of mentorship in education and careers

Craig Boman (BS ‘15, MS ’16) served as a mentor to Ashima Sharma (CEE ‘22) during her time at CMU, talking with her through video calls since the two lived across the country from each other. Recently, when Boman visited CMU and found out that Sharma was on campus, the mentor and mentee finally met in person.

Peng receives ASCE Award

Senior Justin Peng has received the prestigious and very competitive 2023 ASCE Achievement Award from the student foundation during the ASCE Pittsburgh Section Engineers Week and Awards Banquet.

Building the foundation: Aeryn Anderson's internship at Pittsburgh's future airport

Aeryn Anderson, an undergraduate student, embarked on a transformative internship at Pittsburgh's new international airport construction site, shifting her focus from design to construction management. Over 12 weeks, she played a crucial role in creating roadways and bridges while gaining valuable insights into construction safety.

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Harrison and Kochanek named Andrew Carnegie Scholars

Seniors Hikari Harrison (BXA) and Sophie Kochanek (EnvE/EPP) have been named Andrew Carnegie Scholars at Carnegie Mellon University for their outstanding academic achievements and leadership. Harrison's blend of theater and civil engineering interests, along with her commitment to diversity and inclusion, and Kochanek's contributions in environmental engineering and ability to simplify complex concepts have earned them this prestigious honor.

Analytical thinking in action: Wang's internship experience at S&B USA Construction

Undergraduate student Tianqi Wang embarked on a transformative summer internship at CEE Industry Partner, S&B USA Construction. He actively participated in real-world projects involving highway bridges and airports, underscoring the importance of hands-on learning and mentorship.

Oden awarded Crew NAC Scholarship

Rory Oden, a rising junior in CivE/EPP, was awarded the Wayne A. Crew NAC Scholarship by the National Academy of Construction. Inspired by climate change and infrastructure issues, she plans to work on community-oriented projects in Pittsburgh after obtaining her PE license.

Gold organizes Habitat for Humanity spring break service trips

During their spring break, three teams of Carnegie Mellon University students traveled to Florida, Texas, and Louisiana to assist communities through Habitat for Humanity. Their efforts not only benefitted people in need of housing and community support—it enabled the students to grow personally and use skills developed during their studies at CMU.

Brown blends engineering & creativity in Phipps fashion project

Rising junior Chloe Brown is mixing their engineering and creative interests in an exciting project for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Brown is working alongside CMU drama students to design a costume that will be displayed in the conservatory’s gardens.

Janicke wins Judith A. Resnik Award

CEE senior Lauren Janicke, has received the Judith A. Resnik Award for her exceptional academic accomplishments. Lauren is pursuing a civil and environmental engineering major and a statistics minor.

Peng receives commendation for excellence at Thrill Design Invitational

Peng says that the competition was exciting and a great opportunity to challenge himself while growing in the engineering field.

Gioffre's volunteerism delivers STEM to kids

This past summer, S.Y.STEM Coalition launched a brand new program in Zimbabwe that provides students with training in computer sciences—allowing them to pursue higher education or secure a remote job with a software company. The program is the brainchild of Gioffre and four other CMU alums--Angela Ng, Tara Stentz, Kim Kleiven, and Rohan Varma.

Andrade and Grzybowski named Andrew Carnegie Scholars

ACS Scholars are selected each year by their deans and department heads to represent their class in service and leadership. These undergraduate seniors embody Carnegie Mellon's high standards of academic excellence, volunteerism, leadership, and involvement in student organizations, athletics or the arts.

Gaining mentorship, experience in summer internships

"Now that I’ve seen how strong communication helps a project to work more efficiently, I understand and appreciate it even more."

Summer research: Plant nanotechnology REU

"This research provides information for the specific characteristics that nanoparticles should have in order to develop targeted nanocarriers. Also, it will help future researchers to continue with studies on specific organelles inside the cell," said Manzano.

Summer research: Energy inequities in energy transitions

"I believe the research will pave the way for more study of the correlations that might exist between temperature-related deaths and energy inequities/energy poverty. Policies will have to be created based on this research to alleviate inequalities and ameliorate the issue of people dying unnecessarily due to temperature and the inability to regulate their home environments."

CMU takes first place at NASA aeronautics competition

Sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, the Gateways to Blue Skies Competition is an initiative to engage college students in researching climate-friendly technologies and applications that will establish a net-zero emissions future for aviation.

Thompson's first lecture

As he wrote his own story to share, Thompson echoed past “First Lectures” in asserting the importance of forging his individualized journey—by taking advantage of all of the resources available at CMU.

Bram "rethinks the rink" for hockey player safety

Rethink the Rink is a collaboration between the Pittsburgh Penguins, Covestro, Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering, PPG, and Athletica Sport Systems.

Kramer awarded American Bridge Leadership Award

Kramer has distinguished himself not only academically but also as a leader among his peers. He routinely spends time during lab sessions helping his peers work through difficulties they were encountering on the assigned problems and stepping up as a leader in group assignments.

Junior Projects experiment studies Porter Hall bottleneck

Timko believes that the data collected could lead to a stop light system being implemented in the hallway to reduce collisions. She adds that the experience helped her to build experience working within a team—valuable knowledge that will help with both future studies and her career goals.

Senior Greta Markey earns Marshall Scholarship

The Marshall Scholarship is a step toward Markey's goals to earn a Ph.D. in environmental engineering and become a professor.

Markey and Thompson named Andrew Carnegie Scholars

Devin White’s internship focuses on FHA software prototype

White’s work focused on creating a software prototype to analyze the extent to which employees across the U.S. Department of Transportation were innovating with their teams, network, and stakeholders.

Congratulations to our undergraduate CEE Commencement Award winners

Seven undergrads received the department's special honors.

Rusali presents: Using molecular science to explore urban structure

Rusali's project, which he presented to fellow undergrads at CMU, takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the structure of cities using tools from molecular science.

Levene presents: Pittsburgh’s story of environmental justice and renewable energy

Levene presented to her peers at the Meeting of the Minds undergraduate research symposium.

Kramer explores relationship between social distancing, pedestrian flow

Kelby Kramer, an undergraduate student, presented research that explores social distancing's impact on how people move through a space.

Merging art and engineering for innovative solutions

Nika Finkelsteyn, a CEE senior, says that studying both engineering and art will allow her to be a more creative professional.

Virtual spaces for realistic learning Opens in new window

This year, the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department offered more summer research positions than ever before, as well as a novel and engaging virtual poster session.

Two CEE students named Andrew Carnegie Scholars

Valentina Ortiz de Zárate and Ryan Rusali have been named ACS Scholars.

Choudhary's team takes "Best Overall Design" in Rethink the Rink competition

Rethink the Rink is a week-long Make-a-thon that challenged students, including sophomore Dhruv Choudhary, to find solutions that provide hockey players with a greater range of motion and flexibility—while still providing appropriate coverage.

Farrell competes in Jeopardy 2020 College Championship

The competition filming took place in Los Angeles in February and Farrell faces off in the first round against students from the University of Texas at Austin and Princeton University for a shot at the semifinals.

Hegde presents data privacy paper at 2020 TRB conference

Hegde says that the response to her poster presentation was positive and gratifying—especially from individuals within state and local infrastructure who are familiar with connected vehicle communication standards.

Stein wins George Washington Prize

The George Washington Prize is named in honor of the first president of the United States. It reinforces the importance of engineering and technology in sustaining and enhancing the visibility of the profession.