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CEE-related centers and institutes

At Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, we are dedicated to advancing knowledge and building innovative solutions that address the complex challenges facing our world today. Our research is driven by a commitment to resilience, sustainability, and the creation of a better future for our communities and the environment.

Focus areas

Our department’s research and education efforts are centered around four key focus areas, each aimed at addressing critical challenges and advancing our understanding of civil and environmental engineering.

Intelligent engineered systems and society

Climate-resilient environmental systems and technologies

Sustainable energy and transportation systems

Mechanics, chemistry, and materials

Research news

Mapping Alaska’s glaciers from above

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon, in collaboration with the National Park Service, use helicopter-borne ice penetrating radar surveys to assess the ice thickness and bedrock elevation of glaciers in Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest national park in the U.S.

How medical models can transform agriculture Opens in new window

At the intersection of plants and nanomedicine perhaps lies a solution to current unsustainable agricultural practices and meeting increasing global food demands.

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Toward improving rural mobility Opens in new window

Researchers designed and piloted the rural access mobility platform to improve rural mobility services that are inefficient, unaffordable, inaccessible, and unsustainable.

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.

Comfort vs. cash: energy behavior changes during COVID-19 Opens in new window

The pandemic altered how individuals consumed energy in their homes, and in some areas the changes adversely affected energy poverty.

Studying heterogeneous materials under extreme conditions Opens in new window

The Department of Defense awards a team of researchers funding to develop energy-absorbing, structure-preserving materials that are more resilient under extreme loads.

Electrification of transit buses in the United States reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Sofia Martinez, a Ph.D. student in CEE, found that transitioning the entire U.S. transit bus fleet to battery electric buses would mitigate between 33% and 65% of existing bus emissions—even when accounting for the emissions associated with the electricity used to charge the buses and the impacts from manufacturing the batteries.

Transforming infrastructure through digital twins

A collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Fujitsu, a global leader in technology solutions and services, is advancing digital twin technologies in southwestern Pennsylvania to address the recent challenges posed by aging infrastructure.

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CEE at COP28: energy justice and glacier projections

At the 28th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), CEE professors Destenie Nock and David Rounce discussed topics such as energy efficiency, climate mitigation, mountain glaciers, and global temperature rise.

Integrating the built, natural, and information environments Opens in new window

Students in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Junior Projects course worked with a team of local professionals to develop plans to transform the four-block span of Craig Street between Fifth and Forbes Avenues into a great college town street.

Best Design at TechSpark: “Mixed Use Valley Paths” urban mobility innovation

The Mixed Use Valley Paths team, comprised of CEE students Ava Badie, Andrea Dominguez, Julane Johnson, Justin Peng, and Abby Stech, collaborated with other student groups to revamp mobility along Washington Boulevard. The team earned the Best Design award at the College of Engineering's TechSpark Engineering Exposition.

Predicting climate-induced transportation risks: CEE-Morgan State collaboration

CEE's Sean Qian and his doctoral students are collaborating with Morgan State University (MSU) researchers to predict the impacts of climate change on transportation systems. The work not only creates an early-warning notification system that detects impending infrastructure problems, but also allows Qian’s students to learn from MSU faculty and researchers who are world-class leaders in hazard modeling.

CMU partners with UCLA on Center of Excellence on New Mobility and Automated Vehicles initiative

CMU is a key partner with UCLA in establishing the Mobility Center of Excellence, which recently received a $7.5 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration to research the impact of emerging mobility technologies and automated vehicles on transportation. This initiative aims to revolutionize travel and enhance efficiency, sustainability, and accessibility, with a focus on addressing potential negative consequences and disparities in mobility services, all supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

CEE Professor Fakhreddine leads path to Enhanced Aquifer Recharge across the US

CEE Professor Sarah Fakhreddine is leading a research initiative to enhance aquifer recharge methods and safeguard water quality across the US. Their work focuses on advancing Enhanced Aquifer Recharge (EAR) adoption by addressing potential contaminant mobilization in vital aquifers, including geogenic and anthropogenic contaminants.

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Social equity of bridge management

Cari Gandy, a joint Ph.D. student in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering & Public Policy, found that historically Black or African American communities were associated with a greater likelihood of having bridges in worse condition—even when accounting for household income.

Tang and Weiss test infrastructure scenarios using digital twins

Years after studying together at CEE, Professor Pingbo Tang and Ethos Collaborative Principal Damon Weiss are working side by side again—looking for ways to recognize potential issues in operating and maintaining our country’s aging water treatment facilities.

Hidden ice melt in the Himalaya

A new study reveals that the mass loss of lake-terminating glaciers in the greater Himalaya has been significantly underestimated due to the inability of satellites to see glacier changes occurring underwater, leading to critical implications for the region's future projection of glacier disappearance and water resources.

Hendrickson announced as 2023 recipient of the ASCE James Laurie Prize

The ASCE Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) has announced Professor Chris Hendrickson, Ph.D., NAE, Dist.M.ASCE, of Carnegie Mellon University, as the recipient of the James Laurie Prize for 2023. This prestigious award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of transportation engineering.

The rise of digital twins

Part Three: A Space Ripe for Innovation & Industry Collaboration

The rise of digital twins

Part Two: A Space Ripe for Innovation & Industry Collaboration

The rise of digital twins

Collaborating with industry leaders while combining infrastructure, data analysis, and computing expertise, CEE faculty are working on numerous digital twin projects. Their research aims to predict and prevent vehicle and equipment failures, maintain smart habitats in space, and optimize the safety, equity, and sustainability of various infrastructure systems.

