NSF

NSF workshop sets out to define ‘bio-inspired geotechnics’ and lay groundwork for new collaborations

Alejandro Martinez welcomes engineers, biologists, physicists and others to the First International Workshop on Bio-Inspired Geotechnics in May at the University of California, Davis. The unique gathering aimed to better define the emerging field of bio-inspired geotechnics and connect researchers from a broad range of disciplines to collaborate on groundbreaking ideas in the area. (Photo: Noah Pflueger-Peters/UC Davis)

A melting pot of experts with research interests as diverse as geotechnical engineering, termite burrowing, tree physiology, granular physics and soft robotics trickled in from around the world in late May for the First International Workshop on Bio-Inspired Geotechnics. The NSF-funded workshop brought together 60 experts from engineering and science research, as well as industry, to foster dialogue and collaborations to better establish the field of bio-inspired geotechnics.

Friday, June 14, 2019

Better water purification without the byproducts of using chlorine

Water pouring from a faucet. (Photo Courtesy: Steve Johnson via Flickr)

What if there was a way to reliably decontaminate water without using chlorine and generating the resulting disinfection byproducts?

Thursday, March 7, 2019

NSF funds two new projects to understand greenhouse gas emissions from soil, expand microbial big-data analysis tools

Microbes in soil can break down nitrous oxide, N2O, into harmless nitrogen, N2, but they don't always do a good job, according to Professor Kostas Konstantinidis. He has a new grant from the National Science Foundation to understand why. The problem is that the nitrous oxide is a powerful and damaging greenhouse gas. The study will focus on agricultural land, where nitrogen is often added to soil as fertilizer, and tropical forests. (Image Courtesy: Kostas Konstantinidis)

Kostas Konstantinidis has received two new grants from the National Science Foundation that promise to help researchers better understand some of the tiniest organisms on the planet.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Silence to sound: Looking at Twitter posts from 2017’s Hurricane Harvey shows lack of activity can tell first responders where trouble’s brewing

Floodwaters cover Port Arthur, Texas, on August 31, 2017, following Hurricane Harvey. Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Martinez took this photo from a South Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during rescue operations following the storm. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Martinez, U.S. Air National Guard)

With another hurricane season beginning June 1 — and some forecasters predicting another busy one — researchers in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering are working on a tool to help first-responders use Twitter activity to identify developing crises after a storm while also helping civilians more effectively plug in to disaster response efforts.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

NSF awards graduate fellowship to Francisco for work helping people understand their energy use and act more sustainably

Ph.D. student Abby Francisco, who has received a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship. (Photo: Jess Hunt-Ralston)

If we tell people how they’re using energy, can we encourage them to conserve and change their behavior? That question drives School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. student Abby Francisco, who has just learned the National Science Foundation is supporting her work through a graduate research fellowship.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Missing or invisible? Inclusivity conference is first step in NSF project to make engineering field more welcoming to LGBTQ+ professionals, students

Inclusivity in Engineering graphic with multicolored hands reaching up. (Graphic: Sarah Collins)

Four Georgia Tech faculty members want to challenge the existing culture in engineering and promote inclusivity and diversity in schools across the country. With the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation, they're trying to understand why LGBTQ+ people are less visible in engineering disciplines than in other fields, even within scientific and technological areas.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Coogan wins CAREER grant to build mathematical foundation for modeling and predicting traffic flow

Cars speed along the Interstate 75/Interstate 85 Downtown Connector in Atlanta. (Photo: Rob Felt)

Samuel Coogan says we have an unprecedented opportunity in the coming years to reshape how we operate our transportation systems. With the support of the National Science Foundation, he's going to take advantage.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Gadsby, Nylen, Greenwald earn coveted NSF graduate fellowships

Three School of Civil and Environmental Engineering students have won National Science Foundation graduate fellowships. Hannah Greenwald, left, is a graduating senior. April Gadsby, middle, and Rebecca Nylen are in the early stages of the graduate studies. (Photo: Jess Hunt-Ralston)

Three School of Civil and Environmental Engineering students are among the winners this year of prestigious graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation. Two of the students, April Gadsby and Rebecca Nylen, are just getting started on their Ph.D. work. Hannah Greenwald is a graduating senior.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Danger in the air? Brown wins NSF CAREER grant to find out

Assistant Professor Joe Brown has won an Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation. These so-called CAREER grants recognize promising young faculty with funds to help them establish the research director of their careers. (Photo: Jess Hunt-Ralston)

When Joe Brown went to India last summer, he was hoping to collect samples that could help answer some questions he’d been thinking about for a while. His years studying sanitation and global health had given him the idea that the open sewers and overflowing latrines common in the dense cities of the developing world could be linked with disease through an unusual mechanism: airborne transmission of pathogens.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Building healthier cities: 10 questions with Ted Russell

Howard T. Tellepsen Chair Armistead "Ted" Russell (Photo: Justen Clay/Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine)

Tech Environmental Engineering Professor Armistead “Ted” Russell has traveled the world, including China, India and Minneapolis, studying air quality and its impacts on urban life. He is also part of a team of scientists, policymakers and industrialists working with a U.S. National Science Foundation Sustainability Research Network to build better cities.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

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School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
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Phone: 404-894-2201
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