News

We'd love to hear your news and ideas and to help share your accomplishments!
Submit news, updates, story ideas to cegenews@umn.edu.

Sandra Larson, EnvE 2023, standing in the Fairhurst Rotunda in the Civil Engineering Building
Department News, Student Activities, Water/Environmental engineering

A Call for Collaboration

Posted

Sandra Larson, BEnvE 2023, addressed her fellow graduates on graduation day. Her message highlighted some of the big challenges they will face and the need for collaboration in addressing these challenging issues. CEGE magazine caught up with her before she left campus to begin her new life as a civil/environmental engineer with Carlson McCain. We were able to learn more about her convictions regarding challenging engineering problems and the role of collaboration.

Brian Balquist, BizPitch winner, 2023
Department News, Student Activities

Environmental engineering major wins Bizpitch

Posted

The Biz Pitch Contest offers University of Minnesota undergraduate students an opportunity to present their new business ideas to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors. Brian Balquist, an Environmental Engineering major in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, proposed a company that applies existing wastewater surveillance technology to new areas. His business idea and his pitch led to him taking home two prizes. Balquist won for the Most Innovative idea and the Overall Grand Prize, which came with a check for $2,000.

Two student enter stream
Department News, Research, Student Activities, Water/Environmental engineering

Summertime is fieldwork time: Stream sampling

Posted

Summertime is fieldwork time! Here researchers and students step into a stream for a lesson on the United States Geological Survey protocols for stream sampling. Students learned how to collect samples from the thalwag, the line that connects the deepest points of the stream. They also learned how to measure a stream's velocity, depth, cross-section, and how to log that information into a mobile GIS data collection program.

headshot Zihang Wang
Awards and Honors, Department News, Student Activities, Water/Environmental engineering

How is our environment affected by wide use of antibiotics?

Posted

​​​​​​​When the COVID-19 pandemic arose, the use of antibiotics soared. Levels of use evened out as we learned more about how the virus is transmitted. People concerned about water, however, are still concerned about the large amounts of antibiotics introduced into the environment and how they might move into and through our water systems. Zihang Wang, a graduate student advised by Bill Arnold, is taking aim at this question with support from a Hsiao Shaw-Lundquist Fellowship.

Nahum Yelizarov
Department News, Structural engineering, Student Activities

Nahum Yelizarov, BCE + Research Led to a Master's Degree

Posted

"Getting involved in research with various professors let me explore my interests and opened a door to a Master’s degree. Taking higher level design and theory classes in structural engineering, as well as doing a thesis, allowed me to get a better technical understanding and taught me to how educate myself on topics I don’t know.”

Two students showing off their CEGE t-shirts
Department News, Student Activities

Meet CEGE Jan. 27, 2023

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An event for prospective University of Minnesota students. The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering is for those who like to go, see, and do! We take a hands-on approach to designing and protecting people and Earth's resources.

Sophomore Hans Lagerquist fills a water bottle.
Department News, Student Activities

Water Bottle Filling Station is a Gift from Graduating Students

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Generous donors have helped us create some wonderful spaces for students to study and mingle. The Granite Table in the Robert and Joyce Rosene Student Lounge has been chosen as a campus-wide favorite study spot. Our newest addition, a water bottle refilling station, is a gift to the department from some of our newest alumni, paying it forward for CEGE students.

Shian Wang on the ski slopes
Awards and Honors, Student Activities, Transportation engineering

​​​​​​​Shi'an Wang researches Planning, Operation, and Management of Automated Transportation Systems

Posted

​​​​​​​Shi'an Wang, a Ph.D. student advised by Michael Levin, defended his doctoral research on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. Wang will join the faculty at the University of Texas at El Paso in the spring of 2023 at the rank of Assistant Professor.

Daniel Kennedy poses with his advisers Joe Labuz (left) and Bojan Guzina (right).
Alumni, Department News, Geomechanical engineering, Student Activities

Dan Kennedy has something to be thankful for

Posted

Just one day before Thanksgiving in 2022, Daniel Kennedy completed his doctoral studies in geoengineering. He has accepted a position with Barr Engineering.

Ellie and Madison at Geo Fieldcamp in Hawaii
Profiles, Student Activities

Two Geoengineering Students find their place in CEGE

Posted

The U is a big place, but two students discovered a small community within their college. Ellie Longar and Madison Haydn-Myer are both juniors in geoengineering and plan to graduate spring 2023.