CEAE Department News Highlights—Alumni Newsletter — Jan. 2026 | Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering

CEAE Department News Highlights—Alumni Newsletter — Jan. 2026

Letter from the CEAE Chair

Dear CEAE Alumni, Friends and Colleagues,

Much has happened since I last reached out to you that would be of particular interest to our CEAE alumni.��

We now offer an��MS program in Sustainable Engineering, an intensive nine-month program designed for professionals who may be looking to expand their expertise in sustainable energy, infrastructure, materials or building design.

We’re also hosting an Alumni Speaker series that you will be able to access from the comfort of your office or home during your lunch break. On April 23, at ___ a.m. MT, Associate Professor��Ben Livneh will speak about the effects of wildfires on water quality. In May there will be another talk, speaker TBD. So stay tuned!

In addition our department is proudly hosting the (EMI 2026), and we’d love it if you’d join us on the CU ��ý�� campus, June 2-5, 2026. This international conference has more than 100 sessions being organized on topics including structural health monitoring/ sensing/resilience; AI-ML-data driven modeling; cementitious/pavement /wood/bio-inspired materials; industry challenges and much more!��

Abstracts are due Jan. 31. Feel free to reach out to��Associate Professors Mija Hubler or Yida Zhang if you have any questions. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Early registration begins Feb. 23 and ends March 31, so mark your calendars and save the dates!

And finally, I have included news articles from our department that show the incredible breadth of our research. How to trust AI, workplace safety, reconstructing the movement of an ancient civilization, precision in flood prediction are just a few of the topics. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Kind regards,

��

Karl G. Linden, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Chair, and Mortenson Professor in Sustainable Development

Department Headlines

A worker in a high-visibility jacket and hard hat picks up cylindrical electrical transformers with a forklift

Supply-chain delays, rising equipment prices threaten electricity grid

In this Conversation story co-written by Associate Professor Kyri Baker, the authors explain how two new data centers sit idle due to shortages of critical electrical equipment. These supply-chain constraints are delaying projects, increasing costs and adding strain to the reliability of the U.S. power grid.

Wide panoramic view of a river winding through a dry valley with patches of green vegetation, set against tall, rugged mountains under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds.

Reconstructing the ancient Indus River

By combining hydrology and paleoclimate modeling, Professor Balaji Rajagopalan and colleagues uncovered the long-standing mystery behind the disappearance of the Harappan Civilization.

Two story home with lots of windows at the end of a road in Alaska.

Homes that can withstand extremes: New study reveals pathways to housing resilience

Professor Abbie Liel and colleagues have identified building code features that have the biggest impact on hazard resilience and translated those features into tangible, practical building solutions. The findings were published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

Zhi Li in a button-down shirt with some trees in the background and a building behind the trees.

Why flood prediction in the US falls short and how researchers are working to fix it

Zhi Li, who joined CU ��ý�� as an assistant professor in August 2025, leads the new Flood Lab, which develops high-resolution models to predict flood impacts with one-meter precision—technology not yet used in real time due to high computational demands.

Faculty

Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering welcomes two new faculty

The Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering welcomes two new faculty members in Fall 2025. Meet Assistant Professors Laura Sunberg and Zhi Li—and see why we’re so excited to have these talented scholars on our team.

Matt Hallowell wrote a book on workplace safety. Industry made it a bestseller.

With fatalities unchanged for nearly two decades, industry has been hungry for clear, practical guidance rooted in solid research, says Professor Matt Hallowell. In his first book, Hallowell summarized the research of more than 100 journal papers in reader-friendly terms, providing the first comprehensive, evidence-based explanation of why serious worksite injuries persist and how to prevent them.

Evan Thomas and another man stand on a stage holding an award during a formal ceremony. A large screen behind them reads “Winner – IWA Water and Development Award – Research” and displays the name Evan Thomas, along with text honoring his contributions to sustainable water security.

Evan Thomas wins International Water Association Career Award for Global Water Impact

Evan Thomas, a professor and director of the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience at the ��ý��, has been awarded a career honor from the International Water Association for work that has reshaped how safe drinking water is delivered in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

Mortenson Center innovations delivering clean water to more than 5 million worldwide

New research paves way for greener construction practices
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A new way to fight allergies: Switch on the light
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5 ways to make AI more trustworthy

CU ��ý�� professor joins global commission on indoor air quality

Introducing Sam Sohn, new CIEST director

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