College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

CCEE’s Cassie Rutherford receives $300,000 grant creating adaptive climate change strategies for Alaskan community

Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) professor and researcher Cassie Rutherford recently received a planning grant from the National Science Foundation for $300,000 through the ‘Navigating the New Arctic’ project to work with communities, stakeholders and government officials to find ways to adapt to the ever-changing environment to help communities battle climate change.

CCEE’s Joe Charbonnet Designs Communication Method for Identifying PFAS, the ‘Forever Chemicals’

Known as ‘forever chemicals,’ per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are compounds that impact our lives daily. Waterproof, durable, and long-lasting, PFAS are commonly used to repel water and grease. The chemicals are found in Teflon™-coated pans, fast food wrappers, and even in the firefighting industry.

Joe Charbonnet holds a sample of concentrated fire-fighting foam. This foam includes many PFAS, likely including undiscovered compounds in need of confident identification.

Changing the Narrative: Distinguished CCEE Alumna Beth Duyvejonck is Building a Better Future for Women in Construction

For more than two decades, Beth Duyvejonck, 1997 Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) graduate, has focused passionately on building a better future for women in the construction industry.

Preparing Communities for Climate Change: CCEE’s Lu Liu Receives Grant to Determine Climate Change Vulnerabilities in Rural and Urban Communities

From small farms to big cities, natural disasters, rising temperatures and other factors of climate change impact everyone. Lu Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, is using modeling to look into the future on the long-term impacts of climate change for two different ends of the population spectrum: urban and rural communities.

CCEE Alum and Hubbell Realty CEO Rick Tollakson Drives New Wellness Center for Easterseals Iowa

Tollakson, CEO of Hubbell Realty and 1976 Iowa State University Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering alum, just celebrated his extreme build of the ‘Rick Tollakson Wellness Center,’ a building located in the Easterseals Camp Sunnyside to provide crisis stabilization and outpatient therapy to individuals with brain injuries and/or developmental or intellectual disabilities.

CCEE’s Vern Schaefer Retires after 19 years of Teaching, Research and Service

For Vern Schaefer, ISU Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering professor and ISU alum, leaving Iowa State and the academic engineering world is a huge change, but a chance for reflection on his role in the university’s land-grant motto: teaching, research and service.

Celebrating Women in CCEE: Sadie Brockett

Celebrating Women’s History Month this March, Iowa State University Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering is highlighting past, present and future women in engineering. Sadie Brockett is a senior in Construction Engineering and the President of the Associated General Contractors of America, Iowa State Chapter. Growing up around construction engineering influenced her initial interest, but her passion and skills have allowed her to flourish in the field and her education.

CCEE senior Hannah Jeffrey Receives Prestigious Dean’s Student Leadership Award

One of only three students in the College of Engineering, Iowa State University Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering senior Hannah Jeffrey received the College of Engineering Dean’s Student Leadership Award. This award is known for ‘recognizing outstanding leadership by undergraduate engineering students during their junior or senior years,’ and for students who ‘exhibit exemplary leadership in a broader arena than a single department or student organization.’

Studying innovations in steel building design

W. Samuel Easterling, James L. and Katherine S. Melsa Dean of Engineering, and Onur Avci, research assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, are members of a research team investigating modular steel plate floor framing and diaphragm systems in steel building structures. The new project is funded by the Charles Pankow Foundation.

Testing Bridge Safety: CCEE’s Brent Phares Designs Framework to Enhance Bridge Load Rating Efficiency

With over 600,000 bridges in the United States, bridge safety and longevity is critical to safe transportation in America. By mandate, each bridge is evaluated at least every two years through a process called ‘bridge load rating,’ testing things like endurance and deterioration. But when considering the work put in to inspect every single bridge in the U.S. every two years, bridge load rating as we know it is very labor intensive and potentially costly.

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