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Focus Areas

Environmental and energy engineers look to develop advanced, ecologically-friendly energy sources and more efficient use, distribution, and disposal of society’s current energy and industrial materials. They also delve into process development and modeling related to issues of pollution detection, protection, and mitigation.

Lehigh engineers interested in this area explore topics such as:

  • environmental biotechnology and chemistry
  • cutting-edge, non-polluting energy sources such as fuel cells and alternative fuels based on hydrogen, biodiesel and ethanol
  • aerodynamics and energy-conversion processes
  • air, soil and groundwater safety and restoration systems, including filtration and "clean air" technology
  • environmentally sound civil and industrial infrastructure development, and related issues of risk, regulation and policy.

Some labs across campus seek to track and eradicate pathogens that lurk in the ground and in the drinking water sources of industrialized cities and developing nations alike. Others use expertise in nanosystems to remove arsenic from well water in villages across India and Bangladesh, and to eliminate pollutants from EPA Superfund sites here in the U.S. Another way Lehigh researchers solve problems in this area is in the design of control systems for next-generation chemical and fusion reactors, and better design and utilization for fuel-based engines and industrial turbines.