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Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
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Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering

Research and Facilities

Student working close up with research equipment.

Research and programs that serve the advancement of communities and industry. Our team of faculty, research staff, and graduate students lead projects and courses in each of these focus areas, driving innovation and helping you building skills in a dynamic learning environment. Our faculty are also closely associated with Iowa State’s Institute for Transportation (InTrans), and with other research centers across campus.

Research Focus Areas

Explore ISU CCEE’s six graduate research areas of specialization. We also offer access to interdepartmental opportunities for graduate researchers.

Our faculty are organized into six different administrative areas of engineering research: Construction engineering and management, environmental/water resources, geotechnical/materials engineering, structural engineering, transportation engineering, and intelligent infrastructure. Click on the corresponding tiles below to see the faculty in each focus area.

Use our faculty/staff directory to explore faculty research interests, find email addresses and get information pertaining to office hours.

Interdepartmental Programs

Department Research Labs and Facilities

ISU CCEE’s department labs and facilities are utilized by undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, faculty and professional and scientific staff. Each year, our labs host multiple national and international conferences. Cutting-edge technology is utilized in each departmental facility. All six focus areas boast laboratory space within the walls of Town Engineering Building. Explore our state-of-the-art facilities below, or contact a laboratory manager for more information:

Affiliated Labs and Centers

Bioeconomy Institute: Iowa State University’s Bioeconomy Institute (BEI) opens opportunities in Iowa’s burgeoning bioeconomy, where our society looks to agriculture for fuel, energy, chemicals, and materials.

Center for Industrial Research and Service: CIRAS has helped more than 360 construction firms in Iowa over the past five years, generating an economic impact of more than $561 million.

Center for Nondestructive Evaluation: CNDE has a long history of working with industry to provide cost-effective tools and solutions which address relevant problems for a variety of industrial sectors.

Institute for Transportation: The Institute for Transportation (InTrans) is the focal point for transportation at Iowa State University.

Virtual Reality Application Center: Iowa State University’s Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) is an interdisciplinary research center focused at the intersection of humans and technology, aimed broadly at enhancing the productivity and creativity of people.

Wind Energy Initiative: The Wind Energy Initiative will combine wind energy research, education and outreach activities in conjunction with industry to enable and enhance the economic viability of wind energy production, delivery and adoption.

Computer Labs

Why cram a group project into your dorm room? Use one of Town Engineering’s many student computer labs. These labs are equipped with all the industry-standard software needed for classes, including Autodesk AutoCAD, Revit, and Civil3D, Bluebeam Revu, and Microsoft Project:

  • Town 178 (Jellinger)
  • Town 194 (Kiewit)
  • Town 196
  • Town 210
  • Town 220

Computer support is available through ISU Engineering Technology Support. Submit a ticket for assistance here. The College of Engineering maintains a large repository of software available to students and faculty/staff as well. Find a full list of open labs across campus by visiting ISU Engineering Technology Support Currently Open Labs website.

Teaching Labs

ISU CCEE houses several teaching laboratories within Town Engineering Building:

Burns & McDonnell Teaching Laboratory: With open ceiling tiles, this space supports teaching hands-on construction engineering courses. Students can see the equipment, ductwork, piping and conduit in practice inside Town Engineering. They can also switch out various light fixtures to experience how lighting performance varies.

Tom and Ro Jellinger Laboratory: On September 25, 2010, the CCEE department dedicated the Thomas and Ro Jellinger Laboratory for the benefit of departmental engineering students. Made possible in part through industry contributions, the lab provides virtual site tours, building information modeling, and a conducive learning environment for senior level design courses.

Highway Design Classroom: Primarily used for CE 4530: Highway Design, undergraduate students collaborate on highway design projects using professional software in the Highway Design Laboratory. The laboratory is configured with seven cubicles lining the periphery of the room and a set of worktables in the center of the room to facilitate collaborative team activities on projects.

Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Teaching Laboratory: Every civil engineering undergraduate student enrolled at Iowa State is required to take a beginning environmental engineering course in the Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Teaching Laboratory. It also houses several classes for students specializing in environmental engineering. The lab has specialized equipment to analyze air, water and wastewater. This equipment exposes students to current analytical methods for recognizing and solving environmental problems.

