News: CEE

New York City is among the most congested traffic spots in the world. Soon, in an effort to ease some of the Big Apple’s legendary gridlock – and make the air more breathable – driving a car into midtown Manhattan will cost you. New research by Cornell and the City College of New York (CCNY), which is part of the City University of New York system, shows that by enforcing a $20 toll for cars and taxis to enter the central business district of Manhattan, traffic congestion could be reduced by up to 40%, public transit ridership could grow by 6% and greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by... Read more

A week before the Ithaca campus shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, members of an engineering student group converted a university-owned diesel tractor into a clean, green farming machine. Instead of emitting the notoriously noxious black diesel smoke, the tractor now emits a much lighter colored exhaust with a smell more reminiscent of French fries than farm implements. That’s thanks to its soy-based biodiesel fuel, as the updated tractor helps the university take another step toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2035. “A carbon-neutral campus is an inspiring vision,” said H. Oliver... Read more

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Lynden A. Archer, the James A. Friend Family Distinguished Professor in Engineering, has been named the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering for a five-year term beginning July 1. Provost Michael Kotlikoff announced Archer’s appointment today, following approval by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees on June 5. “Lynden has made many tremendous contributions, to science and society, through his work in energy storage and carbon-capture technology, and he has demonstrated great leadership with the Cornell Energy Systems Institute,” Kotlikoff said. “He is not only one of our... Read more

From all of us at CEE. We are so proud of you. Listen to our faculty and staff members give congratulatory messages to our graduating students.

Within the Colorado River basin, management laws dictate how water is allocated to farms, businesses and homes. Those laws, along with changing climate patterns and demand for water, form a complex dynamic that has made it difficult to predict who will be hardest hit by drought. Cornell engineers have used advanced modeling to simulate more than 1 million potential futures – a technique known as scenario discovery – to assess how stakeholders who rely on the Colorado River might be uniquely affected by changes in climate and demand as a result of management practices and other factors. Their... Read more

"One project aims to produce a mathematical model that allows government officials to manage human mobility during a pandemic. It will be led by Samitha Samaranayake, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering." Read more

Blair Johnson, PhD '16, is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches civil engineering. For her graduate work on the Hill - where she studied fluid mechanics - she conducted research on how sand and other sediments are transported in churning, fast-moving waters, like a wave slamming into the shore during a hurricane. "You want to be able to predict whether natural shorelines are going to be washed away during storms," she explains. Read more

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Minorities and lower-income people are more likely than high-income people and whites to consider human factors such as racism and poverty to be environmental issues, a study co-led by Cornell researchers found. Read more