Congratulations to Dr. Navodi Jayarathne

2024 Outstanding Graduate Student in The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at SMU Lyle School of Engineering during the First Annual SMU Lyle School of Engineering Awards Ceremony

2024 Excellence in Research and Innovation at SMU Lyle School Of Engineering During The First Annual SMU Lyle School of Engineering Awards Ceremony

Deans Award SMU Research and Innovation Week 2024 in the CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING GROUP at the Research and Innovation Week 2024 organized by Moody School of Graduate & Advanced Studies | SM

With the support of a $450,000 three-year grant from the National Science Foundation, SMU students will look for novel, environmentally friendly ways to conduct small-scale gold mining in Colombia. Their research will focus on the prevention, remediation, and restoration of contaminated environments where mining is key to residents’ livelihood.

NSF grant to fund SMU student research in Colombia

NSF IRES information for students

Congratulations to CEE MS student Richard S. Kolodziej IV, who graduated from the Environmental Engineering program. His research focused on evaluating and advancing the current state of Leak Detection and Quantification and developing solutions for below-ground Natural Gas pipeline leaks.

Congratulations to CEE PhD student Navodi Jayarathne, who graduated from the Civil Engineering program. Her research focused on gas diffusivity of different soils including urban soils, agricultural soils, arctic soils (permafrost layer), and manufactured aggregated porous media with implications on infrastructure safety, greenhouse gas emissions, and terrestrial & outer space crop cultivation under different collaborations.

According to a recent study, when an underground pipeline leaks, the gas can travel up to three or three degrees away from the leak site—four times farther than through dry soil—if there is a layer of water or snow saturation, asphalt pavement, or a combination of these.

Ground surface conditions impact speed and distance of leaking natural gas (smu.edu)

Congratulations to CEE PhD student Linda Jaramillo-Urrego who was awarded a P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship based on her work in environmental sustainability of artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities.  This scholarship was established to provide support for women from other countries for graduate study in the U.S.

Greetings from Colombia!

This photo was taken on July 9, 2023, in a village in the municipality of Zaragoza in the department of Antioquia, Colombia. Here I have started my research journey to document and characterize the use of local plants in gold recovery with my advisor, Dr. Kathleen Smits. In Colombia, many artisanal miners use this ancient practice that has been ignored for years and could represent an environmentally responsible alternative to mercury use in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Hopefully, this work will also highlight the importance of local knowledge in formulating engineering projects.

Linda Jaramillo Urrego, Ph.D. Student at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA.

Check post here.

This project, funded by the US National Science Foundation, represents an interinstitutional and international academic alliance between the Faculty of Mines at the National University of Colombia, Colorado School of Mines, and Southern Methodist University.

PIRE RMRC 2023 – Last Mile

Running leak detection experiments at the US Air Force Academy’s FERL experimental site in Colorado.

Smits’ Research Group Performs Experiments Alongside U.S. Air Force Academy – SMU