Dear friends and colleagues,

Our spring newsletter shares a few of the recent accomplishments of our faculty and students.

Many of our faculty and students are working in the area of sustainable and equitable design. We are very proud of the CEE undergraduates who developed an inspirational timber design for a multifamily building that was awarded third place in the DOE Solar Decathlon. Alessandro Rotta Loria is working to establish sensor networks and a living laboratory in Chicago’s Loop to improve the design of energy geosystems. And we offer a peek into our Multi-scale 3D Printing Infrastructure Lab, where Gianluca Cusatis and his colleagues are studying the mechanical behavior of quasi-brittle materials in the search for low carbon materials.  

Hani Mahmassani and his colleagues in the Northwestern University Transportation Center are exploring air mobility in the form of flying cars and taxis as the next technology disruptor in urban transportation. Aaron Packman advances our understanding of microplastic fate in riverbeds. And since no newsletter would be complete without some mention of COVID-19, Erica Hartmann is studying the effectiveness of airplane cabin filters to entrap pathogenic viruses.    

Finally, join me in congratulating CEE faculty and students on their recent awards. Jian Cao, a professor in mechanical engineering with a secondary appointment in CEE, was elected to the NAE. Yonggang Huang continues to be recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. Ange Akono was featured in an NSF video for her “trailblazing science.” And Susan-Alexis Brown was our first PhD student to be highlighted as part of our new PhD Student Spotlight feature on our website.

I hope you enjoy reading the latest CEE news, and as always, thank you for your support.

FACTS & FIGURES