Engineering of the Built Environment PhD SpecializationAcademics / PhD ProgramEngineering of the Built Environment PhD Specialization
We spend nearly every moment of our lives in contact with the built environment: buildings, infrastructure, and the systems that shape how we live, work, and move. As expectations for performance, adaptability, and sustainability grow, so does the need for engineers who can reimagine how these environments are designed, built, and experienced.
The PhD in Engineering of the Built Environment prepares students to lead this transformation through research that spans intelligent building systems, adaptive structures, human-environment interaction, novel infrastructure materials, environmental control, and computational design and optimization. Drawing on tools from mechanics, materials science, thermodynamics, computation, data science, and social and health sciences, students develop new technologies and frameworks for environments that are more responsive, resilient, and resource efficient.
The program cultivates creativity, technical depth, and the ability to work across disciplines. Graduates are equipped to lead transformative work in academia, industry, government, and design practice -- developing the next generation of high-performance buildings, sustainable infrastructure, and responsive systems for a rapidly changing world.
Learn more about research in this department
Our faculty are at the forefront of research that is reshaping the built environment. Current focus areas include intelligent building systems, adaptive and responsive structures, sustainable infrastructure materials, human-architecture interaction, indoor air quality, and computational design and optimization. This work blends experiments, simulation, and theory to advance the performance, resilience, and sustainability of the built environment.
Meet our faculty working in this area:
- Giorgia Chinazzo
- Gianluca Cusatis
- Lucia Stein-Montalvo
- Jackson Jewitt
- Erica Hartmann
- Alessandro Rotta Loria
- Amanda Stathopoulos
Curriculum Overview
The program provides a foundation in a range of areas related to Engineering of the Built Environment through advanced coursework. Through the program’s coursework, led by Northwestern faculty and experts from leading built environment engineering and architecture firms, students will develop knowledge and skills in theory, computation, experiment, and design.
View the curriculum
Eligibility and Admission
Graduate students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering come from throughout the world with degrees in a variety of fields, including engineering, mathematics, the physical sciences, management, economics, and other social sciences.
Admissions decisions are based on the overall academic picture presented through transcripts and supporting documents, such as the statement of purpose and letters of recommendation.