Chair's Welcome

I am pleased to welcome you to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering's (CEE's) new and improved website at the University of Michigan. We have made a concerted effort to make it more useful for you and I hope you like what you see. Please drop me or our webmaster a note to let us know what you think. I am very excited to be the CEE department chair at the University of Michigan at this time. It is an opportune time in the history of our discipline and the history of our department; we are growing with new faculty hires (Adda Athanosopoulos-Zekkos and Dimitrios Zekkos joined us this fall, and we will hire four more faculty to our base of 23 full-time faculty in the next two to three years), and with new hires come new avenues for research and teaching in critical areas that will have an important impact on the world. Our discipline is also at a precipice in terms of defining what qualities a 21st century civil and environmental engineer has. As you are undoubtedly aware, the status of the CEE-dependent infrastructure in the United States and globally is both under-maintained and under-developed. As civil and environmental engineers work to develop strategies and technologies for improving components of the civil infrastructure system, the opportunity exists to make these components more robust and resilient and to do so in a more sustainable manner. For example, imagine:

Nancy Love Professor and Chair

• bridges with sensors that are linked to visualization software that warns engineers in advance that the structure is vulnerable to failure
• construction management technologies that allow information to be transmitted wirelessly and in real time to construction vehicles and personnel to improve the efficiency and safety of construction
• materials in roads, bridges and buildings that make the structures more robust and less vulnerable to extreme events like earthquakes and hurricanes
• robust biological wastewater treatment plants that continue to operate despite receiving shock inputs of industrial chemicals after an industrial accident.

Civil and environmental engineers are also important guardians of and ambassadors for the environment because we strive to establish a suitable balance between human activities and preservation of the natural environment. We are critical developers of technologies and knowledge that allow us to achieve that balance in the face of such monumental environmental issues as:

• global warming and its implications, such as hydraulic and building foundation challenges for coastal communities where 80% of the developed world lives
• energy and resource limitations such as the global crisis in access to: reliable energy supplies that provide power to buildings; and quality drinking water for all populations
• persistent pollutants and micropollutants, such as industrial wastes, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and nanomaterials
• microbiological threats, such as pathogens, disinfectant-resistant, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in drinking water pipes and the environment.

All this and more is happening today in CEE at the University of Michigan! Indeed, it is a highly challenging and rewarding time to be a civil and environmental engineer.

The faculty, students and staff in CEE at the University of Michigan are at the forefront of these issues and more through their research, teaching, service and outreach activities. Many of our activities involve highly multidisciplinary teams, a unique but pervasive emphasis at the University of Michigan. From integrating entrepreneurship and technology innovations to sustainable engineering degree programs and research institutes to innovative and intelligent structural technologies, civil and environmental engineers at the University of Michigan are actively engaged in creating a more robust, resilient and sustainable future. We welcome you to visit us and consider joining us in our journey to influence and shape the future.

Our Mission

The mission of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) is to be the place of choice for education and research in civil and environmental engineering and to serve society as an originator and purveyor of knowledge in CEE, as a creator and communicator of CEE technology, and as a developer of world leaders and practitioners of CEE.

Goals

Our primary goal is to maintain and enhance our leadership position in the nation as a premier CEE program in undergraduate and graduate education, to continue our long-standing tradition of research excellence in targeted areas consistent with anticipated societal needs, and to be recognized as one of the top CEE departments in the nation. To this end, we intend:

• To educate students of diverse backgrounds and prepare them to be leaders in the design and construction of civil and environmental systems in the private sector, the government sector and academia.
• To foster faculty who are world leaders in their respective areas, who are helping to shape the future of the profession, and who are aiding the advancement of the CEE industry by transferring new knowledge and technologies to engineering practice.
• To provide national and international leadership in research, development and practice relevant to civil infrastructure and environmental systems.