Distinguished Seminar Series
Each semester, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering invites renowned leaders from academia and industry to speak at Northeastern University. Exploring issues of environmental health, sustainable resource engineering and infrastructure security, the Distinguished Seminar Series highlights the latest ideas and research into the most pressing challenges of our time. Seminars are free and open to the public.
Fall 2023 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| September 25, 2023 | Eric Jing Du University of Florida |
Embodied Robotics for Construction |
| October 16, 2023 | Luís M. A. Bettencourt University of Chicago |
Urban Change, Infrastructure and Development: Understanding and assessing needs and solutions from the street level to the globe |
| November 6, 2023 | Paolo Gaudenzi Sapienza University of Rome |
Advances in Smart Structures, Technologies and Applications Within the Development of Green Engineering Solutions |
| November 13, 2023 | Mark Widdowson Virginia Tech |
The East Coast Solution: Water Reuse + Enhanced Aquifer Recharge = Water Security |
| November 20, 2023 | Yelda Turkan Oregon State University |
AI-Driven Development of Digital Twins of the Built Environment |
| November 27, 2023 | Cynthia Chen University of Washington |
Fusing Multiple Biased Datasets to Recover Missing Trips: A Behaviorally-informed Likelihood-based Approach |
Spring 2023 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| February 16, 2023 | Laura Kuhl, Daniel Aldrich, Auroop Ganguly, Mario Sznaier, Moira Zellner | An Update on Infrastructure Resilience |
| April 6, 2023 | CATLR | Developing and Communicating Your Identity as an Educator |
Fall 2022 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| September 19, 2022 | Brian Sullivan Tetra Tech Infrastructure Northeast |
Lunch & Learn: Interdisciplinary analysis and decision-making for complex infrastructure projects |
| September 26, 2022 | Amit Kanvinde University of California – Davis. |
AISC TR Higgins Lecture: Column Base Connections: Research, Design, and a Look to the Future |
| September 29, 2022 | Cliff Davidson Syracuse University |
AEESP Distinguished Lecture: The Interactions of Airborne Particles with Surfaces |
| October 13, 2022 | Yukio Tamura Chongqing University |
Damping in Buildings for Wind Resistant Design: Amplitude Dependency and Critical Tip-drift-ratio of Dynamic Properties |
| October 24, 2022 | Jane McKee Smith U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center |
Coastal Resilience and Adaptation |
| October 27, 2022 | Ron Klemencic Magnusson Klemencic Associates |
COE Distinguished Seminar: The secret to everything! |
| November 3, 2022 | Sez Atamturktur Pennsylvania State University |
Probabilistic Approaches to Model Calibration: State-Aware Bayesian Inference |
| November 7, 2022 | Paul Miller Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management |
Lunch & Learn: Navigating regulatory authority under the federal clean air act as air pollution science evolves |
| November 28, 2022 | Jani Ingram Northern Arizona University |
DEIJ Seminar: Environmental Health Investigations with the Navajo Nation |
| December 5, 2022 | Alexander Baklanov World Meteorological Organization |
Lunch & Learn: Seamless Prediction: From Earth Systems to Integrated Urban Hydrometeorology, Climate and Environment Systems |
Spring 2022 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| March 14, 2022 | Rao Govindaraju Purdue University |
Estimation of Field-Scale Variability of Soil Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Contending with Uncertainty |
| April 13, 2022 | Lily Song Northeastern University |
DEIJ Seminar: Urban Citizenship for Infrastructure Repair |
| April 14, 2022 | Steven Smith Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
Lunch & Learn: History (and future) of the atmosphere: Emissions data, modeling, and uncertainty |
Fall 2021 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| December 9, 2021 | Andrew Myers Northeastern University |
Preliminary Simulation and Testing of a Novel Shallow-draft, Wind-Yawing Floating Wind Turbine |
| December 2, 2021 | Elizabeth L. Sweet University of Massachusetts Boston |
DEIJ Seminar: DEIJ! How we do it, and how can we take the call for justice seriously in work with communities |
| November 17, 2021 | Sara Wylie Northeastern University |
Lunch & Learn: Engineering Environmental Data Justice: From citizen science to community data |
| November 15, 2021 | Vilas Mujumdar IAB |
Developing Resilient Civil Infrastructure Systems – a Convergent Approach |
| October 25, 2021 | Barzin Mobasher Arizona State University |
Flexural Modeling and Design of FRC, TRC, and UHPC Cement Composites |
| September 30, 2021 | Bill Roache & Mike McArdle VHB |
Lunch & Learn: Building a Sustainable, Resilient and Equitable Future |
Spring 2021 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| Apri 8, 2021 | Jennie Stephens Northeastern University |
