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From Global Impact to Local Solutions

From breakthrough research to community partnerships, our department’s impact is driven by the people behind it. Read the latest stories from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering that highlight our progress, our people, and our purpose.

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Courtney Phillips Earns University Staff Excellence Award
August 6, 2026 Awards

For graduate students, faculty, and staff in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Courtney Phillips is often the first resource that many...

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Outstanding TA Awards
August 5, 2026 Awards, Students

Graduate teaching assistants play a vital role in mentoring students and supporting their academic success. This spring, Ph.D. candidates Jeremiah Adejube and Marcor...

Ronald H. Dunn, SE, Named 2026 Distinguished Alumni
August 4, 2026 Awards, Distinguished Alumni

Ronald H. Dunn, SE, Chairman and Principal of Dunn Associates, Inc., has built a career defined by turning ambitious ideas into built...

Student Spotlight: Rupesh Uprety
August 4, 2026 Research, Structural Engineering, Students

For Rupesh Uprety, earthquake engineering isn't just an academic discipline—it's personal. When the 2015 Gorkha earthquake devastated his home country of Nepal,...

Luis Ibarra Awarded Fulbright Scholarship on Earthquake Resilience
July 17, 2026 Awards, Research, Structural Engineering

Luis Ibarra, assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, is one of six professors from the University of Utah that have...

What AI Costs the Planet and How Higher Ed Can Help
June 17, 2026 Research, Water Resources

Republished on June 17, 2026 from the One-U Responsible AI Initiative. Behind every AI prompt is a chain of physical infrastructure—from data centers...

The Hidden Engineering Innovation Beneath I-215
May 27, 2026 Construction, Materials, Research

To many drivers, construction along the west side of I-215 may seem like another seasonal traffic delay. For researchers at the University...

The Next Generation of Cancer Therapies
May 19, 2026 Awards, Nuclear Engineering, Research

Developing new cancer treatments requires more than breakthrough medicines. It also depends on the ability to safely produce medical isotopes—the specialized radioactive...

University of Utah Hosts 2026 ASCE Intermountain Southwest Student Symposium
May 18, 2026 Students

The University of Utah was proud to host the 2026 ASCE Intermountain Southwest Student Symposium on campus in April, welcoming civil engineering students...

Student Spotlight: Xuewen Luo
May 11, 2026 Awards, Students, Transportation

Xuewen Luo is helping shape the future of transportation through her research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems. Her...

Increasing Safety Throughout the Nuclear Energy Lifecycle
May 7, 2026 Nuclear Engineering, Research, Transportation

As the global demand for clean energy grows, so does the need to safely manage nuclear waste and ensure the secure transportation...

Nuclear Education Meets State Policy
April 19, 2026 Nuclear Engineering

Supathorn Phongikaroon, Professor and Energy Solutions Presidential Endowed Chair, and Director of the Nuclear Engineering Program (UNEP), recently participated in the Nuclear...

Utah Engineering Team Takes First Place at Statewide Water Design Competition
April 18, 2026 Awards, Students, Water Resources

Civil & Environmental Engineering students from the University of Utah earned top honors at the 2026 Water Environment Association of Utah (WEAU) Student...

Seminar Series: Dr. Rachel Brennan
April 10, 2026 Seminar Series

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering concluded its Spring 2026 Seminar Series with a full house for a seminar by Dr....

Ryan Johnson Named One-U RAI Fellow for AI Applications in Water Resources Engineering
April 6, 2026 Awards, Environmental, Research, Water Resources

The One-U Responsible Artificial Intelligence Initiative (One-U RAI) at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute (SCI) has selected a new cohort of...

Alumni Spotlight: Robert Sperling
April 6, 2026 Alumni

Robert Sperling’s fascination with cities began long before he stepped into an engineering classroom. As a child, he designed miniature communities with...

Seminar Series: Dr. Mary MacLaughlin
April 6, 2026 Geotech, Seminar Series

Dr. MacLaughlin shared highlights from over 30 years of research  in geotechnical engineering at our April 3, 2026 Seminar Series. Dr. Mary...

“Ground Decoder” Wins First Place in National Hackathon
March 27, 2026 Geotech, Research, Students

Ph.D. student Ripon Chandra Malo is driven by a passion for advancing geotechnical engineering through data, computation, and innovation. His research focuses...

Distinguished Structural Engineering Seminar: Ron Klemencic
March 24, 2026 Construction, Seminar Series

On March 24, our Distinguished Structural Engineering Seminar with Ron Klemencic brought together a highly collaborative and engaged engineering community. We were...

Student Spotlight: Helen Salako
March 21, 2026 Environmental, Research, Students, Uncategorized

Ph.D. candidate Helen Salako’s research was recently featured as a Technical Article in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Utah Section’s...

ITE Students Lead Road Safety Outreach
March 19, 2026 Students, Transportation

Members of the University of Utah’s Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter recently took transportation engineering to the racetrack to help promote...

Faculty Spotlight: Michael Simpson
March 6, 2026 Nuclear Engineering, Research

For 17 years, Dr. Michael Simpson worked at U.S. national laboratories on the leading edge of nuclear energy research. That experience shaped...

From the Wasatch Front to the Last Frontier
January 26, 2026 Research, Water Resources

Alaska: Famed for its dramatic landscapes, stunning glaciers, colossal mountains, and abundant wildlife. Yet equally striking is the sheer scale of its...

Transportation Systems That Think Ahead
December 29, 2025 Research, Transportation

Traffic crashes remain one of the leading causes of injury and death across communities of all sizes—from dense urban corridors to rural...