CEE celebrated at Pittsburgh civil engineering awards

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was recognized across multiple categories at this year’s American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Pittsburgh Section Engineers Week Awards Banquet, highlighting both faculty and student contributions to the field.

Jerry Wang, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, was named ASCE’s Professor of the Year for his creative approach to teaching, mentorship, and civil engineering education. Wang’s research centers around computational mechanics, exploring fluids, soft materials, and active matter. Through the M5 Lab at Carnegie Mellon, his team develops particle-based simulation tools that advance applications in energy, sustainable materials, food systems, and urban livability.

Widely recognized as an innovative and deeply student-centered educator, his computational science and engineering classes are known around CMU for their interactivity, stagecraft, and emphasis on technical community building. Beyond the classroom, Wang advises students in research from the B.S. to Ph.D. levels, supports national fellowship applicants, and creates opportunities for students to see civil engineering in action through site visits and hands-on experiences. He has served as faculty advisor for the CMU ASCE student chapter and serves as faculty advisor for the CMU ASCE Academic Honor Society student chapter.

The ceremony also announced fourth-year student Lillian Keith as the recipient of the 2026 American Bridge Award, the highest award that the ASCE Pittsburgh Section can confer to a student.

Keith, a student in CEE’s integrated B.S./M.S. program, has held multiple roles within the CMU ASCE student chapter, including serving as co-president, where she helped strengthen engagement across class years and establish new connections with regional partners. She has also served as a mentor in the College of Engineering’s EMERGE program and as president of the CMU women’s club soccer team. Her internships in transportation engineering at Kimley-Horn and Gorove Slade spanned work on traffic operations, safety improvements, multimodal planning, and data-driven analysis for local municipalities. Faculty and industry mentors praise her initiative, sharpness, reliability, and commitment to serving her peers.

Keith and Wang’s exciting accomplishments and recognitions reflect the department’s dedication to advancing civil engineering through innovative research, thoughtful teaching, personalized mentorship, and service to the profession.