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
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.
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
Encouraging Maine Business Leaders To Adopt Data-Driven Practices
MIE/CEE Professor Jack Lesko, who is also director of engineering research at the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, co-led a study that revealed businesses in that state are behind international trends to implement what is known as Industry 4.0, or real-time data and automation standards.
Exploring the School-to-Work Transition for Civil Engineering Students With Disabilities
FYE Assistant Teaching Professor Andrew Gillen, in collaboration with the University of Nebraska and Utah State University, was awarded a $99,998 NSF grant for “Developing Accessible Pathways to Civil Engineering Industry for Students With Disabilities: Initiating Partnerships With Industry.”