College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

If walls could talk: Cyclone Engineers develop cyber-physical system for exterior walls to “think for themselves”

Associate professor Alice Alipour (CCEE), associate professor Behrouz Shafei (CCEE) and professor Partha Sarkar (aerospace engineering) received a grant from the NSF in 2018 to study what they call a Smorphacade (short for a Smart Morphing Façade), a type of building exterior that is what some could consider alive. Recently, they received another project from NSF to conduct technology transfer on this fundamentally transformative idea.

Holographic hard hats ahead: Cyclone Engineers break into the third dimension of structural design

Civil engineering sophomore Liam Lenahan and assistant professor Roy Sturgill are working together to bring the third dimension into structural design. The two are bringing 3D projects into the classroom through a very ‘construction-style’ medium: hard hats. 

How much vehicle weight can highways withstand? Yongsung Koh receives award for highway resilience research

How much pressure can a road withstand? Of all the roads and highways we drive on – when will they crack? That’s what Yongsung Koh, a doctoral student in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, is working hard to figure out.

CCEE welcomes 2023 Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni Inductees

Iowa State University’s Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering’s (CCEE) honors outstanding alumni of the department annually for their professional achievements, service to the profession, community and/or the department, and their high degree of character and integrity. There are two different recognitions: Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni. The Hall of Fame is a lifetime professional and service achievement award, while the Distinguished Alumni is for alumni who have significant professional achievement and service. This year, three alumni are joining the Hall of Fame, and two are joining fellow Distinguished Alumni.

From forest to farm: Using woodchips from crowded forests in sustainable water quality practices

By working together, the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and the Department of Natural Resource Ecology Management are studying the process behind weeding out certain species of trees in forests to help other trees grow, and using those weeded-out trees for water quality practices. The underutilized trees will be chopped into woodchips, a common media for water quality improvements.

“It’s all about making a difference,” construction engineering alum Paul Giroux’s advice to Cyclone Engineers

Paul Giroux graduated from the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. Now, after nearly five decades in industry with the Kiewit Corporation, Giroux pays his education forward by sharing his insights into modern and historical construction lessons with engineering students all over America.

Ringing to the tune of innovation, Iowa State team designs mini version of “Bells of Iowa State”

The sound of Iowa State pride has a nice ring to it in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE). Housed in the Sukup Atrium is a mini version of the ISU Campanile and the Stanton Memorial Carillon, created by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Music & Theatre and ABE.

How big should a new foundation be? Students determine ideal foundation size in soil strength course

In Civil Engineering 462/562, Site Evaluations for Civil Engineering Projects, seniors and graduate students use hands-on methods to learn various processes for testing soil in-ground. Taught by associate professor Jeramy Ashlock, the class is implementing CCEE Distinguished Professor Emeritus Richard Handy’s in-ground soil strength test, known as the Borehole Shear Test, after digging a small hole, known as a borehole, for testing.

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