Department of Civil and Urban Engineering

Chair: Magued G. Iskander

Mission Statement

Our mission is to cultivate the next generation of Civil Engineers who will address critical challenges in the built and natural environments. Through interdisciplinary education, advanced research, and a collaborative and inclusive environment, we educate tomorrow’s engineers, leaders, and innovators who will positively impact society.

The Department

The Department of Civil and Urban Engineering mission involves its faculty in a wide variety of state-of-the-art research and in the development of innovative curricula for the civil engineers of the 21^st century.

Research is focused on developing and implementing intelligent infrastructure-monitoring technologies, including smart materials, and optimizing infrastructure system planning, design, operation and management. Sustainability is a critical objective function and overarching theme.

Through the department’s involvement in local, regional and national issues, students are exposed to a daily laboratory of infrastructure issues and projects all around them. Department research covers a broad range of topics, including highway capacity and level of service, remote monitoring of infrastructure elements and use, management of urban utilities, intelligent transportation systems technologies, construction materials properties and monitoring, urban infrastructure security and construction operations.

Faculty members teach undergraduate and graduate courses. The curriculum exposes students to instructors in the forefront of their fields; men and women who frequently work on projects and topics of current interest, often within the region. The full-time faculty is augmented by excellent adjunct faculty who teach specialty courses in areas of their expertise, bringing a strong practical element to the classroom.

Programs are well-rounded and balanced. They combine all necessary theoretical elements with a strong emphasis on design and application. Graduates are well-versed in state-of-the-art techniques and develop the skills needed to become leaders in the profession. Among these skills are the ability to communicate effectively in oral and written form and the ability to understand the context of civil engineering projects in a complex society.

Contact Information

NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Six MetroTech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: (646) 997-3223
Web: https://engineering.nyu.edu/academics/departments/civil-and-urban-engineering

Civil Engineering Profession

Civil engineers are responsible for planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and operating today’s infrastructure. These areas cover a wide range of urban and regional systems and functions, including buildings, roads, bridges, airports, rail systems, dams, irrigation systems, water supply systems, environmental ecosystems and solid- and liquid-waste treatment and disposal systems and processes. The civil engineer practices in a broad and exciting field with a major impact on society in general and on its infrastructure environment in particular.

Modern civil engineering also deals with rapidly expanding information technologies. These technologies monitor, control, operate and manage complex infrastructure systems. From smart buildings to remote monitoring of transportation, water supply, sewage and other infrastructures, the modern civil engineer applies information technologies to improve the quality of the infrastructure environment.

Degree Programs

The department’s undergraduate programs deliver a broad civil-engineering background to the engineer beginning a professional career. Graduate programs allow students to specialize in particular areas or sub-disciplines and to pursue general graduate work across several different areas. The department offers the following degree and certificate programs:

Bachelor of Science

Civil Engineering, B.S. offered by the Civil Engineering Program

Undergraduate Minors

Construction Management Minor
Environmental Engineering Minor
Structural Engineering Minor
Transportation Minor

Master of Science

Civil Engineering, M.S. offered by the Civil Engineering Program
Construction Management, M.S. offered by the Construction Management Program
Environmental Engineering, M.S. offered by the Environmental Engineering and Science Program
Environmental Science, M.S. offered by the Environmental Engineering and Science Program
Transportation Management, M.S. offered by the Transportation Program
Transportation Planning and Engineering, M.S. offered by the Transportation Program
Urban Infrasturcture Systems, M.S. offered by the Urban Infrastructure Systems Program

Doctor of Philosophy

Civil Engineering, Ph.D. offered by the Civil Engineering Program
Transportation Planning and Engineering, Ph.D. offered by the Transportation Program
Urban Systems, Ph.D. offered by the Urban Systems Program

Graduate Advanced Certificates

Construction Management Advanced Certificate *
Executive Construction Management (Exec 21) Advanced Certificate
Traffic Engineering Advanced Certificate
Transportation Planning Advanced Certificate

