Not since when I first became an educator had I looked more forward to the beginning of a semester. The fall semester is well upon us, and the infusion of life back on campus is certainly a welcome one. Students, faculty and staff have returned. Classrooms, laboratories and offices are buzzing with activity.

Purdue researchers are utilizing 3D concrete printing to potentially improve the stability of structures, reduce their construction time and overall cost and to enable new functionalities. Pablo Zavattieri, the Jerry M. and Lynda T. Engelhardt Professor in Civil Engineering, is involved in a pair of research teams that are studying new uses for 3D printing that could have a wide impact in materials, architectural and structural engineering.

A multi-disciplinary effort between the Lyles School of Civil Engineering and Purdue’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering is working toward developing low-cost, reliable soil sensors that could reduce their price from several hundred dollars to just a few cents each.

Ernest "Chip" Blatchley, the Lee A. Rieth Professor in Environmental Engineering, and his team are currently working on applications of UV radiation to control coronaviruses and other airborne pathogens. The structure of these pathogens makes them particularly susceptible to UV radiation.

Yiheng Feng, assistant professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, is Purdue's co-principal investigator in a $9.95M U.S. Department of Transportation project designed to increase safety through "smart intersections." The next-generation traffic control system gathers and transmits information in real time to connected and automated vehicles (CAVs).

Lyles School of Civil Engineering Professor Konstantina "Nadia" Gkritza's research team has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy and Utah State University to study and break down the technical barriers to large-scale transit electrification. The project is titled "Increasing Affordability, Energy Efficiency, and Ridership of Transit Bus Systems through Large-Scale Electrification."

A team of Purdue researchers is revolutionizing traditional ground surveying methods with a new technology that maps millions of elevation points in mere minutes simply by walking around the area wearing a backpack.

Lyles School of Civil Engineering alumna Emily Byl has two passions: restoring landmarks of the past and guiding civil engineers of the future. Byl (BSCE '14, MSCE '16) is a Professional Engineer at ARSEE Engineers Inc. in Fishers, Indiana, where she has been involved in several restoration projects.

The Lyles School of Civil Engineering Online Master’s Degree program offers interdisciplinary tracks in sustainable water; infrastructure, resiliency and sustainability; and smart mobility.