Fall 2025: CEE@UCI News

Fall 2025

Chair's Message

Welcome to CEE@UCI!

This newsletter offers a window into how our department advances knowledge and prepares the next generation of engineers. Inside, you’ll find stories from faculty, students, staff, alumni, and industry affiliates – the people who shape the life of CEE at UCI. From research breakthroughs to student initiatives, and from professional collaborations to alumni engagement, these updates show that our strength lies in working together to take on today’s challenges and build a better future.

Keep up with us on other platforms as well, such as:

Facebook @ UC Irvine Civil & Environmental Engineering

LinkedIn @ UC Irvine Civil and Environmental Engineering

Bluesky @ucicee.bsky.social

Instagram @ceeatuci

Sincerely,

Mo Li

Professor and Chair

Bridging Science and Community: Shakira Hobbs on Sustainable Solutions

Professor Shakira Hobbs at UC Irvine is at the forefront of sustainable engineering and its impact on communities. She prioritizes finding innovative ways to help society in protecting the environment and promoting engineering equity, drawing on years of technical expertise and passion.

Phu Nguyen and UCI's CHRS: Using Data to Address Water Challenges

To some, it might seem as if the civil engineering field has become increasingly data-driven in recent years, with hot technology such as artificial intelligence presenting an ever-increasing need for data processing and computing power.

Shaking Up Engineering: Anne Lemnitzer Leads Research in Resilient Structures

At UC Irvine, state of the art research usually begins in a lab. But for Professor Anne Lemnitzer, it also extends deeply into the real world.

Professor Ritchie to Pursue Research Full-Time Post 40-Year Teaching Career

Dr. Stephen Ritchie, a lifelong member of UC Irvine’s Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department, has retired from his faculty position as of July 2025, but continues to lead a research team of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and project scientists.

Hirad Emadi: Leading with Engineering Entrepreneurship

Hirad Emadi, UC Irvine alumnus and co-founder of environmental construction company Innovative Construction Solutions (ICS), has paved a life-long path at the intersection of engineering and entrepreneurship.

Scaling the Storm: How High-Resolution Models are Reshaping Climate Scienceen/

Clement Guilloteau, an associate research specialist in Professor Efi Foufoula-Georgiou’s Civil & Environmental Engineering research group, is pioneering novel analysis of past, present and future increases in global precipitation measurement using a multitude of tools: collaboration, physics and statistical analysis.

Rising Above: How UCI's Concrete Canoe Team Found Success

At UC Irvine, student-run engineering clubs are more than an extracurricular activity; they are ways to apply classroom theory to hands-on projects collaboratively. This year, one of these student led projects, Concrete Canoe, achieved their first successful float in eight years.

From UCI to HTNB: Alumna Spotlight with Nicole Schaeffer

Nicole Schaeffer, a UC Irvine civil engineering alumni, earned her Bachelor’s degree in the spring of 2025 and is now pursuing a career at the engineering consultant firm HNTB in Santa Ana, CA.

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering | (949) 824-5333 | cee@uci.edu | Website