Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering

Access to Faculty, Resources and Research Enrich Experience and Education

The Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin is committed to creating more resilient and sustainable infrastructure. The world's increasing demand for energy and water, coupled with the need to minimize and control climate change, requires civil, architectural and environmental engineers to be at the forefront of ensuring adequate food, water and mobility for generations to come. The department is preparing future engineers to meet these challenges by offering unprecedented opportunities for graduate students to work side-by-side with faculty in the field and research facilities. The department is a leader across the United States in producing graduates who go on to teach and research at the university level.

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering encompasses the following disciplines:

• Building Energy and Indoor Environments
• Construction Engineering and Project Management
• Environmental and Water Resources Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Structural Engineering and Materials
• Transportation Engineering

Transportation Engineering Program conducts Motor Vehicle Crash History Survey

The Transportation Engineering Program is exploring Austin area residents’ motor vehicle crash histories with the aim of improving road safety and providing guidance for engineering and policies. Students will conduct a survey over a 2-week period, from October 1^st through 14^th, 2011. The survey will be available online for several months, and any results provided after October 14^th will be analyzed later in the spring semester. All data collected will be kept confidential and no personal identifier will be collected and used as UT strongly respects the privacy and rights of respondents. Help us improve Austin’s road safety by taking the crash survey.

CAEE to Induct 2011 Academy of Distinguished Alumni

Nine alumni from the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) will be inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni this November. Each of the new inductees received at least one degree from the department and are outstanding in their field, leaders in the community, and have made outstanding contributions to the department. Learn more on the CAEE Web site.

Hillary Hart Named President of International Engineering Society

Dr. Hillary Hart, distinguished senior lecturer in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the Cockrell School of Engineering, has been appointed president of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). The international society announced Hart's election at its annual Technical Communication Summit in May. Read more about Hart's appointment.

Student Wins AWWA Academic Achievement Award for Master's Thesis

Ashlynn Stillwell, doctoral student in civil engineering at the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, has been selected to receive the American Water Works Association's (AWWA) second place 2011 Academic Achievement Award for best master's thesis.

The award, which includes a $1,500 prize, will be formally presented to Stillwell during a plenary session at the AWWA's 130th Annual Conference and Exposition June 12-16 in Washington, D.C.

Each master's thesis entry was evaluated by members of the award committee on the basis of originality, practical application, value to the water supply field, potential value as a reference and overall clarity of the presentation.

The purpose of the Academic Achievement Award is to encourage academic excellence by recognizing graduate students who have made outstanding contributions to the field of public water supply through his or her work at a university.

Michael Webber, assistant professor in mechanical engineering, associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy and founder of the Webber Energy Group is Stillwell's supervisor.

"I'm thrilled because this recognition for her individual research, for me as her supervisor, and for UT as the home institution, is a nice reward for a lot of hard work and innovative thinking," Webber said. "It is rare for a student's master's thesis to garner national attention, contribute significantly to discussion of new legislation at the state and federal levels, and serve as a launching pad for a whole new program of research, but that's exactly what Ashlynn's work has done."

Stillwell just completed a dual-degree program offered by the Cockrell School and the LBJ School of Public Affairs, earning a dual master's of science in engineering and master's of public affairs degree.

The focus of her research is to improve water and energy resource management. By concentrating on maintaining a stable supply of the nexus of energy and water, Stillwell is working on integrating connections between water used for cooling thermoelectric power plants and the energy it uses to do so.

Stillwell is a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship recipient. Her most recent work involves expansion on her research and the development of a water model that uses different cooling technologies to be used at Texas power plants.

Two Grad Students Receive Awards from Transportation Research Board

Jason Lemp and Shashank Musti

Two graduate students of Kara Kockelman, professor and the William J. Murray Jr. Fellow in Engineering No. 2, received awards at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board. Sashank Musti received the 2010 Council of University Transportation Centers Wootan Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis in Policy and Planning.

Dr. Jason Lemp received the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research 2009 Eric Pas Dissertation Prize to recognize the best dissertation in the field of travel behavior research in 2009.

Student Profile

Ph.D. student Thuy Nguyen seeks to change construction practices by improving the design of mobile tools used in technology education. Her research facilitates practicing engineers' adoption of automated tools and increases the safety and productivity of the construction site. Nguyen and her academic adviser, Associate Professor William O'Brien, along with several other faculty and graduate students have been working on a National Science Foundation funded project titled "Educating a Competitive, Cyberinfrastructure-Savvy Engineering and Construction Workforce."