Analyzing waste pit contaminants

Professor Greg Lowry is using robots to increase both safety and speed in the remediation process. He is working to develop terrestrial robots that can potentially autonomously explore natural environments, select sample locations, extract samples, and analyze the data online without exposing humans to hazardous conditions.

Nock awarded Sloan Foundation Grant

This grant funds a study by a multidisciplinary team of scholars, led by Nock, that will deploy various research methodologies to examine three aspects of household energy insecurity across multiple states.

Rodrigues and Samaras suggest drones for efficient last-mile deliveries

Rodrigues concluded that for last-mile deliveries, adopting quadcopter drones for small package deliveries could result in substantial energy savings while lessening greenhouse gas emissions.

CEE students explore the future in 3D with Mega City 2070

Created by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) based on extensive research, Mega City 2070 immerses users in a realistic 3D model of a city home to 50 million people in the year 2070. As students tour this futuristic and interconnected built environment, they can delve into articles, reports, videos, and discussions regarding transportation; construction and materials; energy and utilities; structure and architecture; and water, waste, and environment.

Understanding active matter unlocks new material properties

When introduced to a system, active matter harvests energy and begins to move. The term refers to systems that can be either biological or artificial, ranging from the self-organizing components of a living cell to synthetic colloids that react to light with movement. When added to an ordinary material, active particles can change the properties and behavior of that material.

Real-world engineering solutions exhibited in new Autonomous Infrastructure Systems Lab

The new space not only challenges students and showcases their research—it also shows visitors how CEE is at the forefront of changing the industry landscape.

CMU and Fujitsu collaborate to develop “social digital twin” technology for smart cities

The researchers anticipate that the social digital twin technology will play an active role in improving efforts to ease congestion, positively influence travel behavior, and ultimately help to create safer, more sustainable cities in the future.

Micromobility modes could replace 1/5 of short car trips

Corey Harper led a study that simulated the efficacy of an e-bike fleet in Seattle, which found that up to 18% of short, private vehicle trips of up to three miles could be replaced with e-bikes. Harper's results indicated that micromobility could reduce congestion on crowded corridors and that wide-scale bike lane deployment can maximize congestion benefits.

Lowry and colleagues receive two NSF awards for nanoparticle research

The first grant will fund research on the potential of nanoparticles as a nitrogen delivery system. The second award will allow Lowry to create nano-enabled materials that can contribute to personalized biomanufacturing.

Li discusses role of fin structures in heat transfer

Li, a Ph.D. student in the department, says that his research will have potential applications in nanoscale energy storage and conversion.

Whitehead's TED Talk explains mRNA, delivers hope

Katie Whitehead explains lipid nanoparticles and how mRNA drugs will provide treatments and cures for some of the world’s most deadly diseases and pathogens at the 2021 TED conference in Monterey.

Drone package delivery study published by Scientific Data

Researchers Rodrigues and Samaras believe that the study will advance the physical understanding of in-flight operations for package delivery drones.

Babaei identifies lipid rafts as way COVID-19 invades cells

The groups’ research could have long-term impacts in treating viruses including COVID-19. By understanding the ways that a virus can invade a cell, researchers can work to close that entry point and help individuals to avoid infection.

Rounce joins CEE faculty

David Rounce recently joined CEE as an assistant professor. His research focuses on an open-source global glacier evolution model to improve projections of glacier mass change and runoff.

Nanoparticles for cleaner water

Lowry and his colleagues conducted experiments by incorporating different amounts of sulfur into NZVI particles. They analyzed the resulting SNZVI particles’ properties, including hydrophobicity, electron transfer, and sulfur speciation, and how SNZVI interacted with TCE.

Nanoparticles to immunize plants against heat stress Opens in new window

Greg Lowry and Bob Tilton have created a new type of nanoparticle that may be able to immunize plants against harsh environmental conditions and pathogens.

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Cutting vehicle emissions and inspections via IoT Opens in new window

A new system using remote data transfers and machine learning could cut vehicle emissions, lower testing costs, and drastically reduce the need for in-person emissions testing.

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Shooting for the moon: Making smart cities ethical and sustainable

Bergés is the principal investigator on the Autonomous Technologies for Livability and Sustainability initiative, which won funding from the CMU College of Engineering’s Moonshot 2020 competition.

The future of pesticides and fertilizers Opens in new window

Greg Lowry has demonstrated for the first time the ability of engineered nanoparticles to target specific structures on plant leaves.

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Air pollution, simplified Opens in new window

Researchers from CMU’s College of Engineering are part of a collaboration that has created easy-to-use tools to estimate the societal costs of air pollution.

Electricity for all Opens in new window

Destenie Nock led a study outlining a more equitable model of electricity planning in developing regions like Liberia.

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Flanigan to join CEE faculty in fall 2020

As an instructor, she plans to help create a new generation of civil and environmental engineers who are able to draw upon tools and technologies from across engineering disciplines.

The Value of Information Opens in new window

Research by Matteo Pozzi shows how improper regulation can unintentionally trigger dangerous behaviors of information avoidance from infrastructure managers.

Going with the flow Opens in new window

In solving an age-old physics problem, a team led by Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Jerry Wang has helped enable a future permeated with nanoporous materials.

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Heating and cooling that anticipates your needs Opens in new window

Researchers have created a system that predicts each occupant’s ideal temperature range and changes the room temperature to provide better comfort for all.

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Quantifying transportation relationships Opens in new window

Sean Qian studied the relationship between Uber and public transportation, proving it can vary by time of day and location.

Using AI to detect energy waste

Liu says that what makes LeanFM’s technology successful is that it is designed to comprehensively analyze data collected from existing sensors throughout HVAC systems.