Dear CEE Community and Friends,

November’s newsletter highlights the fifth Rising Stars Workshop, a two-day event that prepares the next generation of women leaders in CEE for careers in academia. Prof. César Terrer joins “Ask MIT Climate” to discuss plants as a natural carbon sink, and we congratulate PhD candidate Chengyi Long on being selected as a 2023-24 Takeda Fellow.

Also in this issue, Prof. Markus Buehler’s new research uses AI to explore connections across disciplines. Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews Prof. Andrew Whittle, who will be delivering the 2024 Terzaghi Lecture, and this month's featured profile highlights Leadership Giving Officer Kelli Augustine. Lastly, we share details regarding Prof. Lydia Bourouiba’s exhibit on “Paradigm Shift in Infectious Diseases” and photos from CEE’s 2023 Halloween Party.

Sincerely,

Ali Jadbabaie

JR East Professor

Department Head, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering

Core Faculty, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

The two-day MIT workshop provides sixteen distinguished PhD candidates and postdocs from universities across the world guidance on beginning their careers in academia. The women chosen represent the next generation of leaders in civil and environmental engineering, with research focuses ranging from climate change to resilient infrastructure and transportation.

How much human-produced carbon dioxide is taken up by faster plant growth around the world?

Prof. César Terrer discusses how much of the planet’s climate-warming emissions are canceled out by accelerated plant growth with "Ask MIT Climate."

CEE student selected as 2023-24 Takeda Fellow

PhD candidate Chengyi Long has been selected as a Takeda Fellow for the 2023-24 academic year. The MIT-Takeda Program fuels the development and application of artificial intelligence capabilities to benefit human health and drug development.

New research from Prof. Markus Buehler and colleagues introduces MechGPT: A novel language-based model bridging scales, disciplines and modalities in mechanics and materials modeling.

Interview with Prof. Andrew Whittle

Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews Prof. Andrew Whittle, who will deliver the Terzaghi Lecture at Geo-Congress 2024 in Vancouver, BC on February 27.

Staff Spotlight: Kelli Augustine

Learn more about CEE's Leadership Giving Officer Kelli Augustine in this month's rapid-fire Q&A featured spotlight.

A Paradigm Shift in Infectious Diseases

Prof. Lydia Bourouiba collaborates with cancer researcher and comic artist Argha Manna for an MIT CAST Libraries exhibit on Paradigm Shift in Infectious Diseases. The exhibit will run from December 4-13, 2023, with a special panel discussion on December 5th at 5 pm in the Nexus (14S-130). The exhibit aims to clarify confusion about the mechanisms of transmission of airborne pathogens.

Halloween Party

The department held its annual Halloween party on Monday, October 30. View photos of the pumpkin carving and costume contest winners, and more from the night.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Civil 

and Environmental Engineering

77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 1-290 Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 

(617) 253-7101

CEE.MIT.EDU