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4/12/2024
Xiaofeng Liu, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, was named a fellow of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute.
3/11/2024
Five Penn State College of Engineering graduate students have been selected for the final round of the inaugural Penn State Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.
2/26/2024
Alaska needs an estimated 27,500 new housing units over the next 10 years to alleviate overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, according to the Alaska Housing Foundation Corporation. A Penn State interdisciplinary team that includes researchers from the College of Engineering is looking to alleviate some of that stress with a $376,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant.
2/19/2024
The Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, housed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, will host two concurrent conferences on March 27-28 at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, with two full days of educational panels, talks, exhibits and events.
2/7/2024
Lauren McPhillips, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and of agricultural and biological engineering, was quoted in an article published by The New Republic. The article discussed the importance of addressing aging drain and sewer systems as climate change accelerates.
2/2/2024
The latest episode of "Growing Impact" explores the connection between the expansion of solar energy and land use. To meet net-zero emissions by 2050, it is estimated that the U.S. would need to devote 0.5% of its land to achieve that goal through solar energy. That is nearly 16,000 square miles or about a third of the state of Pennsylvania.
1/24/2024
Vikash Gayah, interim director of the Penn State Larson Transportation Institute and professor of civil engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, was featured in the NPR podcast Planet Money.
1/18/2024
A mechanical engineering alumnus honored his late brothers and their Coal Region roots through an $800,000 gift to establish a scholarship in the College of Engineering. The Robert, John, and Edward Mitchell Family Endowed Scholarship Fund in the College of Engineering will help engineering students who hail from Pennsylvania’s Coal Region – or Schuylkill, Carbon, Columbia and Northumberland Counties – in their pursuit to become engineers.
11/20/2023
At its annual awards ceremony, the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) recognized engineering faculty, staff and alumni members for outstanding teaching, research, advising and service.
10/26/2023
The Graduate School at Penn State welcomed 20 new National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program recipients for the 2023-24 academic year. Five College of Engineering graduate students received the fellowship, and two engineering graduate students were recognized as honorable mentions.
10/24/2023
A new study co-authored by Christine Kirchhoff, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and of law, policy and engineering at Penn State, details why individuals are more likely than governments to implement actions to adapt to climate change.
10/11/2023
Nine newly tenured or promoted faculty members in the College of Engineering were asked to select a book title for the University Libraries’ permanent collection and to submit a personal statement explaining why they chose that book.
10/5/2023
The Graduate School at Penn State recognized 114 students as recipients of the 2023-24 University Graduate Fellowships and Distinguished Graduate Fellowships, including 22 students from the College of Engineering.
10/4/2023
Theresa Weston, founder of The Holt Weston Consultancy and a building science research professional specializing in the durability and energy efficiency of buildings, will deliver the 2023 Hankin Distinguished Lecture on November 1 at 4 p.m.
10/4/2023
A group of Penn State students recently traveled to Australia as part of a partnership between Penn State and Monash University to conduct research aimed at better understanding sources of decreased water quality in watersheds, in addition to finding possible solutions.
10/2/2023
Christine Kirchhoff, associate professor in the School of Engineering Design and Innovation and of civil and environmental engineering, discusses her research into the implementation of solar power at wastewater treatment plants on the latest episode of "Growing Impact," a podcast by Penn States' Institute of Energy and the Environment.
9/29/2023
A video that highlights the work a Penn State team is doing to?3D print houses that can sustain life on Mars?is featured in a new $8.5 million core exhibit opening Nov. 4 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
9/14/2023
Li Li, Barry and Shirley Isett Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was quoted in an article by Newsweek. In the article, Li discusses her recent research that found rivers are warming and rapidly losing oxygen, which may lead to “acute death” in rivers across the southern regions of the U.S.
9/14/2023
Rivers are warming and losing oxygen faster than oceans, according to study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study, led by Li Li, Isett Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, shows that of nearly 800 rivers, warming occurred in 87% and oxygen loss occurred in 70%.
8/30/2023
Microplastics impact how sand travels along riverbeds, suggesting microplastics could increase riverbed erosion, according to an international team of researchers. Roberto Fernández, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and project team member, said this could have effects on river habitats. The team’s findings were published in Nature’s Communications Earth & Environment.
8/11/2023
Five student teams from Penn State’s Engineering Leadership Development program in the School of Engineering Design and Innovation earned recognition in the 17th-annual University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs, sponsored by the Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program.
