Civil Engineering

Climate financing boosting water access for millions in developing nations

Susan Glairon — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 16:02:54 +0000

Climate financing boosting water access for millions in developing nations Susan Glairon Wed, 10/29/2025 - 10:02

Evan Thomas, director of ��ƷSM��ӰƬ’s Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience, is pioneering climate-financed clean water programs that have brought safe drinking water to over 5 million people in Africa. Using carbon credits to fund long-term maintenance and real-time water quality monitoring, the center aims to reach 3 million more people by 2030.

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AWWA Journal Cover Story: Q&A with Professor Karl Linden

Susan Glairon — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 22:55:54 +0000

AWWA Journal Cover Story: Q&A with Professor Karl Linden Susan Glairon Wed, 10/22/2025 - 16:55

Professor Karl Linden received the American Water Works Association’s 2025 A.P. Black Research Award, which honors outstanding contributions to water science and supply. Linden was recognized for his pioneering work in developing and applying ultraviolet technologies to improve water and wastewater treatment.

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Introducing Sam Sohn, new CIEST director

Susan Glairon — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 17:55:06 +0000

Introducing Sam Sohn, new CIEST director Susan Glairon Thu, 10/16/2025 - 11:55

In today’s AI-driven era, success depends less on what you know and more on how you use it, says Sam Sohn, the new director of CIEST. That’s what makes the center so vital. At CIEST, students gain practical, hands-on experience applying science and engineering to real-world challenges—preparing CEAE graduates to innovate and lead in their careers.

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Cresten Mansfeldt receives Faculty Research Advisor/Mentor Award

Susan Glairon — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 17:20:18 +0000

Cresten Mansfeldt receives Faculty Research Advisor/Mentor Award Susan Glairon Thu, 09/04/2025 - 11:20

Susan Glairon

Cresten Mansfeldt, assistant professor of environmental engineering, has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 CEAS Outstanding Faculty Research Advisor/Mentor Award. The award is based on student nominations.

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Civil, environmental and architectural engineering welcomes two new faculty

Susan Glairon — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 10:57:58 +0000

Civil, environmental and architectural engineering welcomes two new faculty Susan Glairon Sat, 08/16/2025 - 04:57

Susan Glairon

Meet Assistant Professors Laura Sunberg and Zhi Li — and see why we’re so excited to have these talented scholars on our team.

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New research paves way for greener construction practices

Susan Glairon — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:26:44 +0000

New research paves way for greener construction practices Susan Glairon Fri, 08/15/2025 - 07:26

Susan Glairon

The study, led by civil engineering PhD student Daniel Donado-Quintero, shows that setting carbon benchmarks can encourage asphalt producers to lower emissions—for example by using more recycled materials or optimizing production processes—supporting Colorado’s Buy Clean Act and CDOT’s efforts to reduce embodied carbon.

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Wil Srubar named American Ceramic Society fellow

Susan Glairon — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 21:17:13 +0000

Wil Srubar named American Ceramic Society fellow Susan Glairon Thu, 07/03/2025 - 15:17

Susan Glairon

Professor Wil Srubar is the principal director of the Living Materials Laboratory, where an interdisciplinary team develops nature-inspired concrete alternatives that can be produced without fossil fuels or significant carbon emissions.

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Wildfires threaten water quality for years after they burn

Susan Glairon — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 16:21:26 +0000

Wildfires threaten water quality for years after they burn Susan Glairon Mon, 06/23/2025 - 10:21

A new study published today in Nature Communications Earth & Environment is the first large-scale assessment of post-wildfire water quality. Ben Livneh, associate professor in civil, environmental and architectural engineering, was the principal investigator and co-author of the study.

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

Susan Glairon — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 23:00:23 +0000

Mortenson Center innovations delivering clean water to more than five million worldwide Susan Glairon Fri, 06/20/2025 - 17:00

��ƷSM��ӰƬ's Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience is transforming global water access by treating clean water as a long-term service—not just a one-time infrastructure project.

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A life-saving mission

Hanna Nordwall — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 23:01:16 +0000

A life-saving mission Hanna Nordwall Fri, 06/06/2025 - 17:01

Susan Glairon

Construction Safety Research Alliance teams with industry to reduce job site injuries

The construction industry has long been one of the most hazardous sectors, with workers facing a high risk of injury.

Researchers at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ’s Construction Safety Research Alliance (CSRA) observed that while current safety systems have effectively reduced minor worker injuries over the past decade, the rate of serious injuries and fatalities has remained stagnant.

“This means that current safety systems are not as effective in reducing serious injuries and fatalities, a major issue for the industry,” said Elif Oguz Erkal, CSRA’s associate director of research and strategy.

CSRA is a nonprofit research organization established in 2018 by Professor Matthew Hallowell. It brings together industry leaders and academic experts to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities in the construction industry.

Its first project evaluated the validity of “total recordable incident rates,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration metric used to track workplace injuries, from minor cuts to fatalities. The study found that these incident rates are highly random and not predictive of future safety performance or fatalities.

“Despite this, the industry often relies on these rates to claim, ‘I am safe,’ ” Erkal said. “We know low-severity injuries happen for different reasons than high severity.”

Research meets practice

CSRA is supported by donations from its 117 member companies, and research ideas are also proposed by industry members. Each project lasts about two years and is supported by a team of 25 industry professionals who meet in Boulder quarterly to collaborate. Projects are led by a principal investigator paired with a graduate student, whose dissertation is centered on the project.

“The establishment of CSRA marked a significant shift for these industries,” Erkal said. “For the first time, they have an academic research organization focused on real-world applicability, leveraging the expertise of their safety professionals to address challenges scientifically.”

Shifting the focus

Assessing the risk of serious injuries and fatalities is complex, Erkal explains, as fatalities are rare and often occur in hard-to-predict ways.

As part of its research, CSRA developed “high energy controlled assessments (HECA),” a monitoring metric that shifts focus from lagging indicators like injury rates to actionable prevention. HECA identifies both the types of life-threatening hazards present and the direct controls in place to mitigate them, even when someone makes a mistake.

This “energy-based safety” approach links injury severity to the magnitude of physical energy. For example, a heavier object higher off the ground poses a greater threat than a lighter, lower object. Controls could include a guard rail to prevent objects from falling.

“By systematically observing their operations, organizations can identify risk exposures within their systems — a significant shift in mindset,” Erkal said. “A decade ago, safety professionals would say, ‘we’re safe,’ simply because no injuries occurred that day. This perspective has evolved. Today, modern safety is defined by the presence of controls.”

‘Applicable and actionable’

CSRA’s research found that approximately 40 percent of high-energy hazards still lack adequate safeguards. In these cases, a single mistake could have fatal consequences.

HECA will help companies identify life-threatening hazards and prioritize their response, including determining where to acquire additional controls, where to focus training and other necessary actions, Erkal said.

The organization also continues to build its community of industry professionals and academics. It is committed to sharing knowledge through peer-reviewed publications, collaborative partnerships and its monthly Communities of Practice webinars, accessible to all who are interested.

“We are deeply committed to producing research that is both applicable and actionable,” Erkal said. “We want greater engagement from the industry groups to take our work, build on it and implement it.”

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