*Offered in conjunction with the Department of Management

Full-time Faculty

Professors

John C. Falcocchio, PE, Professor
PhD, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
Travel demand forecasting, transportation system evaluation, planning and management

Masoud Ghandehari, Professor
PhD, Northwestern University
Mechanics of fracture, durability of concrete structures, structural materials

Nikhil Gupta, Professor
PhD, Louisiana State University
Multifunctional micro and nano-composites materials, Additive manufacturing, Sensing of damage and structural health monitoring

Magued G. Iskander, F.ASCE, PE, Department Chair and Professor of Civil Engineering
PhD, University of Texas at Austin
Foundation engineering, modeling soil structure interaction and flow using transparent soils, long term behavior of sustrainable piling made of recycled polymers, marine geotechnology, pile foundations, alternative foundations, geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring

Debra Laefer, Professor
PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Geotechnical and structural engineering

Samer Madanat, Global Network Professor of Engineering; Dean of Engineering, NYUAD
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Transportation infrastructure management

Kaan Ozbay, Professor
PhD, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Transportation modeling for safety and emergency management operations, real-time traffic control, ITS technology, transportation network organization

Maurizio Porfiri, Institute Professor
PhD, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Dynamical Systems Theory and Applications, Mechanics of Advanced Materials, Multiphysics Modeling

Industry Professors

André Butler

Lawrence Chiarelli, PE, Esq., F.ASCE, Industry Professor of Construction Management, Director of Construction Management Program
JD, Brooklyn Law School
ME, The Cooper Union
Construction law, program and construction management; structural engineering and cost estimating

Michael Horodniceanu, PE, Industry Professor and Chair of the Institute of Construction Innovations
PhD, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Engaging stakeholders across the construction industry, including developers, designers, contractors, and government officials, in formulating new approaches to the construction challenges

Mohsen Hossein, Industry Professor of Civil Engineering, Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Civil Engineering
PhD, McGill University
Geotechnical engineering, environmental geotechnology, environmental impact assessment

Weihua Jin, Industry Professor
PhD, Columbia University
Sustainable cement-based materials, multi-scale materials mechanics, structural and earthquake engineering

Anne Dudek Ronan, PE, Industry Professor
PhD, Stanford University
Water resources engineering, groundwater flow and transport modeling, numerical modeling uncertainty, climate adaptation

José M. Ulerio, Industry Professor
MS, Polytechnic University
Transportation and traffic engineering; collection, handling and analysis of large-scale transportation data bases; highway capacity and quality of service analysis; travel demand forecasting; geometric design of highways

Associate Professors

Joseph Chow, Institute Associate Professor and Deputy Director of C2SMART
PhD, University of California, Irvine
Transportation systems, multimodal networks, behavioral urban logistics, smart cities, transport economics

Semiha Ergan, Associate Professor
PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
IT to support design, construction and operations of civil infrastructure systems, urban challenges for AEC/FM

Saif Jabari, Associate Professor, NYUAD
PhD, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Traffic flow theory and dynamical modeling, real-time traffic analytics, network flows and sensor placement problems, applied probability and uncertainty quantification

Elena S. Prassas, Associate Professor
PhD, Polytechnic University
Traffic engineering, software systems and simulation for transportation applications, transportation economics, AI application

Industry Associate Professors

Jack Bringardner, Industry Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Academic and Curricular Affairs
PhD, The University of Texas at Austin
Smart Cities Technology, Transportation

Kaitlyn Hanley

Assistant Professors

Jennifer Apell, Assistant Professor
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chen Feng, Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Michigan
Robotic vision and robotics for construction and civil engineering

Andrea Silverman, Assistant Professor
PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Detection and control of waterborne pathogens, wastewater and fecal sludge treatment for reuse, natural disinfection mechanisms

Daniel Vignon

Research Faculty

Stephan Bless, Research Professor
ScD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Granular mechanics, soil structure interaction, ballistics

Senior Lecturer

Roula Maloof, Senior Lecturer
PhD, Polytechnic Institute of New York
Non-destructive evaluation, fracture mechanics, finite element analysis, stress analysis