8/11/2023
Vikash Gayah, professor of civil engineering at Penn State, has been named interim director of the Penn State Larson Transportation Institute, effective Aug. 1.
7/25/2023
Professor Farshad Rajabipour has been named interim head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, effective July 1. Rajabipour assumes leadership of the department following the appointment of Patrick Fox as dean of engineering at Ohio University.
7/17/2023
Christine J. Kirchoff, associate professor and associate director of law, policy and engineering and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, shared her perspectives with National Geographic on the dire state of the nation’s infrastructure.
7/13/2023
Penn State’s Climate Science Research Experiences for Undergraduates program and the Drawdown Scholars program are hosting their final poster symposium from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3, in the Steidle Building Atrium on the University Park campus.
7/10/2023
Fifteen Penn State research labs have earned My Green Lab certifications at one of the three highest levels available: gold, platinum or green. The certification is recognized by the United Nations as a key measure toward the goal of a zero-carbon future.
7/5/2023
A group of Penn State civil engineering students took first in the topographic mapping category of the American Society of Civil Engineers Surveying Competition Finals, sponsored by the Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute.
6/30/2023
Non-tenure-line faculty promotions at Penn State, effective July 1, 2023, include more than 20 engineering faculty members.
6/28/2023
Penn State and the University of Auckland in New Zealand recently announced the awarded grants of the second round of the Collaboration Program, a jointly financed seed program with the aim to collaborate on research and education projects. Kaleigh Yost, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, received funding.
6/28/2023
Penn State and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, announced the awarded grants of the third round of the Collaboration Program, which included funding awarded to Laura Cabrera, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, and Tong Qiu, professor of civil and environmental engineering.
6/28/2023
Story summary (1-2 sentences; appears as the blurb in Penn State News/COE News and used in social): Penn State ranked No. 83 in the world — a jump of 10 positions from No. 93 last year — in the recently released 2024 QS World University Rankings, placing the University in the top 6% worldwide among the 1,500 institutions ranked by QS.
6/12/2023
The Penn State College of Engineering will recognize 10 alumni with the Early Career Award for their achievements and demonstrated commitment to their professions, communities and Penn State at a ceremony on June 16 at University Park.
6/12/2023
A team of undergraduate students in Penn State’s Student Space Programs Laboratory, housed in the College of Engineering’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was one of seven university teams selected to receive funding from NASA to build a prototype in the BIG Idea Challenge. Penn State received $130,000 to develop a microwave system that can smelt metal on the moon.
6/12/2023
Tenured and tenure-line faculty promotions at Penn State, effective July 1, 2023, include more than 25 engineering faculty members.
5/23/2023
Chaopeng Shen, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, was featured in a PennStater article about his research in artificial intelligence.
5/18/2023
A Penn State-led team of researchers examined the link between fossil fuel reduction and air quality by exploring almost 30,000 simulated future scenarios. They found that some climate mitigation efforts could lead to harmful health impacts in certain geographic areas.
5/16/2023
Wei Peng, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and of international affairs, was featured in a Tech Times article about the equity implications of electric vehicles.
5/12/2023
Electric vehicles, or EVs, promise to reduce carbon emissions and serve as a tool to help mitigate climate change, but a team of Penn State researchers report there has been little research to determine how equitable the benefits of EVs are and, in fact, whether the technology may unfairly harm some areas and populations.
5/8/2023
Penn State civil engineering students placed first overall for the 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Mid-Atlantic West Symposium, with multiple Penn State teams placing in several categories.
5/3/2023
Penn State researchers recently participated in Social Science Advocacy Day, held in Washington, D.C., by the Consortium of Social Science Associations.
5/2/2023
Nineteen interdisciplinary research teams received funding through the Institutes of Energy and the Environment’s (IEE) Seed Grant Program for 2023. This includes more than 75 researchers who are affiliated with 10 colleges and research units across seven Penn State campuses.
5/2/2023
A new master agreement with ENOWA, a company tasked with pioneering sustainable energy and water innovations, will support Penn State research efforts in sustainable water solutions.
4/25/2023
The Penn State College of Engineering has named its student marshals for the spring 2023 commencement ceremony. One student is selected to represent each of the 14 majors associated with the college and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.
4/18/2023
Inspired by complex ecosystems, Penn State researchers developed an algorithm to study the benefits of complexity in city supply chains.
