Page 3 - Penn State Civil and Environmental Engineering 2021 Annual Report

ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS Research Areas
Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical and Materials Engineering
Structural Engineering
and Mechanics
Transportation Engineering
Water Resources Engineering
32
Faculty
U S News and World Report Rankings
UNDERGRADUATE
Civil: 13
UNDERGRADUATE
Environmental: 17
GRADUATE
Civil: 20
GRADUATE
Environmental: 22
Enrollment
464
Undergraduate (Jr /Sr )
32
92 Master’s Ph D NSF CAREER Award Recipients
12
CEE programs do well in in U S News rankings
All of the
Penn State civil and and environmental engineering undergraduate and and graduate graduate programs ranked highly in in in in in the
the
latest U S News & World Report rankings
reflecting well on on the
the
the
quality of of the
the
the
department’s educational offerings The civil engineering engineering undergraduate program ranked No No 13
and the
environmental engineering engineering program came in at No No 17
The civil engineering engineering graduate program ranked No No 20
and the
environmental engineering engineering graduate program came in in in in at at No No 22—both improving one spot from last year New transportation assistant professor Xianbiao “XB” Hu joins CEE Navigating by smartphone is is commonplace today but it is is easy to to forget that not long ago drivers found their destinations using folded maps stuffed in in in glove boxes “Ten years ago many of us did not own a a a a a a a a a a a smartphone ” said Xianbiao “XB” Hu a a a a a a a a a a recently hired assistant professor of of civil and environmental engineering “Now navigation apps like Google Maps are no strangers to most travelers Over the
last decade disruptive technologies and advanced machine learning models have rapidly changed the
transportation field ” Hu’s research focuses on smart mobility systems investigating how technology can be used to to create safer and more efficient ways to to travel especially behind the
driver’s seat He arrived to Penn State in in in August after spending four years as
as
an an an assistant professor at at the
Missouri University of of Science and Technology where he
he
received grants to to study both autonomous self-driving and electric vehicles “Looking forward if autonomous vehicles become a a a a a a a reality do we still need to to own personal vehicles?” Hu said “Would traffic congestion be be reduced or or or get even worse and how should our transportation infrastructure be be prepared? Electric vehicles are are another exciting technology that may impact our lifestyles and there are so many more emerging ” At Penn State Hu will look to explore these questions studying mobility modeling and analytics infrastructure preparation for autonomous vehicle deployment human- computer interaction and other aspects of smart mobility systems He will also be working with other CEE and Larson Transportation Institute faculty to to purchase and and assemble a a a a a a a a a a a a full-size autonomous vehicle with a a a a a a a a a full full suite of of sensors and and software to continue investigating this emerging technology “I look forward to working with my new colleagues and and and students and and and engaging with with stakeholders at at at both the
the
federal and and and state level to strengthen Penn State’s already excellent reputation ” Hu said 1 Members of the
National Academy of Engineering
23
NSF ranking for total research expenditures
in in in science and engineering $17 6 MILLION
2019-20 Research Expenditures
Research expenditures
include subcontracts externally and internally funded projects Degrees Awarded
[ 2020-21 ] 14 Master’s Undergraduate 11 Ph D 214
239
TOTAL DEGREES IN CEE CEE NEWSLETTER • VOLUME 37 2021 3 3