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CE Home > Graduate Studies > Research Areas
Research Areas
Faculty in the Department of Civil Engineering conduct research in the following areas:
Environmental Engineering
Our environmental engineering research program seeks innovative and
sustainable solutions to soil-, air-, and water-related problems in
natural and engineered systems. Focus areas include the following:
environmental chemistry, water and wastewater treatment, soil and
groundwater remediation, environmental microbiology, pollution
prevention, energy and environment, air pollution, and pollutant fate
and transport.
Geomechanics
Geomechanics focuses on the applications of engineering techniques and scientific principles towards the study of rock, soil, and subsurface fluids. The program comprises the specialty fields of rock mechanics, soil mechanics, soil dynamics, groundwater flow, pavement materials, and geoengineering systems modeling.
Structural Engineering
Structural engineering places a strong emphasis on analyzing and solving engineering problems associated with manmade structures. Research areas include: earthquake-resistant design, durability, structural repair and rehabilitation, composite structural systems, behavior of composite plates and fiber composites, high-strength materials, bridge rating, structural safety and reliability, large deformations and stability, and computational methods.
Mechanics and Physics of Solids and Fluids
Mechanics has had a rich history in defining, inspiring, and enabling innovation in many scientific and technological fields. Because it provides a common rigorous foundation for numerous science and engineering disciplines, its imprint can be found in numerous critical bodies of knowledge that attempt to understand, predict, and affect the world around us. The future opportunities for the advancement and application of mechanics are limitless. Quoting academician G.I. Barenblatt, solid mechanics is “an age old science perpetually in rebirth”. The department's Mechanics and Physics of Solids and Fluids group focuses on the development and application of fundamental concepts in mechanics as they pertain to the solution of challenging new problems in diverse areas such as materials science, biomechanics, geoengineering, structural engineering, micro and nanotechnology, and earth and atmospheric sciences. The core group, together with its affiliated members, embodies a world-class expertise in theoretical, experimental and computational mechanics that puts it in a unique position to tackle exciting new applications with an uncompromising rigor and quality.
Transportation Engineering
Transportation engineering is a multi-modal field that includes highway, transit, aviation, maritime, rail, and pipeline systems. It considers the user, the vehicle, and the infrastructure required to move people and goods safely and efficiently within and between cities. Topics include highway engineering, traffic engineering, pavement design, transit operations, transportation planning and policy, and systems analysis. Advanced monitoring systems are used to collect transportation data and computer simulation models are used to analyze that data.
Water Resources Engineering
Water resources engineering incorporates environmental, geophysical, and engineering fluid dynamics including processes that are important in understanding the behavior of water, and changes in water quality in natural and engineered systems. General areas of research include hydrologic processes, environmental hydraulics, hydraulic structures, fluid mechanics, and river engineering.
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