Welcome to the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment (ESSIE) at the University of Florida’s digital newsletter. I am proud to share the latest updates within our School.
-
Spring 2026 Letter from the Director
Dear alumni, students, faculty and friends, As summer appears on the horizon, now is a good time to showcase some of the people and projects that make the University of Florida a leader in civil, coastal and environmental engineering. It has been an amazing semester. First, we’re excited to introduce the new director of the
Kurtis Gurley
Interim Director, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment
-
Taking concrete steps towards sustainability
In a $5 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, a team of researchers from UF, Rutgers University, Oregon State University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology are exploring the viability of using steel slag as an ingredient in cement and concrete. ESSIE associate professor Christopher Ferraro,…
-
Why light poles failed in Hurricane Ian despite meeting design standards
UF researchers found that aluminum light poles damaged during Hurricane Ian failed not because of extreme winds alone, but due to a combination of manufacturing defects, design features and installation errors that reduced their built-in safety margins.
-
Stark to bring ‘unparalleled expertise’ as new leader of UF’s Center for Coastal Solutions
University of Florida Associate Professor and researcher Nina Stark was named the new director of the Center of Coastal Solutions — known as CCS — within the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering.
-
UF dives deep into predicting storm damage with computer models
ESSIE is part of a project that recently received the Excellence in Partnering Award by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program for its collaborative, multi-institutional effort aimed at improving the prediction of coastal storm impacts.
-
Making connections: Original steel teaching sculpture gets a facelift
Standing 14 feet tall and serving no obvious purpose, the steel sculpture located outside Weil Hall is a jumble of beams, bolts, welds and supports fastened into a concrete pad. Part of the revitalized Engineering Plaza — also home to the revamped Engineering Clock Tower — at the corner of Gale Lemerand and Stadium Road, the nondescript-looking structure was recently sandblasted…
-
Time for a change atop the Weil Hall clock tower
For years, the courtyard in front of Weil Hall, with its clock tower and time capsule, has been a work in progress. Standing over the busy intersection of Stadium Road and Gale Lemerand Drive across from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the tower has pride of place on the University of…