Carnegie Mellon University

Research Thrusts

Research in the Center for Engineering and Resilience for Climate Adaptation cuts across all three of Civil and Environmental department’s graduate focus areas: AIS, EESS, MMC.

Related ongoing research is finding solutions for buildings, energy, materials, transportation, and water infrastructure across the following interconnected research thrusts:

Data-Driven and Automated Resilience

  • Resiliency situational awareness through sensing and data analytics
  • Infrastructure network and complexity modeling
  • Self-healing infrastructure systems
  • Risk reduction through coupled automated-natural systems

Regional Projection of Climate Change Impacts for Engineering Designs

  • Using downscaled regional climate information for infrastructure decisions
  • Development of tools appropriate for specific infrastructure and regions
  • Understanding systems impacts across multiple types of infrastructure
  • Characterization and management of uncertainty

Adaptable Engineered and Natural Infrastructure

  • Retrofitting existing infrastructure with novel integrated engineered and natural infrastructure
  • New adaptable designs that can be updated in the future
  • Planning and designing resilient infrastructure in emerging economies
  • Technology for high-performance adaptive urban infrastructure

 Understanding Human-Infrastructure Interaction Under Climate Change

  • Social acceptance, risk perception, and life cycle costs
  • Interactions between hazards and human impacts
  • Novel people-focused designs for adaptation
  • Social response to changing heat, water, fire, and wind conditions