Faculty & Staff

I enjoy teaching civil engineering fundamentals in 1000 and 2000-level courses, and then revisiting those fundamentals in upper level and graduate courses as a base for presenting advanced topics and fostering deeper learning. This emphasis on fundamentals can be challenging to undergraduates because they may not appreciate the relevance. Consequently, I integrate design projects into my undergraduate coursework to provide a context for learning and to emphasize my expectations for learning and actively applying the course material. ... View Profile

My courses are application courses presented by a practitioner to train future practitioners.  My teaching style challenges students not only to understand the HVAC design concepts presented but to understand how HVAC design relates to and applies fundamentals learned in other courses.  When calculating heating and cooling loads, students use their knowledge of building materials and how buildings are put together to understand heat transfer through the building skin.  When sizing fans and pumps, students see how principles such as Bernoulli's equation and the conversion of velocity to pressu ... View Profile

Prof. Liu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). His research focuses on built and urban environment, occupant-building-environment interaction, and integrated design for sustainable and healthy buildings. Prof. Liu envisions his research promoting built sustainability and occupant well-being through the interface among building science, information science, public health, and social science. View Profile

My research and teaching activities in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are in the area of the mechanics of materials and structures. At WPI, my favorite aspect of teaching is working one on one with graduate and undergraduate students on research projects. I like to excite students’ curiosity towards discoveries and creative scientific advancements. In our research group, we focus on the fundamental principles that control the behavior of materials in engineering and biology at multiple scales. ... View Profile

Replacing our crumbling national infrastructure with conventional materials would be only a temporary solution to a critical problem. My research focuses on developing new, more durable materials for use in infrastructure, which will lead to a lowered maintenance burden, improved user safety, and a reduced environmental impact. Personally, the part that I like most about this subject is the chemistry. ... View Profile

I teach geotechnical and pavement engineering courses at WPI. My favorite teaching activities are helping students develop critical thinking skills and become independent learners and problem solvers for their future career in civil engineering. My areas of research are in the interdisciplinary aspects of highway infrastructure engineering, with the overarching goal to advance the state of the art in sustainable highway infrastructure engineering. One of my recent research areas is developing more durable and sustainable asphalt concrete through an interdisciplinary approach. ... View Profile

Harold Walker is the Schwaber Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at WPI. Prior to his appointment at WPI, Professor Walker was the Founding Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at Stony Brook University. Professor Walker also served as the co-Director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook and was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to the New York State Drinking Water Quality Council. Prior to Stony Brook, Dr. ... View Profile