abstract smart city
Urban Engineering

With a strategic focus on urban engineering, Northeastern’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is at the forefront of interdisciplinary research and education in the evolving fields of environmental health, civil infrastructure security, and sustainable resource engineering.

Research Thrusts
gloved hand holding beaker
Environmental Health

Snell Professor and Associate Dean for Research Akram Alshawabkeh was awarded $13.2M from the NIH for the multi-institutional and interdisciplinary research project for environmental influences of child health outcomes in Puerto Rico.

Environmental Health
image of a drone and three lights
Civil Infrastructure Security

Yujie Yan, PhD student, focuses research on developing autonomous unmanned aerial systems to conduct routine inspection and post-disaster assessment of infrastructure.

Civil Infrastructure Security
image of faculty at computer
Sustainable Resource Engineering

Professor Auroop Ganguly, director of the Sustainability and Data Sciences Laboratory, uses technologies such as artificial intelligence and deep machine learning to enhance climate science understanding and inform policy.

Sustainable Resource Engineering
group of students working outside
Student Life

Our students are engaged in critical engineering challenges, both locally and globally. From Engineers Without Borders to the American Society of Civil Engineers—there is something for everyone to have fun while expanding your knowledge.

Community

Spotlight Stories

Benjamin Lanava
BS Environmental Engineering, 2024

Benjamin Lanava, E’24, environmental engineering, received a Udall Undergraduate Scholarship Honorable Mention.

Read More
Kate Duffy, PhD'21, and Thomas Vandal, PhD'18
Interdisciplinary Engineering

Interdisciplinary engineering alumni Kate Duffy, PhD'21, and Thomas Vandal, PhD'18, both worked as NASA scientists before creating the new...

Read More
Samuel Munoz

NSF CAREER Award to Improve Flood Hazard Assessments

MES/CEE Assistant Professor Samuel Muñoz was awarded a $718K NSF CAREER award for “Sedimentary signatures of large riverine floods to constrain risk and build resiliency.”

Read Full Story
Jerome Hajjar in audience at Annual Academic Awards Convocation.

Hajjar Recognized at 2022 Academic Awards Convocation

CEE Chair & CDM Smith Professor Jerome F. Hajjar, recently elected as a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, was featured in a video during the annual Academic Awards Convocation.

Read Full Story

Faculty Position Available

The department is seeking candidates for tenured or tenure-track appointments at the assistant, associate or full professor level in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

View Open Positions

Engineering in Action

PhD Research for Impact

Always fascinated by the ocean, Tyler McCormack (PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering) found his calling at Northeastern in studying wave mechanics. His research—based on inexpensive optical methods—is part of a new approach to monitoring the ocean’s near-shore environment, where deploying traditional instruments can be difficult, expensive, and dangerous.

World-Renowned Cooperative Education

Te’Erica Eason is pursuing a BS in Environmental Engineering. She is also on the varsity basketball team and an e-board member of the New England Water and Environmental Association. She says co-op is her guiding light and so far worked at WSP USA on hydropower. She hopes to open her own business in water distribution systems in undeveloped rural areas when she graduates.

World-Renowned Cooperative Education

Jude Arbogast, BS, Civil Engineering, has done two co-ops at Suffolk Construction—one in scheduling and staffing, and the other in the field where he found his love of construction management. He says co-op allowed him to put his knowledge to the test and find out what he really wanted to do.

PhD Research for Impact

Nicholas Briggs (PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering) has used his Northeastern University experience to study composite materials—steel and concrete—under seismic loads, the stress exerted on structures by an earthquake. Working with teams in Northeastern’s “STReSS lab,” he’s gained experience to pave the way for both the practical and human sides of his career.

MS Co-op for Career Opportunities

When Ece Alan (MS in Sustainable Building Systems) came to Northeastern from Istanbul, Turkey, the first thing she appreciated was the welcoming atmosphere for international students. Later, it was the hands-on learning and a co-op experience with RDH Building Science in Seattle—which matched her with the skills to find a job at one of her dream engineering firms.

Recent News

Assessing the Environmental Impact of Discarded Unexploded Ordnances

CEE/MES Associate Professor Loretta Fernandez explains the environmental risks of unexploded munitions and the toxic heavy metals they contain being left underwater. Lead and mercury, among other toxic chemicals, can leach into ocean water, ground water, and soil sediment. 

Developing a Sustainability Career from a Mechanical Engineering Foundation

A master’s degree from Northeastern and a co-op at BR + A helped Tammy Ngo, MS’23, sustainable building systems, change her career trajectory from mechanical engineering to sustainable building design.

Building a Floating Pier to Provide Aid to Gaza

CEE/MES Professor Qin Jim Chen says the construction of a floating pier to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza will present many engineering challenges, but none are insurmountable. 

Ganguly Team Awarded Funds to Develop Urban Visualization and Data Analysis Toolkit

Industry partner Kitware, a software development company who is collaborating with CEE Distinguished Professor Auroop Ganguly and his research team, was awarded $1.6 million in DOE Phase II SBIR funds for the development of an Urban Visualization and Data Analysis Toolkit to address urban climate change threats. The Northeastern team will develop translational quantitative methods for the analysis of interconnected infrastructure systems.