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
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
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
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
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.
CommunitySpotlight Stories
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.
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.
Engineering in Action
PhD Research for Impact
Always fascinated by the ocean, Tyler McCormack, PhD, 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, civil and environmental engineering, 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, 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
Researchers Discover Microplastics at All Ocean Depths
MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins was featured on the NSF news story “Researchers discover microplastics at all ocean depths,” over the discovery of microplastics forming a “plastic smog” at all ocean depths, potentially disrupting marine food chains.
Summit Explores Complex Risk Science
A one-day invitation-only summit event titled “Boston-Area Complex Risk Science: Exploring new Frontiers and a New Community for Understanding Risk,” was held on June 9, 2025, at Northeastern University. Summit sponsors included CEE Distinguished Professor Auroop Ganguly, who leads Northeastern University’s Sustainability and Data Sciences (SDS) Lab, as well as the Institute for Experiential AI, AI for Climate and Sustainability (AI4CaS), and Ryan McGranaghan, research scientist and data scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
SDS Lab Research Featured at Congressional Testimony
A written statement on research conducted by the Sustainability and Data Sciences Laboratory at Northeastern University (SDS Lab) led by Auroop Ganguly, CEE distinguished professor, was featured at the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Border Management, Federal Workforce and Regulatory Affairs, as part of a Congressional testimony presented on June 10, 2025.
PhD Spotlight: John Moody, PhD’25, Civil and Environmental Engineering
John Moody, PhD’25, civil and environmental engineering, focused his research on improving the maintenance of urban rail systems, designing strategies to increase available time for maintenance activities and frameworks to quantify and act on the trade-offs between maintenance and revenue of passenger-carrying service.