Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems Program
The SRIS program, launched in fall 2011, addresses emerging approaches to infrastructure systems focusing on resiliency and sustainability of interconnected infrastructure--for example, structural, geotechnical and water interactions in urban environments.
Degrees Offered
- B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering (Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems Program)
- M.S. Degree in Civil Engineering or Environmental Engineering (Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems Program)
- Ph.D. Degree in Civil Engineering or Environmental Engineering (Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems Program)
Learn about:
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- SRIS M.S./Ph.D. Program (includes information on course requirements)
Learn More About the SRIS Program
The cross-cutting program in SRIS is intended to foster collaborations and leadership in holistically planning, designing, and managing sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems and their interactions. Here the term “sustainable” refers to the Brundtland Commission’s definition of a sustainable society as one that meets the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Enabling this broad vision requires that CEE practitioners holistically consider the environmental, economic, and social impacts of their work on local, regional, and global systems.
The term “infrastructure systems” is used in its broadest sense, encompassing both built infrastructure (buildings, roads, bridges, pipe networks, treatment facilities, etc.) and infrastructure services that rely on integrated built and natural systems to provide fundamental needs of society. The term “resilient” refers to the ability of such infrastructure systems (including their interconnected ecosystems and social systems) to absorb disturbance and still retain their basic function and structural capacity.
- Planning and management of sustainable and resilient transportation systems
- Renewable energy supply and logistics
- Reliable network design under the risk of service disruptions
- Sustainable urban underground structures development,
- Earthquake resiliency and interaction of above and below ground urban infrastructure.
- Real-time monitoring, optimization and control of infrastructure systems.
- Multiscale data and model synthesis for improved decision support
- Green infrastructure design to meet social, economic, and environmental objectives
- Resilience and sustainability modeling of interdependent infrastructural systems
- Integrated assessment of environmental and socioeconomic impacts of infrastructural expansion
- Energy-water-environment nexus analysis and modeling
- Strategic infrastructure planning under climate change
- Mobile sensing, inverse modeling and data assimilation
- Risk-informed management and post-disaster operations of lifeline networks
- Reliability analysis of sequential failures in structures for risk-informed design and maintenance
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Areas of Study and Research
Construction Engineering Management
Construction engineers manage and direct construction operations. They analyze the labor, materials, and equipment for each job to determine the proper quantity of each and ensure availability at the appropriate time and place.
Civil engineers are often responsible for specifying, designing and manufacturing the materials with which they build their structures. Studies in construction materials are intended to make structural, transportation and foundation engineers aware of the fundamental properties of the materials they use.
Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability
Interdisciplinary program
The program in Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability (EWES) is a cross-cutting program focused on providing and supporting sustainable solutions for the exploration, production, delivery and use of energy, and their intersection with water and the natural and built environment. The program focuses on integrating scientific principles, engineered processes, and systems analyses to address diverse challenges related to society's growing energy needs and their nexus with water and the environment.
Environmental Engineering and Science
Environmental engineers help solve problems of air, land and water contamination. They design, construct and operate systems that purify water for drinking, industrial use and recreation. They develop and implement air-purification devices and protocols for solid and hazardous waste management.
Geotechnical engineers use soil, rock and geosynthetics as engineering materials. They design earth- and rock-filled dams, tunnels, landfills and foundations for structures of all types.
Societal Risk and Hazard Mitigation
Interdisciplinary program
The Societal Risk Management (SRHM) program is a cross-disciplinary program that focuses on the development of a secure and safe society. The program concentrates on risk determination, risk evaluation and risk management for natural and human-made hazards, and disaster response and recovery.
Structural engineers design economical structures that resist forces induced by wind, earthquakes, blasts and heavy traffic. The tools of the structural engineer include physical testing, mathematical modeling and computer simulation.
Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems
Interdisciplinary program
The interdisciplinary program Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems (SRIS) addresses emerging approaches to infrastructure systems focusing on resiliency and sustainability of inter-connected infrastructure, for example, structural, geotechnical, and water interactions in urban environments. The program aims to prepare new generations of civil engineers who are ready to address pressing societal issues while developing needed infrastructure.
Transportation engineers design, build, operate and maintain all types of facilities for railroads, automobiles, airplanes and ships. They deal with such problems as moving millions of people in and out of cities at rush hour and moving carloads of wheat from the fields of Kansas to the port of New Orleans.
Water Resources Engineering and Science
Water resource engineers help solve complex water challenges, including providing society with safe and reliable water supplies, managing impacts of floods and drought, and enhancing environmental quality. They plan, design, manage and operate surface water and groundwater systems that are sustainable and adaptable to changing climate and human activity.