Professor Chin Wu's groundbreaking research has shown meteotsunamis can generate unexpected rip currents, now known as meteo-rips. These can last hours after the meteotsunami and are life-threatening to beachgoers.

Vilas Distinguished Professor Hussain Bahia's new project testing recycled asphalt mixtures hopes to encourage the approval of roadways with higher levels of recycled content. Alumnus Nima Roohi Sefidmazgi (MSCE ’11, PhDCE ’13) is now the VP of a company producing only 100-percent recycled asphalt.

Professor Daniel Noguera and graduate student Miguel Perez have helped demonstrate how the soil bacterium N. aromaticivorans could turn a renewable source — lignin from plant cells — into a replacement for petroleum-based plastics.

Assistant Professor Hiroki Sone and PhD student Zirou Jin are working on the final phase of an 11-year experiment that is the deepest scientific oceanic drilling project ever. The goal is to yield rock samples and install sensors to determine processes that drive earthquakes.