Research
Convergent research with collaboration across government, industry, and academia
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering attracts exceptional faculty who conduct state-of-the-art research, are dedicated educators at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and advance the state of professional practice. Faculty conduct interdisciplinary research in department research areas, as part of the college’s multidisciplinary research centers, and within their laboratories, as well as working across the university, and with industry, government, and academia.
The department also has dedicated staff who provide a range of operational services, including laboratory technicians, a dedicated machine shop, and budget and finance.
View faculty profiles including faculty laboratory research, and recent Annual Reports.
Quick Facts
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering education and research missions are focused on Urban Engineering, anchored by several multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional centers and programs. Building on current strengths and expanding into new and vital areas, three overarching interdisciplinary research and education thrusts of the department include Environmental Health, Civil Infrastructure Security, and Sustainable Resource Engineering, with subthemes and disciplinary excellence in each of these areas. We have premier departmental strengths in four integrated enabling technologies that include Simulation (both computational and experimental), Smart Sensing, and Data and Network Science, and Urban Informatics.
q.wang@northeastern.edu
Urban and social resilience; geo-social networking; coupled, human-natural systems, natural disaster response and evacuation; urban computing
ya.zhang@northeastern.edu
Air quality; atmospheric chemistry; cloud/aerosol microphysics; sensitivity and uncertainty analysis; multiscale atmospheric modeling and forecasting; climate and Earth system modeling; health impact assessment; eco-environmental sustainability; human-Earth system interactions
Recent News
Oakland Engineering Students Design Toys to Teach STEM to Elementary Schoolers
First Year Engineering Associate Teaching Professor Leila Keyvani Someh led Cornerstone of Engineering students at Northeastern’s Oakland campus in researching, designing, and building toys. The students then presented their toys and projects to elementary schoolers and teachers.
Learning from Tragedies During Historical Building Renovations
CAMD/CEE Associate Professor David Fannon provides insight into the risks of renovations that may lead to tragedies like the recent fire at the Old Stock Exchange in Copenhagen.
Cloud Seeding May Have Caused Record-Breaking Rainfall in Dubai
CEE Distinguished Professor Auroop Ganguly explains what cloud seeding is and why it may have caused the recent flooding in Dubai. The process has been met with concerns about its efficacy and its impact on the environment.
How Congestion Pricing is Shaping the Future of Transportation
CEE Professor Peter Furth explains the benefits of congestion pricing, which aims to reduce traffic and pollution by charging fees to drive in metropolitan areas. It has been deployed in London, Stockholm, and Singapore and is scheduled to begin in June in sections of New York City.