Our Bureau
Pittsburgh, PA
Vikas Khanna has been named chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering. He assumed the position on September 1, 2026, after serving as interim chair since July 1, 2025.
In his new role, Khanna intends to further strengthen the department’s interdisciplinary approach to education and research. Among his key goals are expanding the use of artificial intelligence in the curriculum and creating new graduate-level opportunities that connect civil and environmental engineering with public health and computing.
“Civil and environmental engineering shapes the systems people rely on every day,” Khanna said. “I look forward to working with our faculty, staff, students and partners to strengthen those systems through interdisciplinary education and research.”
Khanna has been a member of the University of Pittsburgh faculty since 2010 and became a professor in 2023. Earlier, from 2017 through 2022, he served as CEE’s associate chair for graduate studies, where he oversaw areas including graduate recruitment, admissions, orientation, academic policies and program development. He has also contributed to faculty hiring efforts and served on various school- and university-level committees.
His academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Punjab University. He later earned three graduate degrees from The Ohio State University, including a master’s degree in applied statistics and both a master’s and doctoral degree in chemical engineering.
Khanna’s research focuses on sustainability science and engineering, with particular emphasis on understanding the environmental impacts of emerging technologies and complex systems. His work combines systems analysis, life-cycle assessment, optimization and data-driven modeling. His research interests include water and resource recovery, circular economy strategies, resilient infrastructure, and developing energy and water technologies.
He has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed research papers and has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on collaborative research projects that have received nearly $10 million in external funding. Since 2017, he has been an editor for Resources, Conservation and Recycling. He has also taken on leadership responsibilities with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Sustainable Engineering Forum and participated in the National Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium.