Annual Report
2024-2025
This past year, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has advanced solutions for resilient infrastructure and sustainable cities. From faculty leading cutting-edge research in climate adaptation and smart transportation, to students earning national recognition for their work in sustainable design, we are proud of the impact we’ve made.
I invite you to explore our digital annual report, where you’ll find more stories of discovery, collaboration, and innovation — along with key statistics that capture the breadth of our accomplishments in 2024–2025.
Thank you for your continued support of the College of Engineering and the incredible work happening here at Northeastern.
Edward Beighley
Professor and Interim Chair
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Top Stories
Age-Inclusive Equitable Communities
CEE Associate Professor Qi “Ryan” Wang and ECE Associate Professor Yanzhi Wang, in collaboration with the University of Florida and the University of Virginia, received a $1.6 million NSF grant for “Strengthening Elderly Mobility in Urban Landscapes: Towards Age-Inclusive and Equitable Communities.”
AI Weather Forecasting for Military Readiness
CEE Professor Auroop Ganguly is the lead PI for a $1 million grant from the Air Force Weather titled “Weather Ensemble Analytics and Visualization Environment (WEAVE)”
NEW Dual MS with UC Dublin
University College Dublin and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northeastern launched a double MS in Sustainability Engineering Leadership, which will enable students to study in both Boston and Dublin to address the global demand for sustainability expertise in engineering.
Stats
Total Enrollment (Fall 2024)
46% of undergraduate and 49% of graduate students are women
External Research Awards (FY21-25)
Distinguished TT/T faculty
among whom a remarkable 42% have received Young Investigator Awards, and an impressive 28% have been honored with an NSF CAREER Award
coop opportunities secured by CEE students with 218 unique employers (FY21-25)
unique BS degrees
MS degrees plus 6 concentrations
PhD degrees
graduate certificates
Faculty Highlights
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Jerome Hajjar, the CEE University Distinguished and CDM Smith Professor (and former chair), was honored with three prestigious awards in 2025: the William H. Wisely American Civil Engineer Award for his exceptional leadership in advancing civil engineering education and his work on resilient and sustainable steel and composite structures, including computational analysis and earthquake engineering; the BSCES College Educator Award from the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers for his inspirational teaching and mentorship of students; and the Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC) Distinguished Member Award, which recognizes his years of active service and outstanding contributions to the organization’s mission, highlighting his significant impact across the profession, academia, and specialized research. |
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MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins, in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire and the Sea Education Association, is leading a $1.3 million NSF grant for “Nutrient-Mediated Interactions Between Plastic-Derived Dissolved Organic Carbon and the Biological Carbon Pump.” |
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MES/CEE Associate Professor Samuel Muñoz, Assistant Professor James Dennedy-Frank, and CEE Affiliated Faculty Geoffrey C. Trussell were awarded a NSF grant for “Working with communities to reduce flood risk and increase resilience.” |
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MES/CEE Assistant Professor Cristina Schultz, in collaboration with Boston University, was awarded a NSF grant for “ULTRA-Data: Synthesizing the Role of Shallow Benthic Fluxes in Coastal Carbon Cycle Along the East Coast of the United States.” The research aims to understand the processes that can have a large role in controlling coastal water quality, and offer information that could help develop restoration projects and inform policy decisions. |
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BioE/ECE Affiliated Faculty Joseph Ayers, MES/CEE Professor Mark Patterson, CEE University Distinguished and CDM Smith Professor Jerome Hajjar, ECE Professor Milica Stojanovic, and CEE/MES Associate Professor Amy Mueller were awarded a patent for “Robotic aquaculture system and methods.” |
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CEE Professor Ming Wang was awarded a patent for “Durable enzyme-based biosensor and process for drop deposition immobilization.” |
Student Highlights
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Julieta Moradei, E’16, civil engineering, was one of the innovator fellows who was awarded the 2025 Women Who Empower Innovator Award. |
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VHB established a $1 million endowed scholarship fund in the name of founders William “Bill” Roache and the late John Kennedy, both Northeastern alumni, to support undergraduate academic excellence in civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University, continuing a long history of collaboration between the department and the company. |
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Brooke A. Goggins, PhD’28, civil and environmental engineering, was a recipient of an 2025 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Awards honorable mention. This prestigious program recognizes outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers early in their careers. |
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Nazira Cisse, E’24, environmental engineering, received a Graduate Education for Minorities (GEM) PhD Engineering Fellowship, which funds graduate studies in science and engineering for outstanding students from underrepresented communities. |
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Negar Asadi, PhD ’26, interdisciplinary engineering, under the supervision of CEE/Khoury Assistant Professor Fatemeh Ghoreishi, received the Best Paper Finalist Award at the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum. |
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Ise Okhiria, KCS ’25, and Alyssa Lee, S ’25, who are recipients of the Fall 2023 PEAK Experiences Awards and advised by CEE/Khoury Assistant Professor Fatemeh Ghoreishi, will present the results of their project in a publication at the 2024 IEEE MIT Undergraduate Research Technology Conference (URTC). |
PhD Spotlights
Kyla Drewry, PhD’25, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Kyla Drewry, PhD’25, civil and environmental engineering, researched access to safe drinking water supplied by private wells. She presented at various conferences, was published in Environmental Science and Technology, and is starting a full time position in fall 2025 as a water resources engineer.
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.
Joseph Rodriguez, PhD’25, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Joseph Rodriguez, PhD’25, civil and environmental engineering, conducted research funded by the Department of Energy on developing AI-based control strategies to improve transit reliability and efficiency. The proposed strategies and technologies have the potential to transform how frontline transit staff deliver service.
