Interdepartmental Research Initiatives

Interdisciplinary research is common at MIT, and faculty members in the Department of Civil and Engineering often collaborate with colleagues in the School of Engineering, the School of Science, the School of Architecture and Planning, and the Sloan School of Management. Two of the largest of these collaborative efforts are directed by CEE professors.

Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling

CENSAM is a collaborative research program headed by Professor Andrew Whittle and involving many faculty members from CEE and other departments and universities. Researchers primarily from MIT and universities in Singapore are developing pervasive environmental sensor networks to collect data from many sources on parameters such as air and water quality. They plan to use this data to provide accurate, real-time monitoring, modeling and control of the environment from the microscale of a building to the macroscale of, for example, East Asia.

Earth System Initiative

ESI is a research and educational enterprise dedicated to studying the physical, chemical and biological processes of Earth. ESI research cuts across environmentally oriented disciplines such as geology, atmospheric science, oceanography, biology, chemistry and environmental engineering. Professor Dara Entekhabi is director of the initiative, which involves about 20 members of the CEE faculty and many other faculty from MIT.

Transportation @ MIT

Transportation@MIT is a coordinated effort to address one of civilization’s most pressing challenges: the environmental impact of the world’s ever-increasing demand for transportation. Building on MIT’s rich tradition of engineering research and interdisciplinary collaboration, the initiative knits together the wide-ranging, robust research already under way at the Institute and creates new opportunities for education and innovation. Professor Cynthia Barnhart of CEE, who is also associate dean of engineering, heads this initiative.