Civil Engineering
Civil engineers improve quality of life by designing the infrastructure that connects communities: buildings, bridges, highways, airports, and water systems. They tackle challenges like accommodating growing populations, bringing essential services to developing regions, and protecting communities from natural hazards. Civil engineers also safeguard natural resources, ensuring clean air, water, and land for future generations. For students who want to shape how people live, move, and thrive in their communities, civil engineering offers that opportunity.
Construction Engineering
Construction engineers transform architectural visions into reality. They combine engineering design principles with construction management and business strategy to deliver complex projects: from sports stadiums to highway systems to sustainable buildings. This relatively new discipline emerged in response to the increasing complexity of modern infrastructure. Construction engineers ensure projects are built safely, efficiently, and sustainably, solving unique challenges on every job site. For students interested in both the technical and practical sides of building, construction engineering bridges that gap.
Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineers protect human health and natural resources. They design systems that provide clean drinking water, reduce air pollution, treat wastewater, and safely manage industrial waste. Working at the intersection of multiple disciplines, environmental engineers develop solutions for society's most pressing environmental challenges: from urban stormwater management to recycling programs to pollution control. For students wanting to apply engineering principles to create a healthier, more sustainable world, environmental engineering provides the tools and knowledge to make measurable impact.
Architectural Engineering
Architectural engineers focus on how buildings actually work: integrating structural, mechanical, electrical, and communications systems into cohesive, functional designs. They ensure buildings withstand natural forces while meeting occupants' needs efficiently and sustainably. From energy management in existing structures to innovative designs for new developments, architectural engineers address critical challenges in how we build and maintain our built environment. For students interested in both the artistry of buildings and the engineering that makes them function, architectural engineering combines those perspectives.
Programs
Office: 2021 H.M. Comer Hall
Civil, construction, environmental, and architectural engineers design and build the communities where we live and work—from local neighborhoods to global projects. These engineers are in high demand, making tangible impacts through diverse work: planning public parks and designing sports stadiums, providing clean drinking water to refugee camps and remediating polluted waterways, creating efficient transportation networks and developing advanced materials for next-generation infrastructure.
- Majors
- Minors
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The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) states the following vision for civil, construction, environmental, and architectural engineers in the year 2025: Entrusted by society to create a sustainable world and enhance the global quality of life, civil engineers serve competently, collaboratively, and ethically as master:
- planners, designers, constructors, and operators of the built environment
- stewards of the natural environment and its resources
- innovators and integrators of ideas and technology across the public, private, and academic sectors
- managers of risk and uncertainty caused by natural events, accidents, and other threats
- leaders in discussions and decisions shaping public environmental and infrastructure policy
The department’s comprehensive and flexible set of programs provides students with the knowledge, skills, and attributes necessary to successfully enter the profession and lead exciting, fulfilling careers. Students may choose between four undergraduate majors, the Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE), the Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering (BSConE), the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering (BSEnvE), and the Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering (BSArchE). Additionally, students may elect to supplement their degree with one of the department minors: architectural engineering (for non-architectural majors), civil engineering (for non-civil majors), construction engineering (for non-construction majors), environmental and water resources engineering (for non-environmental majors), structural engineering, and transportation engineering.
Faculty
Department Head
- Bertini, Robert L.
Associate Department Head for Graduate Programs
- Aaleti, Sriram
Associate Department Head for Undergraduate Programs
- Amirkhanian, Armen
Director, Center for Sustainable Infrastructure
- Liang, Daan
Director, Center for Water Quality
- Clement, Prabhakar
Professors
- Aaleti, Sriram
- Bertini, Robert L.
- Burian, Steven
- Clement, Prabhakar
- Elliott, Mark
- Jones, Jr., Steven
- Katul, Gabriel
- Kumar, Mukesh
- Liang, Daan
- Moradkhani, Hamid
- Schemel, Christopher
- Tootle, Glenn
- Wang, Jialai
Professors Emeritus
- Back, W. Edward
- Kreger, Michael
- Lindly, Jay
- Turner, Daniel
Professor Emerita
- Johnson, Pauline
Associate Professors
- Amirkhanian, Armen
- Dao, Thang N.
- Hainen, Alexander
- Moftakhari, Hamed
- Terry, Leigh
- Williamson, Derek G.
Assistant Professors
- Blair, Matthew
- Chen, Kaiwen
- Chen, Xiaowei
- Crawford, Patrick (Shane)
- Duan, Qiuhua (Lisa)
- Gomaa, Shady
- Jiang, Daqian (DJ)
- Jiang, Peishi
- Kessler, Hannah
- Mekonnen, Mesfin
- Patra, Satya
- Rahman, Mizanur
Assistant Research Professor
- Lidbe, Abhay
- Firouzjaei, Mostafa Dadashi
- Adanu, Emmanuel (Kofi)
- Penmetsa, Praveena
Assistant Teaching Professor
- Deria, Anisha
- Skelton, Eleanor (Lea)
Courses
Civil Engineering Materials introduces the engineering properties and behavior of common structural materials, including steel, wood, aggregate, concrete, and asphalt. Through hands-on experimental testing, students learn standard laboratory procedures, data analysis techniques, and interpretation of material performance. The course also emphasizes effective communication of technical results and the use of engineering judgment to draw informed conclusions from experimental data.
Introduction to Structural Engineering introduces the fundamental principles of structural analysis for determinate and indeterminate structures. Students learn to analyze structural systems, evaluate loads and internal forces, and interpret structural behavior using analytical and computational methods. Proficiency with computing tools is required and integrated throughout the course to support problem solving and analysis.
Introduction Environmental Engineering introduces the scientific and engineering principles used to analyze and solve environmental engineering problems. The course focuses on applications related to air quality, water resources, and wastewater management. Students gain a foundational understanding of how these principles are applied in professional environmental engineering practice.
Static and dynamic interaction of soil and water; theories of stress distribution, consolidation, strength and failures; stability of soil structures. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
Introduction to Transportation Engineering provides an overview of transportation systems with an emphasis on roadway and traffic engineering. The course introduces transportation planning and economics, highway geometric and pavement design, drainage, and construction practices. Students also explore traffic control devices, traffic operations and management, and highway capacity analysis to understand how transportation systems are designed and operated safely and efficiently.
Introduction to Construction Engineering introduces the application of engineering economic principles to construction and engineering problems. The course examines construction management processes and methods used in planning, scheduling, and monitoring engineering projects. Students gain an understanding of how technical, economic, and managerial considerations are integrated to deliver construction projects effectively.