Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Northeastern University College of Engineering
professor working in research lab

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

$39M

external research funding (2022-24)

15

young investigator awards

4

research centers and institutes

39

tenured/tenure-track faculty

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.

cee infographic about programs and research

Recent News

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Image for Climate and Wildfires Drive Persistent U.S. Formaldehyde Levels
Faculty

Climate and Wildfires Drive Persistent U.S. Formaldehyde Levels

CEE Assistant Professor Shang Liu’s research on “Surface Atmospheric Formaldehyde Trends in the U.S. Driven by Temperature-Dependent Biogenic Precursor Emissions and Influenced by Wildfires” was published in ACS ES&T Air.

Image for The Connection Between the Urban Heat Island Effect and Highway Construction
Faculty

The Connection Between the Urban Heat Island Effect and Highway Construction

Recent research from CSSH/CEE Associate Professor Serena Alexander explains the impact of highway construction on urban “heat islands” and proposes initiatives to mitigate the consequential uptick in temperature from these projects.

Image for New AI Tool to Keep India’s Transportation Running in Monsoon Season Made by Northeastern Graduate and Professor
Alumni

New AI Tool to Keep India’s Transportation Running in Monsoon Season Made by Northeastern Graduate and Professor

CEE PhD alumni, Udit Bhatia, PhD’18, and COE Distinguished Professor Auroop Ganguly, have co-founded a startup company based on a tool called AIResQ, an AI tool that predicts the magnitude and impact of flooding in Indian cities, especially helpful during monsoon season.

Image for Plans to Fill the Sky with Satellites May Have Disastrous Consequences
Faculty

Plans to Fill the Sky with Satellites May Have Disastrous Consequences

SpaceX and Reflect Orbital have plans to send up a vast quantity of satellites to space, aiming to increase the number of data centers or use sunlight reflecting space mirrors. CSSH/CEE Assistant Professor Tiffany Nichols helps weigh in on the drastic effects of these endeavors, warning that the disruption of the day-night cycle will affect all life on Earth in potentially disastrous ways.