DEIJ Seminar: Diversifying Power: Why We Need Antiracist Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy |
| March 25, 2021 | Katherine Simeon & Roben Torosyan CATLR |
CATLR Professional Development Seminar: Evidence-Based Teaching in Engineering |
| February 25, 2021 | Deb Niemeier University of Maryland, College Park |
COE Distinguished Seminar: Can AI Models Advance Our Understanding of Exposure to Local Scale Mobile Source Pollutants in Highly Urbanized Areas? |
Fall 2020 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| October 19, 2020 | Paige Novak University of Minnesota |
Distributed Resource Recovery From Brewery Wastewater |
| November 5, 2020 | Burcu Akinci Carnegie Mellon University |
Context Driven Analytics and AI for Infrastructure and Facility Management |
| November 9, 2020 | Michelle Bell, Yale Adrienne Katner, LSU Andrew George, UNC |
Panel Discussion: Using Community-based Research Strategies to Address Environmental Health Concerns |
| November 16, 2020 | Laura Lowes University of Washington |
Simulation to Advance Earthquake Engineering of Concrete Wall Buildings and Reduce Earthquake Risk |
| December 3, 2020 | Priscilla Nelson Colorado School of Mines |
Geological Risk and Underground Construction |
Spring 2020 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| April 1, 2020 | Matthew Eckelman Northeastern University |
Consumption, Coronavirus, and the Industrial Ecosystem |
| February 20, 2020 | Gerald E. Buckwalter American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) |
Engineers Week Distinguished Seminar: Anticipating The Future Built Environment |
Fall 2019 Semester
Spring 2019 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| March 25, 2019 | Ertugrul Taciroglu University of California Los Angeles |
Big Data –A New Research Frontier in Civil Engineering |
| March 21, 2019 | Danny Reible Texas Tech University |
Managing the Physical, Chemical and Ecological Challenges of Sediments |
| February 21, 2019 | Matthew Eckelman, NU (Moderator) Qin Jim Chen, NU (Panelist) Auroop R. Ganguly, NU (Panelist) Paul Kirshen, UMass (Panelist) Indrani Ghosh, Kleinfelder (Panelist) |
Panel Discussion: Climate Change in Boston: Preparing for Impacts |
Fall 2018 Semester
Date |
Speaker |
Title |
| September 17, 2018 | Ehab Meselhe The Water Institute of the Gulf |
Biophysical Analysis of a Proposed Network of Sediment Diversions |
| September 24, 2018 | Chimay Anumba University of Florida |
Cyber-Physical Systems Development For Construction Applications |
| October 4, 2018 | Kartick Chandran Columbia University |
Carbon Based Interactions In Autotrophic N-Cycle Communities |
| October 15, 2018 | Lynn Hildemann Stanford University |
Personal Exposure to Indoor Air Pollutants –Are You to Blame, or is it the Building’s Fault? |
| November 1, 2018 | Cynthia Barnhart MIT |
COE Distinguished Seminar: Air Transportation Optimization |
| November 5, 2018 | Theodore P. Zoli HNTB Corporation |
A Critical Look at Bridge Design Practice: Beyond Material Efficiency |
| November 15, 2018 | Carmelo Gentile Politecnico di Milano |
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring of Historic Structures |
| November 29, 2018 | Robert Gilbert The University of Texas at Austin |
Lessons From Forensic Geotechnical Engineering |
| December 3, 2018 | Ameet Pinto Northeastern University |
Who’s In Your Water? |
Spring 2018 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| January 18, 2018 | Joan Rose Michigan State University |
Global Pathogen Risks and Sanitation Goals |
| February 22, 2018 | Soroosh Sorooshian University of California Irvine |
COE Distinguished Seminar: Climate Variability and the Global Hydrologic Cycle: Efforts in Monitoring, Modeling, and Challenges in Forecast Changes |
| March 16, 2018 | Glenn R. Bell Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. |
Societal Challenges and Civil Engineering Leadership: Implications for Industry-Academia Partnership |
Fall 2017 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| September 28, 2017 | Darcy Bullock Purdue University |
Real Time Traffic Congestion Dashboards for Decision Makers |
| October 6, 2017 | Hui Hu Iowa State University |
Fluid-Structure Interactions (FSI) of Built Structures in Violent Wind Storms |
| October 16, 2017 | Michel Boufadel New Jersey Institute of Technology |
Quantification of pore water hydrodynamics in beaches: Impact of tide, waves, evaporation, and buoyancy |
| October 30, 2017 | Satish Nagarajaiah Rice University |
Sparse and Low-rank Methods for Structural System Identification |
| November 13, 2017 | Bill Spencer University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Advances in Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure: from Research to Engineering Practice |
| December 4, 2017 | Jerry Lynch University of Michigan |
Long-Term Management and Control of Critical Infrastructure Systems using Cyber-Physical System Architectures |
Spring 2017 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| January 26, 2017 | Igor Linkov US Army Engineer Research and Development Center |
