Research Programs

Research Programs

ESSIE graduate students participate in a specialized academic area in either the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering or the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences. 

Civil Engineering

Engineering Education Collaborative
The Engineering Education Collaborative is a group of faculty who conduct research around all aspects of engineering formation. Research ranges from fundamental studies on the engineering education ecosystem to implementation of new approaches for the education of environmental and civil engineering students. 
Geosystems Engineering
This interdisciplinary postgraduate research program targets eco-friendly geo-environmental solutions through collaborative efforts of a team in four interdependent and mutually reinforcing areas: geo-environmental multiphase multiphysics, smart waste management, advanced waste recycling, and energy-efficient geo-structures. 
Materials & Pavements
Focus is devoted to promoting sustainable practices in pavement engineering, enhance understanding of distress mechanisms and failure modes, develop testing and conditioning procedures to improve material characterization, and develop design approaches for pavement systems that optimize performance.
Public Works
Public Works research focus areas include oil spill, radon mitigation, renewable energy, work zone safety, bridge management, in-situ pipe repair, high-speed rail, utility relocation, flowable fill, pavement marking, storm water infrastructure, fiber optics placement along the right-of-way, construction engineering & management, and highway construction, maintenance, quality control, and quality assurance.
Structural Engineering
This program includes infrastructure system response to extreme-event loading, durability of infrastructure and materials, health monitoring, evaluation and strengthening of existing structures, and the development of construction methods to improve long-term sustainability of new infrastructure.
Sustainable Construction Engineering
Students are prepared to plan and manage the construction of highways, bridges, airports, railroads, buildings, dams, reservoirs, building systems, and provide engineering support on heavy civil projects. 
Transportation Engineering
Transportation engineers continue to pursue innovative solutions to meet urban and regional mobility needs. Current research initiatives focus on autonomous and connected vehicles, big data in transportation, safety analysis, and infrastructure. UFTI provides extensive and transdisciplinary research opportunities related to transportation.
Water Systems
Emphasis is placed on elucidating the breadth of interactions between urban water systems and contiguous aquifer, stream, wetland, spring, and lake systems and how these interactions sustain the ecological health of system components and the larger water system. 

Coastal Engineering

Coastal & Oceanographic Engineering
This program is composed of world-renowned faculty with a wide range of federal and state funded research interests in coastal physical processes that implements state-of-the-art pedagogic methods. 
Coastal Ecosystem Dynamics
The Coastal Ecosystem Dynamics (CESD) program contains students with an interest in coastal hydrodynamics, geo-mechanics, and ecology. The goal is to advance fundamental science, provide solutions for resilient coastal communities, and train the next generation of scientists and engineers to succeed.

Environmental Engineering

Air Resources
The Air Resources group studies how air pollutants are created, designs measurement techniques, devises control technologies, models the fate of the pollutants, evaluates health effects, and characterizes composition of past, present, and future atmospheres.
Environmental Nanotechnology
The nanotechnology group investigates the implication of manufacturing and tailoring of nanomaterials to environmental ecosystems as well as the development of nanodevices and nanostructured materials for environmental remediation, energy production, and sustainable manufacturing.
Systems Ecology & Ecological Engineering
Our graduate program provides students with an integrative education in science, engineering and policy that prepares them to develop interdisciplinary solutions, design novel engineering tools, and articulate creative policies to address a range of environmental challenges.