Lehigh has internationally recognized graduate research and education programs in Structural Engineering.  We have active research areas in:  Advanced Structural Materials and Systems; Earthquake Resistant Structures; Infrastructure Hazard Mitigation; Intelligent Infrastructure Systems; and Simulation, Measurement and Evaluation. We offer M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in both Structural Engineering and Civil Engineering.

Our ATLSS (Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems) Research Center investigators are conducting multi-million dollar research projects on earthquake-resistant structures, highway bridges, and ship structures.  Our structural testing facilities are the largest in North America and enable specialized research in earthquake engineering, fiber-reinforced composites, fatigue and fracture, blast and fire loads on structures, smart structures, ship structures, and life cycle engineering.   

Lehigh's graduate program in Environmental Engineering has research areas in environmental biotechnology, including source tracking of waterborne pathogens, fate and transport of microorganisms through surface and groundwater systems, and bioremediation of environmental contaminants; environmental nanotechnology, including development of engineered nano-scale particles to remediate recalcitrant contaminants in the environment and understanding impacts of nano-materials on environmental processes; environmental separation processes, including development of novel membranes and exchange resins for selectively removing contaminants from water; and technologies for monitoring and remediation of contaminated sites, such as sensor technologies for monitoring environmental contaminants in real-time.  Research may be strengthened by choosing elective courses in hydraulics, biology, chemistry, computer-aided design, chemical engineering, mathematics and process control. 

The Geotechnical Engineering program is an interdisciplinary graduate engineering program. Research areas are electro-chemical restoration of contaminated soil and groundwater, re-use of waste and secondary materials in earth construction, advanced sensor technologies for subsurface investigation and characterization, transport in porous media, and non-destructive testing techniques. Availability of elective courses in hydraulics, environmental engineering, earth and environmental sciences, mechanics, materials science and chemical engineering greatly strengthen the research capabilities of the geotechnical engineering program.

Graduate courses in the Hydraulic Engineering program are offered in hydromechanics, fluid mechanics of turbomachinery, flood hydrology and hydraulics, fluid mechanics of the ocean and atmosphere, engineering groundwater hydrology, coastal engineering, surface water hydrology, harbor and coastal engineering design, transport of contaminants in groundwater, marine geology, and hydraulics of sediment transport.