Risk and Resilience: Current Developments and Trends |
| February 2, 2017 | David Dzombak Carnegie Mellon University |
COE Distinguished Seminar: Climate Change Adaptation for Infrastructure: A Grand Challenge for Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| February 23, 2017 | Gregory Deierlein Stanford University |
COE Distinguished Seminar and 2016-2017 EERI Distinguished Seminar: From Performance-Based Engineering to Earthquake Resilience |
| April 6, 2017 | William Lam The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
Transport Smart in Congested Road Networks |
| April 10, 2017 | G. Edward Gibson Arizona State University |
If I knew then, what I know now… |
| April 13, 2017 | Branko Glisic Princeton University |
Strain-Based Structural Health Monitoring using Advanced Sensing Technologies |
Fall 2016 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| September 23, 2016 | Ashish Sharma University of New South Wales |
Estimating Design Floods in a Warming Climate – Gaps, Challenges, and the Way Forward |
| October 24, 2016 | Harry Shenton University of Delaware |
Structural Health Monitoring: Case of the Indian River Inlet Bridge |
| November 14, 2016 | Menachem Elimelech Yale University |
2016-2017 AEESP Foundation Distinguished Lecture Series: High-Performance Membranes for Energy-Efficient Desalination and Wastewater Reuse |
| November 17, 2016 | Shuyang Cao Tongji University, Shanghai |
Advanced physical and numerical modeling of atmospheric boundary layer flow for wind engineering applications |
| November 21, 2016 | Frederick Hammes Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Sciences and Technology |
MicrobiHomes: managing building plumbing biofilms through material selection |
| November 28, 2016 | Mehrdad Sasani Northeastern University |
From elements to systems and from collapse to resilience under extreme events |
Spring 2016 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| February 11, 2016 | Haeng-Ki Lee Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology |
NT- and BT-based functional construction materials and low-carbon, eco-friendly construction materials |
| February 25, 2016 | William Howard CDM Smith |
The Precarious State of the World’s Water |
| February 29, 2016 | Lori Graham-Brady Johns Hopkins University |
What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us: the Case for Stochastic Multi-scale Mechanics |
| March 14, 2016 | Michael Lowry University of Idaho |
Tools and Strategies for Improving Citywide Bicycle Travel |
| April 5, 2016 | Glenn Bell Simpson Gumpertz & Heger |
Supercharging Your Career and Making a Difference |
| April 20, 2016 | David Mendonca NSF, RPI |
Research Opportunities in Infrastructure Management and Extreme Events (IMEE) at the National Science Foundation |
Fall 2015 Semester
Spring 2015 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| February 12, 2015 | Prof. Lucio Soibelman University of Southern California |
Sustainable Infrastructure Design, Construction, and Operation |
| April 9, 2015 | Prof. Steve Flynn Northeastern University |
A Strategic Framework for Advancing Societal Resilience and the Role of Resilience Engineering |
Fall 2014 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| September 15, 2014 | Prof. Dan Kuchma Tufts University |
Advanced Measurement and Data Analysis Methods in Structural Engineering Research |
| September 25, 2014 | Prof. Markus Buehler Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Making Nano Big |
| October 20, 2014 | Prof. Auroop Ganguly Northeastern University |
Climate Adaptation and Hazards Resilience with Big Data and Bigger Models |
| November 3, 2014 | Prof. Peggy Johnson Penn State University |
Waterway Transitions and Restoration at Bridges |
Spring 2014 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| January 30, 2014 | Prof. Taha Marhaba New Jersey Institute of Technology |
Natural Organic Matter and Disinfection-By Products Formation Potential Characterization |
| February 24, 2014 | Prof. Paul Westerhoff Arizona State University |
Nitrosamines: Why it has Emerged as a New Disinfection By-product of Concern for Drinking Water Systems |
| February 27, 2014 | Prof. Reginald DesRoches Georgia Institute of Technology |
Seismic Retrofit of Structures Using Shape Memory Alloys and Innovative Systems |
Fall 2013 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| October 3, 2013 | Prof. Dennis Lettenmaier University of Washington |
Understanding the Implications of Climate Change and Seasonal Climate Variations On Regional Hydrology |
| October 7, 2013 | Prof. Chris Letchford Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
Wind Loads in Tornadoes |
| November 4, 2013 | Prof. Andrew Whittaker University of Buffalo |
In-plane Response of Low Aspect Ratio, Steel-concrete Composite Shear Walls |
| November 14, 2013 | Prof. Jacobo Bielak Carnegie Mellon University |
COE Distinguished Seminar: End-to-End Earthquake Simulation: From the Source to Propagation Path, Site Effects, and Seismic Response of Building Clusters |
