Course One eNews | July 2026

Dear CEE Community and Friends,

This month, we highlight the opening of the first climate shelter in Bangladesh developed through the MIT-led Jameel Observatory Climate Resilience Early Warning System Network (CREWSnet). We congratulate PhD candidate Mahdi Seyyedan on receiving the 2026 Leo Casagrande Memorial Scholarship and Prof. Elfatih Eltahir on being awarded the 2026 Arab Water Council Prize. We also recognize Professors Saurabh Amin and Benedetto Marelli, along with Prof. Desirée Plata and Research Scientist Glen Andrew de Vera, for receiving J-WAFS grants to advance research addressing critical challenges in water, food, and agriculture.

In research news, we feature two studies from the Carstensen Lab that connect optimized design with real-world construction. We also highlight a new framework from Prof. Michael Howland to help make more climate-informed energy siting choices, a breathable hydrogel developed by Prof. Xuanhe Zhao, and a new metric from CEE Research Scientist Judah Cohen and collaborators at the Woodwell Climate Research Center to better assess the risks of dangerous heat waves.

Sincerely,

Ali Jadbabaie

JR East Professor

Department Head, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering

Core Faculty, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

Small classroom with roughly 35 young students in uniforms sitting facing the blackboard and four teachers. Two mini-split AC units are visible above the chalkboard.

MIT-led project opens first climate shelter in Bangladesh

The Jameel Observatory Climate Resilience Early Warning System Network (CREWSnet), led by MIT researchers including Prof. Elfatih Eltahir, has opened its first Adaptation Fortress in Satkhira, Bangladesh—a solar-powered community shelter designed to help protect residents from extreme heat and tropical storms.

CEE graduate student awarded 2026 Leo Casagrande Memorial Scholarship

Mahdi Seyyedan received the 2026 Leo Casagrande Memorial Scholarship, which recognizes an outstanding geotechnical engineering student in Massachusetts. Mahdi's research advances numerical modeling of soils in a changing climate to strengthen infrastructure resilience.

Prof. Elfatih Eltahir receives 2026 Arab Water Council Prize

Prof. Elfatih Eltahir received the 2026 Arab Water Council Prize for his research on the relationship between El Niño and Nile River flows and its contributions to forecasting and understanding future flood variability under climate change.

New MIT research projects aim to tackle real-world challenges in water and food

Professors Saurabh Amin and Benedetto Marelli have been awarded seed grants from J-WAFS at MIT to advance research addressing critical challenges in water and food.

From agricultural waste to water risk

Prof. Desirée Plata and research scientist Glen Andrew de Vera received the J-WAFS Grant for Transforming Animal Agriculture Systems to study the impacts of agricultural runoff on drinking water treatment.

The Lockport truss bridge photo shows the current trusses, and then three designs show trusses with different materials.

Computer model could enable bridges and buildings that use less material

Prof. Josephine Carstensen and CEE graduate student Zane Schemmer have developed an approach for generating more buildable structures, bridging the gap between optimized design and real-world construction.

Hajin Kim-Tackowiak and Zane Schemmer, in hard hats and safety glasses, kneel behind a concrete bridge about the size of a park bench.

3D-printed bridge points the way to greener construction

Researchers in the Carstensen Lab developed a framework that folds a printer’s real-world limits into the optimization, while revealing that better hardware could sharply reduce material use.

Solar panels and wind turbines connected by grid lines.

For energy systems that power a reliable grid, the future is all about location

New research from Prof. Michael Howland and collaborators offers a framework to help make more climate-informed energy siting choices, improving the resiliency of energy systems and reducing the risk of future blackouts.

A square piece of white hydrogel floats on top of blue-tinted water.

MIT engineers whip up a more breathable hydrogel

The new aerated material, developed by Prof. Xuanhe Zhao and collaborators, could enable longer-lasting bandages, implants, and wearable sensors.

A car driving on a highway under a sign warning of extreme heat.

New study tracks increasing risk from dangerous heat waves

The accumulated dangerous heat index, a new metric developed by researchers at Woodwell Climate Research Center and CEE Research Scientist Judah Cohen, provides a new tool to assess life-threatening risks to communities from high heat and humidity.

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