MIT CEE

AI, climate change, and growing global demands are reshaping the future of infrastructure. Ahead of the World Infrastructure Forum on Oct. 28 and 29, CEE Department Head @jababi discusses the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Researchers in the Chisholm lab find Prochlorococcus can switch between drifting alone and living in attached communities, a discovery that could reshape estimates of how much carbon the ocean moves to the deep sea.

A new machine learning approach, developed by CEE Research Scientist Judah Cohen and collaborators, significantly improves weather forecasting beyond two weeks, including for extreme weather events.

MIT CEE Professor Charles Harvey testified before the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission, calling for stronger monitoring, greater transparency, and stricter safety standards for underground carbon storage projects.

Associate Professor David Des Marais studies how plants interact with their surroundings and adapt over time. “Understanding why life is so diverse is fascinating to me,” he says.

Considering a graduate degree in civil and environmental engineering? Join an upcoming webinar on Tuesday, October 20 at 10 a.m. ET to learn more about our programs and the application process. Register now:

MIT CEE invites applications for two tenure-track faculty searches. The CEE search focuses on mechanics, materials, AI-native engineering, and future infrastructure, while the joint CEE–IDSS search focuses on decision-making for networked infrastructure.

Associate Professor Cathy Wu uses reinforcement learning to help map out improvements to transportation and other multifaceted systems.

Explore Pompeii through history, archaeology, and materials science this IAP. The Making of Roman Pompeii takes students to Pompeii, Herculaneum & Rome for an immersive fieldwork experience. Applications are due Oct. 8.

Prof. Michael Howland and collaborators found a new way of simulating wind turbines to help wind farms generate more power and validate predictive models.

Congratulations to César Terrer, who has been honored with two 2026 @theAGU awards: the James B. Macelwane Medal and the Global Environmental Change Early Career Award 🎉

CEE faculty are joining MIT Future Fest, taking place Sept. 30–Oct. 4, for conversations on the future of food and agriculture, coastal protection, building with AI, and the intersection of human insight and technical expertise. Learn more and register:

How can we build a more resilient energy grid as extreme weather increases? Profs. Michael Howland and Saurabh Amin are working with MIT researchers in MIT IDSS to develop tools that can inform where and how new energy infrastructure is built.

Prof. Haruko Wainwright discusses the risks associated with different forms of nuclear waste, ways to improve waste-handling procedures, and what the U.S. can learn from other countries about long-term nuclear waste disposal.

New research from the Cordero Lab reveals how communities of marine bacteria divide the task of degrading fucoidan, one of the ocean's toughest carbon-storing molecules.

Starting a postdoc at MIT? CEE postdoc and Communication Fellow Xukai Zhang created a new Postdoc Survival & Success Guide with practical, community-driven advice on navigating research, career development, networking, relocation, and life at MIT.

Prof. Lydia Bourouiba has received the 2026 MathWorks Faculty Research Innovation Fellowship (FRIF). The MIT FRIFs were established to recognize midcareer faculty members for outstanding research contributions and leadership in their fields.

RT @oxcordero: Excited to share our latest paper in @Nature, featuring the fantastic work of Andi Sichert. A systems ecology approach to understanding how microbial communities digest complex carbohydrates in the ocean:

A team of researchers from the Bourouiba Lab and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have created a new way to analyze how changes in indoor air flow can mitigate or promote infectious diseases.

Dmat, a startup bringing ancient Roman concrete technology to modern construction, is commercializing findings from the lab of CEE Professor Admir Masic to make concrete longer-lasting and more sustainable.