LEAPS: Leading the Engineering Profession Towards Sustainability through Purpose, Belonging, and Creative Problem Solving

LEAPS is a three-year study exploring how sustainability-centered engineering education shapes students as they become engineers: their sense of purpose and belonging in the profession, their creative problem-solving, and their development of sustainability-related competencies. We’re also looking closely at how Drexel’s co-op model, with students moving between the classroom and professional practice throughout their degree, shapes these outcomes.

This work spans our Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering department and Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, and it’s a true collaboration supported by the School of Education.

Collaborators: Dr. Jennifer Atchison and Dr. Jennifer Katz-Buonincontro

Funding: NSF and the Lemelson Foundation

Integrating life cycle assessment and generative AI to enable circular building design in early design phases

We are developing a data-driven framework that helps architects and engineers integrate circular economy strategies early in the building design process. We are combining generative AI, life cycle assessment, and circularity metrics to support low-carbon, low-waste material decisions and create a Circular Building Solutions Database to guide sustainable construction practices.

Collaborators: Dr. Arvin Ebrahimkhanlou

Funding: National Science Foundation

Uncovering the untapped potential of circular material stocks and flows in urban areas

We’re investigating building material stocks and flows in Philadelphia to support reuse and recycling efforts. By analyzing materials from past and future demolitions, we are quantifying and predicting future material availability, supply vs. demand, and circular economy opportunities. Our methods include GIS, photogrammetry, LCA data, machine learning, computer vision, and stakeholder interviews.

Collaborators: Dr. Feng Liu

Funding: Lonsgview Fellowship

Team: Cagla Keles, Yixuan Chen, Audrey Ling, Enzo Fetter-Garcia, Kevin Nally, Jie Dong, Mia Craig, Channacy Un

Investigating the impact of decentralized circular water strategies on flooding

We modeled how circular water strategies—like rainwater harvesting, greywater reuse, and efficient fixtures—can reduce combined sewer overflows and increase climate resilience in marginalized urban communities. By combining LCA, economic analysis, and hydraulic modeling, we aim to identify low-impact, cost-effective solutions for Camden and Philadelphia. The first paper from this project can be accessed here.

Collaborators: Dr. Amanda Carneiro Marques, Dr. Franco Montalto

Funding: Longsview Fellowship

Measuring and improving the circularity of prefabricated building materials

We are advancing the circularity of prefabricated building envelope products through design innovation, life cycle assessment, and technoeconomic analysis. This project aims to reduce construction waste, enhance material reuse, and create sustainable, profitable solutions in the building sector.

Collaborators: Advanced Glass & Metal

Funding: Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development

Creating a sustainability and climate resilience roadmap for civil, architectural, and environmental engineers

We are developing a sustainability roadmap for Drexel’s civil, architectural, and environmental engineering programs, integrating the Engineering for One Planet framework and climate pedagogies across exposure, competency, and mastery stages. Through curricular redesign, faculty collaboration, and public-facing educational resources, the initiative embeds sustainability and justice throughout the student journey while creating lasting institutional change.

Collaborators: Dr. Michael Waring, Dr. Simi Hoque, Dr. Joseph Hughes, Dr. Matt Reichenbach, Dr. Amanda Carneiro Marques, Dr. Mira Olson, Dr. Adams Rackes

Funding: American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Lemelson Foundation

Operationalizing resilience into life cycle assessment

In a paper recently published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, Dr. Cruz Rios reviewed 40 original articles that have attempted to incorporate climate resilience into LCA, focusing on 4 main hazards: flood, heat, wind, and seismic. She has found that current LCA practices do not properly account for the environmental benefits of climate resilience design in buildings. She proposed the RES-LCA framework to try to fill this gap. Dr. Cruz Rios is interested in collaborating with other researchers to apply the RES-LCA to real case studies.

RECLAIM: Robotic Evaluation for Circular Lifecycle Assessment of Infrastructure Materials

We are exploring how robotics, AI, and nondestructive testing can enable the recovery, repair, and reuse of building materials from demolitions, reducing waste and environmental impact. By combining structural evaluation with life cycle assessment and digital tools, we aim to create automated pathways for circularity in the built environment.

Collaborator: Dr. Arvin Ebrahimkhanlou