Geotechnical/Materials Teaching Laboratories: These laboratories, located in Town Engineering 142, 148 and 160, are utilized by every civil engineering undergraduate student during that student’s time at Iowa State. They host required classes like CE3600 and CE3820. In these laboratories, students can get hands-on experience with geotechnical and asphalt concrete testing equipment. Recent updates to the laboratories provide students with real-world research experience, right here on ISU’s campus.

More to Explore

Check out what’s happening around the department.

Lab happenings

Thank you for stopping by Town Engineering! Explore our space on this beautiful campus and learn about the day-to-day happenings in our laboratories.

Student in environmental lab

Environmental Engineering Labs: Research, Teaching and Instrumentation

The Environmental Laboratories are home to research activities and courses on emerging contaminants of concern, environmental microbiology, and sustainable water and wastewater treatment. Under the guidance of faculty and project principal investigators, undergraduate and graduate (MS and PhD) students work toward finding solutions to the day-to-day water quality concerns faced in communities.

With of a broad spectrum of instruments and equipment, the environmental laboratories have the capacity to effectively characterizing water, wastewater, soil extracts, plant extracts, microbiological and diverse environmental specimens guided by standard Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methods and custom protocols tailored to specific project requirements.

Contact and Location

Research Scientist Bongi M Hlabano-Moyo, bhlabano@iastate.edu

Research Manager Derek Jones, dj28@iastate.edu

Town 112, 120, 122, 123, 124

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testing soil compaction

Geotechnical Labs

The Geotechnical Labs host courses and tools to understand how soils behave and how that behavior affects engineering decisions. The controlled soil testing allows for measuring properties like shear strength, compressibility and permeability to support the design of safe and reliable systems.

Contact and Location

Associate Professor Cassandra Rutherford, cassier@iastate.edu

Teaching Laboratory Specialist Theresa McLeod-Hughes, tbirch@iastate.edu

Town 142, 148, 40, 42

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Sitting in a scooper/digger simulator in construction classroom

Construction Engineering Learning Laboratory

This lab features a CM Labs Advantage Operator Station for construction equipment simulation. With this hands-on learning tool, students explore equipment operation, jobsite safety, productivity, and equipment limitations in a controlled environment, connecting classroom concepts to construction practices. Currently, a mid-sized excavator is the only equipment simulated, but add-on equipment and software allow for additional simulation of a broad range of equipment.

 

Contact and Location

Associate Professor Roy Sturgill, sturgill@iastate.edu

W.A. Klinger Chair Jennifer Shane, jsshane@iastate.edu

Town 116

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Student piping water into test tube

Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Teaching Laboratory

The Anderlik Lab facilitates the development of students’ practical skills through direct engagement in experimental procedures, data analysis, and hands on operation of laboratory equipment/instruments. This fosters a deep understanding of environmental engineering principles and their real-world applications.

The Anderlik lab provides a range of environmental analysis capabilities, including but not limited to the measurement of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, hardness, alkalinity, bacterial analysis, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and air quality. Additionally, it is equipped with spectrophotometers utilized in ionic quantification, and Jar Test equipment for simulation of flocculation processes to support comprehensive water quality studies.

Contact and Location

Research Manager Derek Jones, dj28@iastate.edu

Town 124

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Steel bridge student building bridge component

Structural Engineering Labs

The Structural Engineering Laboratories provide resources and an environment to perform structural testing and experiments. The Steel Bridge team uses this space to fabricate their bridge during Spring and Fall semesters. Formwork Design uses the space a few times over the duration of the course. The Wallace W. and Julia B. Sanders Structural Laboratory (Town 130), contains an 80-by-24-foot reaction floor with 300,000-pound-capacity loading points on a three-foot grid. A 15-ton overhead crane accommodates placement of tall loads.

Students are only allowed to work on projects in the lab if they are part of a student group, a course, or have a worktag associated with the project they are working on.

