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Student Stories

Friday, January 14, 2022

Waldvogel Works on LANL Sustainability and Zero-Carbon Plans

Genna Waldvogel (MS ‘17) took a somewhat non-traditional route to her current position as a sustainability program team leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico. Prior to earning her master’s degree at CEE, she spent four years teaching high school science. She explains that the skills she gained as a teacher and during her time as a CEE graduate student have given her a unique ability to solve advanced problems.
Monday, October 25, 2021

Alumni Survey Reveals Strength and Variety of Options Available to CEE Grads

Backed by our CPDC career resources and CEE’s renowned programs, the data shows that CEE students can graduate confident that they are ready for what’s next.
Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Devin White’s Internship Focuses on FHA Software Prototype

When Devin White (CEE/ETIM) was looking for summer research positions, he turned to his advisor and mentor, Professor Corey Harper, for recommendations. Harper suggested that White apply to the Summer Internship Program for Diverse Groups at the Federal Highway Administration Center for Accelerating Innovation. “Professor Harper said that it was a great way to get experience and expand my professional network,” states White.
Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Li Discusses Role of Fin Structures in Heat Transfer

What role do nanoscale fins (nanofins) play in heat transfer at the material interface? This is a question that PhD candidate Yuanhao Li and Assistant Professor Gerald Wang are looking to answer.
Thursday, July 08, 2021

Ariss Looks at Environmental Impacts of Electric Delivery Fleets

CEE PhD candidate Rami Ariss presented interdisciplinary research completed in collaboration with Professor Jeremy Michalek, Shang Zhu (MechE), and alumna Leandre Berwe. The work, titled “Improving Operational Viability, Energy Efficiency, and Environmental Impact of Electric Delivery Fleets  via  Vehicle-to-Grid Integration,” looks at the logistical and economical challenges of transitioning from diesel trucks to electric vehicles.
Friday, June 18, 2021

Drone Package Delivery Study Published by Scientific Data

PhD candidate Thiago Rodrigues and Professor Constantine Samara recently published “In-flight positional and energy use data set of a DJI® Matrice 100 quadcopter for small package delivery” in Scientific Data.
Monday, March 01, 2021

Eybpoosh’s Works to Improve Renewable Energy Reliability

When Matineh Eybpoosh (MS ‘12, PhD ‘15) was presented with the opportunity to co-found her own company, she jumped at the chance. Her entrepreneurial motivation led to the development of WattLearn Inc., a company that builds software for energy storage batteries—and by extension, increases the penetration of renewables across the electricity grid. Eybpoosh founded the company alongside fellow CMU alum Julian Lamy (EPP ‘16) and has led the company as its CEO since 2017.
Thursday, November 12, 2020

Lai Builds Location-Specific Climate Forecasting Tools for Engineers

Yuchuan Lai recently completed his PhD studies remotely, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lai’s second paper, co-written with his advisor Professor Dave Dzombak, “Use of the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Model to Forecast Near-Term Regional Temperature and Precipitation,” was recently published in the AMS Journal of Weather and Forecasting.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020

A Home for Innovation & Collaboration

The second level of Porter Hall, last renovated in 1994, is now a newly-remodeled 6000 square-foot facility. It features a spacious layout that highlights the building’s original brick walls and natural light, flowing through arched windows.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Ken-Opurum Awarded Business Case Award

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) awarded Bobuchi Ken-Opurum, PhD Candidate in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Management (AECM), the Business Case Award at the annual Climate Corps Summit.
Wednesday, January 08, 2020

Modeling Excellence, Chatterjee Brings Skills and Collaboration to Engineering Solutions

When people comment on Sumon Chatterjee’s strong computational and modeling skills, he sees it as much a comment on what he learned at CEE as on his own innate abilities.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Supporting Environment by Designing Water Treatment Plants

Vignesh Ramakrishnan (CEE 2012) is working as an Environmental Engineer for CDM Smith in Chennai, India. His passion for water and the environment led him to Pittsburgh and CEE to earn his master’s degree. “When I knew I wanted to pursue a career in this field, I began looking for programs in the United States. It was an easy decision to choose CEE,” he says.
Monday, December 02, 2019

Farming Data, Improving Production

or Arvind Murali Mohan (MS ’10, PhD ’13), the opportunity to use technology to help farmers compile previously siloed data into one central platform means the chance to help them even the playing field in an industry where so many inputs are beyond their control. As a co-founder of foris.io, a Silicon Valley-based precision agriculture startup that helps farmers with field management and crop performance, Mohan heads up research and development for the company.
Monday, November 18, 2019

Research and Internship Propels Master's Student Vaidyanathan into His Professional Future

Vishal Vaidyanathan came to CEE to pursue a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, Sustainability and Science after obtaining a BS in Chemical Engineering from Anna University in Chennai. He will graduate with his MS in December 2019 and start his career with Geosyntec Consultants a few weeks later, as a member of the Process Design Team.
Thursday, November 07, 2019

Jyamfi Wins Best Research Poster

Congratulations to Masters student Kwaku Jyamfi who was awarded first place at the Energy Week research poster competition at Duke University. "I presented a solution to the problem of energy poverty in developing nations," explains Jyamfi. "With about 1 billion people without access to cheap and reliable electricity, Farm to Flame Energy addresses this by utilizing the waste chains of these underserved areas to generate electricity. We do it differently than others, with a patented combustion process that sets us part in emissions and energy efficiency."
Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Climate Change Issue: CEE Continues to Advance Solutions for the Challenges Ahead [Part 1]

Extreme storms, increasing temperatures, drier deserts—our climate is changing, and so must our infrastructure design, construction, and management. Determining how to best adapt engineering practices in the face of these new climate patterns is a massive undertaking, but our CEE faculty and students are rising to the challenge.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Climate Change Issue: CEE Continues to Advance Solutions for the Challenges Ahead [Part 2]

Extreme storms, increasing temperatures, drier deserts—our climate is changing, and so must our infrastructure design, construction, and management. Determining how to best adapt engineering practices in the face of these new climate patterns is a massive undertaking, but our CEE faculty and students are rising to the challenge.