PhD in Civil Engineering
Small class sizes, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, and close interaction with faculty means you don’t get lost in the crowd here.
Our grad students work on problems with a multidisciplinary approach, so collaborations with other departments gives your work even greater potential impact.
Research at WPI solves real-world problems—from using innovative materials to provide more efficient heating and cooling in buildings to protecting water resources to designing bioinspired structural materials.
At WPI, we consider the big picture and our students leave with that valuable approach. That means you’ll see an immediate problem like wastewater treatment and will consider how the solution might have additional environmental, societal, or technological impacts.
Faculty Profiles
My teaching and research interests focus on water quality and the safety of drinking waters. I study water from source to tap: where do contaminants originate from, what is their fate in the environment, and how do we engineer treatment processes to protect public health? I am particularly interested in preventing the transmission of pathogens through water. In source waters, I aim to identify sources of pollution and understand the fate, transport, and survival of those pollutants in the environment.
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.
Rajib Basu Mallick is currently the Ralph White Family Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at WPI. He graduated from Jadavpur University, India, in 1989 and received his master’s degree and PhD from Auburn University, USA. He also worked as a senior research associate at the National Center for Asphalt Technology, USA. Rajib’s main research interests are in the optimum utilization of natural resources and sustainable construction, specifically related to the pavement industry.
My research activities in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are in mechanics, materials, and structures. At WPI, my favorite teaching aspect is working one-on-one with graduate and undergraduate students on research projects. I like to excite students’ curiosity toward 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. I am particularly interested in the bioinspired design of materials and structures.
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.
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 research and teaching activities are in the area of sustainable building design and building technology, with a special focus on the study of adaptive building enclosure systems. One of the goals of this research is to develop smart materials that can alter their thermal properties in response to changing outdoor conditions, in order to conserve energy and optimize building thermal comfort. This research entails the use of energy modeling tools, experimental investigations including synthesis of new materials, and the study of practical applications.
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.