| December 5, 2013 | Prof. April Gu Northeastern University |
Toxicogenomics-enabled Technology Platform For Water Toxicity Assessment and Monitoring |
Spring 2013 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| January 17, 2013 | Prof. Paul O’Gorman MIT |
Intensification of Precipitation Extremes With Warming: Theory, Simulations, and Observations |
| February 4, 2013 | Prof. Amit Kanvinde U. California Davis |
Forensic Analysis of Eccentrically Braced Frame Fracture in the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake: Multi-scale Simulations, Tests, and Findings |
| February 11, 2013 | Prof. Claire Welty U. Maryland B.C. |
Regional Climate Variability and Patterns of Urban Development – Impacts on the Urban Water Cycle and Nutrient Export |
| April 4, 2013 | Prof. Bruce Ellingwood Georgia Institute of Technology |
COE Distinguished Seminar: Performance-Based Engineering for Multiple Hazards: The Role of Structural Reliability and Risk Assessment |
Fall 2012 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| September 13, 2012 | Prof. Horia Hangan The University of Western Ontario |
Wind Resiliance and Sustainability |
| September 20, 2012 | Lawrence Novak Portland Cement Association |
The Philosophy of Engineering the Burj Khalifa: The World’s Tallest Building |
| October 18, 2012 | Prof. Helen Poynton UMass – Boston |
Talking to Genes: Understanding Pollutant Exposures through Gene Expression Analysis in Aquatic and Marine Invertebrates |
| October 25, 2012 | Prof. Peter Furth Northeastern University |
Low-Stress Biking and Bike Network Connectivity |
| December 3, 2012 | Prof. Jamie Guest Johns Hopkins Univeristy |
Design with Topology Optimization – From Material Architectures to Structural Systems |
Spring 2012 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| January 26, 2012 | Prof. Charles Shackelford Colorado State University |
Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Research in Geoenvironmental Engineering at Colorado State University |
| January 30, 2012 | Prof. Robert Oglesby University of Nebraska |
Modeling Future Climate Change: Global and Regional Issues |
| February 9, 2012 | Prof. Ming Wang Northeastern University |
Sensor-Enriched Sustainable and Secured Infrastructure Systems |
| April 11, 2012 | Surendra P. Shah Northwestern University |
COE Distinguished Seminar: Nanoscale Modification of Cementitious Materials |
Fall 2011 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| September 21, 2011 | Prof. Magued Iskander Polytechnic Institute of New York University | Modeling of Soil Structure Interaction and Flow Using Transparent Soils |
| September 27, 2011 | Prof. Cliff Schexnayder Arizona State University |
Engineering the Great Inka Road |
| October 11, 2011 | Prof. Zhen Chen University of Missouri-Columbia | Simulation-Based Engineering Science (SBES) to Promote Interdisciplinary Research Education |
| October 18, 2011 | Prof. Robert Tremblay Ecole Polytechnic, Canada |
Innovative Steel Braced Frame Structure for Resistance to Earthquakes |
| November 8, 2011 | Prof. Soon-Duck Kwon Chonbuk National University, Korea |
Bad Wind and Good Wind: From Frightful Structural Threat to Valuable Energy Source |
| December 6, 2011 | Prof. Michael Shuler Cornell University |
Do We Know Enough To Reconstruct Life In Vitro? |
Spring 2011 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| January 18, 2011 | Prof. Greg Kopp University of Western Ontario, Canada |
Huffing and Puffing and Blowing It Down: Can we mitigate damage to houses in severe storms? |
| January 25, 2011 | Dr. Laurent Mevel INRIA, France |
The Local Approach to Change Detection, Diagnosis, and Model Validation: Application to Vibration Mechanics |
| February 22, 2011 | Prof. Francis de los Reyes North Carolina State University |
From Function to Phylogeny: Determining Who’s Doing What in an Environmental System |
| March 22, 2011 | Prof. Edward Bouwer Johns Hopkins University |
The Illusion of Certainty: Health Benefits and Risks |
Fall 2010 Semester
| Date | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| September 17, 2010 | Prof. Chris Hendrickson Carnegie Mellon University |
Four Examples of Green Engineering Design |
| September 30, 2010 | Prof. Cliff Davidson Syracuse University |
The Emerging Discipline of Sustainable Engineering |
| October 14, 2010 | Prof. Kitty Hancock Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
Geospatially Enabling Civil Engineering |
| October 21, 2010 | Ramon Gilsanz Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP |
The February 10, 2010 Maule Earthquake in Chile: Damage Reconnaissance and Implications on Seismic Design |
| November 4, 2010 | Prof. Lynn Katz University of Texas at Austin |
Processes for the Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products from Water: Preparing for Indirect and Direct Water Reuse |
| December 2, 2010 | Dr. Nancy Love University of Michigan |
At the Confluence of Nutrients, Pharmaceuticals and Sustainability: Emerging Issues in Managing Wastewater |