Civil & Environmental Engineering
Pioneering Sustainable Solutions for a Better Tomorrow
Proudly part of a tier-1 research institute, our faculty specializing in Environmental Engineering are dedicated to addressing the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Our cutting-edge research spans across multiple disciplines — from wastewater reclamation to reducing CO² emissions — combining innovative technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration to help build the future more sustainably.
Working within and throughout academia and industry, Environmental Engineering researchers at the U work to improve public health and quality of life, while protecting and restoring environmental systems.
Research Areas
Drinking Water Treatment
Environmental Remediation
Solid Waste Management
Air Pollution Control
Wastewater Reclamation
Our Impact
Our environmental engineering research has a far-reaching impact, from influencing policy decisions to driving innovation in industry. We collaborate with governmental agencies, non-profits, and private sector partners to ensure that our research findings translate into real-world applications. By bridging the gap between academia and practice, we are making a tangible difference in the world.
Over $10 Million from Department of Energy to Support Reducing CO2 Emissions in Uinta Basin
Dr. Ting Xiao and Dr. Brian McPherson are currently engaged in a comprehensive project focused on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) hubs. Their work is part of the CarbonSAFE II: Storage Complex Feasibility initiative, which aims to determine the viability of commercial CO2 storage in Utah’s Uinta Basin.
Granted in large part by the Department of Energy, to project will support an extensive range of activities, including high-resolution societal analysis, geological characterization, technical assessments, economic evaluations, and environmental analyses.
$500,000 National Science Foundation Grant for Dr. Goel's Wastwater Treatment Research
Dr. Ramesh Goel received a National Science Foundation grant for more than $500,000 in June of 2023 for his work toward energy efficient waste water treatment. The project is titled GOALI: Understanding Granulation Using Microbial Resource Management for The Broader Application of Granular Technology.
In collaboration with an industrial partner, DC Water, this academia-industry collaboration will generate a new body of knowledge related to full-scale applications of granular technology based on fundamental research and Dr. Goel’s track record in activated sludge systems, nutrient management, granular technology and omics.
Research Spotlight: Safeguarding Our Water
Dr. Weidhaas’ research interests emphasize biological processes and the fate and transport of contaminants and microorganisms in the environment. Her recent projects include evaluation of emerging contaminants in environmental systems, industrial wastewater treatment, waterborne pathogen detection and wastewater reuse. She also conducts research in the area of environmental microbiology including microbial source tracking, development of massively parallel pathogen detection methods, and evaluation of microorganism fate in environmental systems.
Contributing to Water Security in Pakistan
Due to global climate change, mismanagement, politics, inadequate technology, rapid population growth, and economic hardships, Pakistan is experiencing a water crises that could lead them to become a "water-starved" country. University of Utah Civil & Environmental engineers are working to change that.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that the University of Utah has partnered with the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology in Jamshoro, Pakistan, to create a research center to develop solutions for water problems plaguing Pakistan. Originally led by former U professor Dr. Steve Burian, the project is now managed by Dr. Michael Barber of our department.
Leading Efforts on COVID-19 Research in Wastewater
In knowing how other pathogens appear in wastewater, Dr. Weidhaas realized in the midst of the pandemic that there was a need to test wastewater for COVID-19. However, when she reached out to the State of Utah to see if anyone was looking at this unique perspective of the virus, no one was.
Dr. Weidhaas partnered with the state and started pilot testing to determine the correlation between COVID-19 in the waste water and the number of cases found in certain areas. Her research has shown a correlation between the levels found in the waste water and the number of cases in certain areas. This data is being reported back to the Department of Health to provide modeling data.
State-of-the-Art Research Labs
Our tier-1 research institute is equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities that support groundbreaking environmental research. These include advanced simulation and modeling labs, water and air quality testing centers, and renewable energy laboratories. Our students and faculty have access to the latest technologies and tools to conduct their research.
Faster and Smarter Nuclear Forensics
Civil Engineering
Studies in Construction Engineering prepare focus on the planning, design, management, and execution of construction projects. Construction Engineering combines principles of Civil Engineering with project management and business aspects to create professionals who are capable of overseeing and coordinating complex construction projects from inception to completion.
Professors in this area:
Environmental Engineers work to improve public health and quality of life, while protecting and restoring environmental systems. These engineers focus on drinking water treatment, wastewater reclamation, air pollution control, solid waste management and environmental remediation.
Professors in this area:
Geotechnical Engineering is the application of Civil Engineering technology to some aspect of the earth, usually the soil and rock found on or near the surface. Infrastructure and natural geologic landforms and hazards designed and/or analyzed by Geotechnical Engineers include foundations for many types of structures (for example, buildings, bridges, dams, and roadways), natural and human-made slopes, retaining walls, tunnels, earthen dams and levees, highway embankments, earthquakes, liquefaction and lateral spread, ground contamination, ground improvement and stabilization, lightweight embankment materials, and re-use of construction and other waste materials. Sub-disciplines and related disciplines include Soil Mechanics, Rock Mechanics, Foundation Engineering, Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Geological Engineering.
Professors in this area:
- Materials deals with the durability of materials. For example, better portland cement concrete does not fall apart from intrusion of chemicals (salts, etc.), better asphalt concrete will not be susceptible to water intrusions (e.g., less potholes during the spring thaw)
- When materials last longer, the maintenance cycle is extended (i.e., less often) resulting in substantial savings
- Better materials also reduce the carbon footprint of everything we built.Â
- Concrete last between 20 to 50 years and is responsible for 5% of all greenhouse emission in the planet
- Over $40M are spend every year in road maintenance. Given a 10 year cycle, a simple improvement of 1 year will result in $4M in savings. That's every year!
