Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Magazine, Fall 2021

Fall 2021

New departmental leadership Professor Xianming Shi has been named as interim chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He replaces Professor Balasingam Muhunthan who passed away in June. Honoring Balasingam Muhunthan Facilitating the growth and success of students and faculty was a cornerstone of Dr. Muhunthan’s life. His family has created a scholarship to honor his dedication to students.

NSF Career Award Predicting which soils and mountainsides are susceptible to landslides after wildfires is the goal of an NSF Early Career Development grant awarded to Idil Akin, Colf Distinguished Professor in Geotechnical Engineering. Engaging communities A $3 million NSF grant will fund a research training program focused on the relationships among rivers, watersheds, and communities along the Columbia River.

Environmentally friendly concrete Doctoral student Zhipeng Li is conducting research on using fly ash in concrete. His journey to WSU is a testament to his fortitude. Adventures in remote learning Today’s class will be held in your bathtub and will include a funnel and flexible, plastic tubing. “And you will probably get wet,” said Professor Sasha McLarty.

PLUS: Better water management On a planet with limited resources, people will need to work together to monitor and manage them. Using seafood waste to improve concrete Researchers are studying using seafood waste from shrimp shells to improve concrete. Student spotlight: Geneva Schlepp “I chose to pursue civil engineering because it is a collaborative field that challenges you to be a creative thinker and excellent problem solver.” Connecting household chemicals and gut microbiome Researchers found a correlation between bacteria and fungi levels in the gastrointestinal tract and common chemicals. Deicer technology licensed A WSU technology is being licensed by Fusione Corp., a snow and ice operations company, to create environmentally friendly road treatments.

Upcoming: Transportation infrastructure symposium Sponsored by the Transportation Infrastructure Durability and Life Extension Center (TriDurLE), the symposium on December 6–7 will provide a holistic approach to addressing management of America’s aging infrastructure.

Learn how you can support the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Collaboration. Innovation. Transformation.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering | Washington State University PO Box 642250, Pullman, WA 99164-2250 | 509‑335‑5095 | Contact us