News
CEE News | October 6, 2026
New model reveals how legume crops could fix nitrogen more efficiently
Civil and environmental engineering researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a computational model that identifies how nitrogen fixation could be improved in soybean and other legumes. The model, created by CEE Assistant Professor Megan Matthews and members of her lab, highlights three enzymes, ZWF, PEPC and PYK, as potential engineering targets, and predicts that coordinated changes in their activity could increase nitrogen fixation efficiency by 11% and fixation rate by almost 9%.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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October 7, 2026
Nguyen named selected researcher for new, global program fighting antimicrobial resistance
Helen Nguyen CEE Professor Helen Nguyen has been named as one of 17 researchers chosen to participate in Resistance Networks — a new Wellcome Leap program focused on reducing the threat of antimicrobial resistance. The program proposes applying epidemiological methods to tracking AMR, hoping to create opportunities for intervention before resistant infections reach clinical scale. Learn more>>
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October 6, 2026
CEE alum to receive American Institute of Steel Construction's T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award
Matthew Eatherton (PhD '10) AISC will honor CEE at Illinois alumnus Matthew Eatherton (PhD '10) with the 2027 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award for his work on the AISC Design Guide 39. Eatherton will receive the award at the opening session of NASCC: The Steel Conference and will provide the conference's keynote address. Learn more>>