Contact and Location

Anson Marston Distinguished Professor Sri Sritharan, sri@iastate.edu

Professor Behrouz Shafei, shafei@iastate.edu

Research Manager Derek Jones, dj28@iastate.edu

Structures Manager Owen Steffens, oweigen@iastate.edu

Town 130, 162

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Student in virtual reality projection of Town Engineering building

Surprenant Interactive Visualization Lab 

The Surprenant Interactive Visualization Lab (SIVL) works towards solutions to human-centered challenges in buildings and construction through creating and utilizing immersive visualization and simulation tools for energy efficiency, safety, and decision-making. The goal of the SIVL space is to advance smart, sustainable, and resilient built environments through interactive technologies.

Contact and Location

Assistant Professor Yunjeong (Leah) Mo, ymo@iastate.edu

Research Manager Derek Jones, dj28@iastate.edu

Town 141

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Joe Charbonnet doing PFAS experiment

Water Quality Lab

This lab is used by teams of researchers (graduate and undergraduate) working to invent next-generation technologies to treat wastewater with fewer energy and chemical inputs. Some of the work done in this space include detecting and removing harmful contaminants such as “forever chemical” and endocrine disruptors from water, wastewater, food supplies and consumer products.

Contact and Location

Assistant Professor Joe Charbonnet, jcharbo@iastate.edu

Research Manager Derek Jones, dj28@iastate.edu

Research Scientist Bongi M Hlabano-Moyo, bhlabano@iastate.edu

Town 159

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Hands with protective industrial gloves pouring asphalt into a geological laboratory testing machine

Materials teaching

The Materials Teaching ab focuses on research and development, teaching, and service. This space is dedicated to chemical/physical characterization of various materials to support research and teaching.

Contact and Location

Gerald and Audrey Olson Professor R. Chris Williams, rwilliam@iastate.edu

Wilson Engineering Professor Kejin Wang, kejinw@iastate.edu

Pitt-Des Moines, Inc. Endowed Professor in Civil Engineering Halil Ceylan, hceylan@iastate.edu

Teaching Laboratory Specialist Theresa McLeod-Hughes, tbirch@iastate.edu

Town 160

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Mixing materials in lab with instructor

Asphalt Lab

The Advanced Asphalt Materials Lab is home to state-of-the-art Superpave testing equipment. Our expert team ensures precise, reliable results for a wide range of asphalt testing needs, supporting research, development, and practical applications in the field. Before operating in this lab, students are required to undergo training and secure Worktag funding from a faculty or staff member of the department. Contact the lab manager with additional questions or collaboration opportunities.

Contact and Location

Research Manager Derek Jones, dj28@iastate.edu

Laboratory Supervisor Paul Ledtje, paledtje@iastate.edu

Town 168

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Researcher testing Portland cement concrete

Portland Cement Concrete Lab

The PCC Lab provides undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to study and conduct research related to PCC pavements and supports the State of Iowa’s national leadership role in PCC pavement research innovations. Iowa State has one of the few university laboratory facilities with an entire PCC research system under one roof.

Contact and Location

 

Manager of research Derek Jones, dj28@iastate.edu.

Town 138

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Students collaborating in computer lab

Jellinger Capstone Lab

Students collaborate and build their Capstone projects in this space. Working with a local partner, they are tasked to create a comprehensive proposal and project solution to present to the client. 

Contact and Location

Professor of Practice Steve Johnson, stevenj2@iastate.edu

Associate Teaching Professor Travis Hosteng, kickhos@iastate.edu

Teaching Professor Matt Rouse, jmr19@iastate.edu

Town 106

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Students working on electrical system

Burns & McDonnell Teaching Lab

This lab bridges classroom theory and real-world building systems to help students develop a practical understanding of how electrical, mechanical, and structural systems are designed, documented, and installed in buildings. The ceiling tiles were intentionally removed so students can see the real structural, mechanical, and electrical systems that make the building safe and functional.

Contact and Location

Teaching Professor Jenny Baker, jzbaker@iastate.edu

Teaching Professor Brad Perkins, bperkins@iastate.edu

Town 322