Environmental Engineering

Coordinator: Agamemnon D. Koutsospyros, Professor, Ph.D., Polytechnic University

The program is designed to prepare engineers for successful and dynamic careers in the continuously expanding field of environmental engineering. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, the program allows students to take a combination of courses in related areas.

In a rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world, pollution problems have aroused individual and public awareness. Environmental engineering has expanded rapidly to include areas such as water and air pollution, groundwater contamination, solid and hazardous waste management, industrial waste treatment, pollution prevention, and sustainable development. Numerous employment opportunities are available for environmental engineers in federal, state, and local government as well as in the industrial and private sectors.

The program provides the advanced educational skills necessary to meet the ever-changing needs and challenges of the field. It offers vigorous, professionally oriented courses, case studies, new technology, and research opportunities.

Admission Policy

Candidates for admission to the master’s program are expected to have a grade point average of 3.0 or better (on a 4.0 scale) in their undergraduate major course work and to hold a baccalaureate degree in civil or environmental engineering from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) or equivalent accreditation. Applications from candidates with an ABET-accredited or equivalent engineering degree in an area of study outside civil/environmental engineering and with a minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 will be considered. However, such students may be required to complete certain undergraduate civil/environmental engineering courses as a condition of acceptance. Applicants are urged to submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test to aid in the evaluation process.

In general, engineering students who do not meet the above criteria or students with non-engineering undergraduate degrees are not considered for admission. However, a potential candidate who does not meet the admission criteria may, with the approval of the department chairperson, pursue a program of study that includes a sequence of undergraduate courses to satisfy deficiencies. Only after the completion of such a program of study will the student be considered for admission to the graduate program in environmental engineering.