Professors in this area:
- Structural engineering involves learning the theory of structures such as buildings and bridges, and includes computer-aided engineering and structural dynamics, and earthquake and wind engineering analysis and design. Structural engineers carry out performance-based design and study the behavior of structures built using reinforced and prestressed concrete, structural steel, timber, or composites. Moreover, structural engineers are involved in mitigating the impact of natural hazards and extreme weather using advanced structural sensing, hybrid simulation and reliability, to improve infrastructure resilience.
Professors in this area:
- The transportation engineering program in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering emphasis on the applications of state-of-art advancements concerning planning, design, operations, maintenance, and assessment of transportation systems. The faculty conducts research in the area of the transportation system design and modeling, addresses contemporary issues such as shared mobility, vehicle electrification and automation, and stresses the development of computational analytics and problem-solving skill sets.
Professors in this area:
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Water resources engineers plan and design infrastructure systems to provide clean drinking water, collect and treat wastewater, supply water for agriculture, protect from floods, prevent adverse water quality impacts, increase efficiency, address greenhouse gas emissions, and mitigate drought impacts. Today’s exciting opportunities for civil engineers include applications of smart technologies, distributed sensor systems, artificial intelligence, natural systems, biotechnology, robots, social sensing, and more to make water systems of all kinds more sustainable and resilient.
Professors in this area:
Nuclear Engineering
Housed within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Utah, the Utah Nuclear Engineering Program (UNEP). UNEP has developed a nuclear engineering curriculum that fills critical educational and competency gaps for engineers and scientists involved in the nuclear power and radioactive waste industries, nuclear medicine, homeland security, radiation safety, and nuclear materials detection. UNEP has an undergraduate minor and two graduate degrees (M.S. non-thesis and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering). The requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree are established to meet the expectations of nuclear industry in the state of Utah, the nation, and the world. UNEP is responsible for educating the next generation workforce in critical nuclear engineering fields and developing innovative procedures and technologies for the advancement of nuclear applications.
Professors in this area:
Radiation Detection Laboratories
- Reverse Electrode Coaxial Ge Detectors (REGe)
- Broad Energy Germanium Detector (BEGe)
- Liquid Scintillation Counters
- Alpha Spectrometer
- Gamma Counter
- Custom built radiation detection capabilities (i.e. CLYC, neutron and gamma spectroscopy, semiconductors)
Radiochemistry Laboratories
- Double beam temperature controlled UV-VIS (Cary 300)
- Metrohm 905 Titrando Potentiometric Titrator
- TA Instruments TAM III Isothermal Titration Nanocalorimeter
- High vacuum fluorination system (-100°C to 1000°C)
- Atmosphere controlled furnaces (25°C to 1400°C with inert and reactive gases (He2, N2, O2, and H2)).
- Inert glove boxes with electrochemical cells
- Class II Biological Safety Cabinet
- Cell Culture
- RadioTLC plate reader
- High Pressure Liquid Chromatography
100 kW TRIGA Reactor
- Thermal irradiation port (heavy water chamber)
- Fast irradiation port
- In-core radiochemical separations for isotope production
Computational Resources
- NVIDIA DGX-1 Deep Learning Supercomputer
- Four high performance computing clusters including Notchpeak (2144 cores), Kingspeak (8292 cores), Ember (2204 cores, and Ash (7468 cores).
Structure Laboratories (Collaborations with Civil Engineering)
- Actuators with capacity up to 2,000 kips in compression, 1,500 kips in tension and a stroke of 30 in.
- Drop hammer (1 kip steel weight from 3 to 16 ft.)
- INSTRON 400 HVL
- Quasi-static experiment tests on large scale concrete and steel components
- Three-dimension Steel Load Frame
Material Science Laboratories (Collaborations with Nanofab)
- Radionuclide characterization via scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and x-ray diffractometry
Neutron Activation and Radiation Detection
- Detector development and testing
- Radiation hardness experimentation
- Development of electronics for radiation applications
- In-situ gamma and neutron testing
- Radiation transport simulation
- Environmental Monitoring of trace contaminants such as polyflouroalkyl compounds (PFAS)
- Development of combined neutron and gamma radiation detectors
- Advanced ADCs and pulse processing electronics
- Probe station for irradiation studies
Actinide Chemistry and Radiochemistry
- Pre- and post- detonation nuclear forensics
- f-element compound synthesis and thermodynamic measurements
- Synthesis and evaluation of novel resins for separation of actinides and lanthanides
- Production of high purity targets for heavy actinide production (Am and Pu)
- Radionuclide transport modelling
- Radionuclide remediation strategies such as engineered barriers
Nuclear Materials and Structural Analysis
- Mechanical assessment of nuclear waste storage and transportation casks.
- Mechanical evaluation of spent nuclear fuel rod and fuel assembly.
- Mechanical assessment of nuclear waste storage and transportation casks.
- Nuclear fuel synthesis (U-Mo, UC, UN, etc.), thermodynamic and microstructural testing
- Neutron and gamma damage experimentation, analysis, and modelling
- Radiation sources for radiography of materials
- Post-irradiation structural sample testing
Isotope Production and Nuclear Medicine
- Production and separation of radionuclides for imaging and treatment of cancer and various other diseases
- Targeted radiotherapy applications
- PET/SPECT imaging applications (small animal imaging facility access at the University of Utah School of Medicine)
- Production of trace quantities of actinides including Pa, Np, Pu, and Am
Nuclear Systems Analysis and Radiation Detection
- Nuclear systems analysis / systems engineering
- Radiation transport simulations / reactor analysis, small reactor design
- Importance function biasing / detector response
- Radiation hardness experimentation
- Electronics for all radiation applications
- In-situ gamma and neutron testing with model validation, efficiency profiling
- Thermal system assessment and analysis
- Environmental monitoring of trace contaminants