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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
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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
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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
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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
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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

Ben Lanava
BS Environmental Engineering, 2024

Ben Lanava, E’24, environmental engineering, has had a research assistant role, two co-ops, two Dialogues of Civilization, and an...

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Reem Gawish
BS Civil Engineering, 2024

After two co-ops locally, Reem Gawish, E’24, civil engineering, had her third and final co-op at F-1 in Singapore...

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First-Ever National Offshore Wind Research Center

CEE Professor Andrew Myers, CEE/MIE Associate Research Professor Nathan Post, and CEE CDM Smith Professor and Department Chair Jerome Hajjar were selected to join a first-of-its-kind $11.9 million DOE research center, Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind (ARROW), dedicated to accelerate reliable and equitable offshore wind energy deployment across the nation.

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Jerome Hajjar on staff with President Aoun at the honors ceremony

Hajjar Named University Distinguished Professor

Department Chair and CDM Smith Professor Jerome F. Hajjar was named a University Distinguished Professor, which is the highest honor the university can bestow on a faculty member. The appointment was announced at the Spring 2024 honors convocation.

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student team in group with concrete canoe at competition

Student Group Named 2024 ASCE Distinguished Chapter

The Northeastern University chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), was nationally recognized on multiple fronts, including being named the 2024 ASCE Distinguished Chapter for Region 1, and a recipient of a 2024 Certificate of Commendation.

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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

New Faculty Spotlight: Yang (Gilbert) Ye

Gilbert Ye joins the civil and environmental engineering department in January 2025 as an assistant professor.

Julia Varshavsky

Rapidly Screening for Environmental Toxins

Bouvé/CEE Assistant Professor Julia Varshavsky’s research on “Analyzing High-Throughput Assay Data To Advance the Rapid Screening of Environmental Chemicals for Human Reproductive Toxicity” was published in Reproductive Toxicology.

Propelling Efforts To Limit Worldwide Plastic Pollution

MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins is part of a delegation involved in what could be the final round in the negotiation process for an international plastic pollution treaty that would limit plastic pollution worldwide. The delegation is led by Maria Ivanova, CSSH professor and director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern.

Northeastern Research Team Aids North Carolina Hurricane Relief

A student and faculty research team, led by CEE Assistant Professor Kelsey Pieper, is assisting hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina by creating databases to determine what buildings and wells have been affected by the storm. Working alongside Pieper are Professor Edward Beighley, Cassidy King, E’26, chemical engineering and environmental engineering, and Kyla Drewry, PhD’26, civil and environmental engineering