Civil Engineering, B.S.

Program Coordinator: Gregory P. Broderick, Ph.D.

The B.S. program in civil engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.

Civil engineering is about community service; development and improvement; the planning, design, construction, and operation of facilities essential to modern life. Civil engineers are problem solvers taking on the challenges of environmental pollution, traffic congestion, infrastructure rehabilitation, drinking water and energy needs, urban redevelopment, and community planning. They are at the forefront of technology, leading users of some of the most sophisticated high-tech products available (for example, GPS and GIS systems; fiber-optic sensors; CAD systems; and highly sophisticated, task-specific computer software). Innovation is paramount in the solution to most civil engineering projects.

Program Mission and Educational Objectives

The mission of the Civil Engineering program is to provide a state-of-the-art/state-of-the-practice program designed to:

• Educate a new generation of civil engineers to meet the challenges, demands, and expectations of society
• Cultivate, enrich, and promote scholarship, responsibility, and service among our graduates
• Disseminate new knowledge
• Nurture interdisciplinary education for solving the problems facing an ever-changing society

In order to achieve its mission, the Civil Engineering program has adopted the following educational objectives and program outcomes:

Educational Objectives

• Provide educational experiences that prepare our students for professional practice of modern civil engineering in a global, societal, and environmental context
• Promote scholarship and problem-solving skills
• Instill an understanding of the technical, economic, political, ethical, and humanistic dimensions of civil engineering projects
• Prepare students to interact and communicate effectively in multidisciplinary fields
• Instill the desire and provide the educational foundation for lifelong learning
• Encourage service to the civil engineering profession and to society through professional registration and community involvement

Program Outcomes

Upon satisfactory completion of the Civil Engineering program, students should:

• Have the ability to solve civil engineering problems by applying fundamental knowledge of mathematical, computational, scientific, and engineering concepts
• Have the ability to design and conduct experiments, and to collect, analyze, and interpret data
• Have the ability to identify, formulate, and solve civil engineering problems
• Have the ability to use appropriate techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for civil engineering practice
• Have the skills to plan, design, construct, and operate a system, component, or process that satisfies performance, cost, time, safety, quality, and environmental constraints
• Have the ability to function and communicate effectively both at the individual level as well as within multidisciplinary team settings
• Have the broad-based education necessary to understand the impact of civil engineering solutions in a global, societal, and environmental context
• Understand professional and ethical responsibility
• Recognize the need for and gain the ability to engage in life-long learning
• Have knowledge of contemporary issues

To help achieve the educational objectives and program outcomes presented above, the faculty of the Civil Engineering program, in combination with the other faculty of the Tagliatela College of Engineering, have developed a new and innovative curriculum: the Multidisciplinary Engineering Foundation Spiral. It is an effort to provide the student, during the first two years of study, with a multidisciplinary engineering perspective.

The foundation engineering courses (EAS prefix) taken during the first two years of study serve both as the basis for depth in civil engineering study and as part of a broad multidisciplinary background. Each foundation course also stresses the development of several essential skills, such as problem solving, oral and written communication, the design process, teamwork, project management, computer analysis methods, laboratory investigation, data analysis, and model development. In the junior and senior years, the student is exposed to required and elective civil engineering course work embedded with experiences in analysis, design, and professional issues, providing insight into five civil engineering subdisciplines: structural, geotechnical, hydraulics water resources, transportation, and environmental engineering. The critical skills introduced during the first two years are further enhanced through a variety of pedagogical methods, including laboratory reports, team projects, design assignments, oral presentations, and participation in American Society of Civil Engineers Student Chapter activities, as well as field trips to local civil engineering projects. Upper-level technical electives provide comprehensive exposure to current, emerging, and sustainable technologies in the various civil engineering subdisciplines. Aspects of professional and ethical civil engineering practice and service to the profession and society are covered to a finite degree in all upper-level courses and extensively in the required course, “Professional and Ethical Practice of Engineering.” Course work culminates with a capstone design course that provides extensive exposure to real-world design problems faced within contemporary civil engineering professional practice. Humanities and social science courses are included at all levels of the curriculum.

The Civil Engineering program is enriched by a diverse student body, which includes students of a wide range of ages, professional and nonprofessional experiences, and nationalities. Graduates of the program are encouraged to continue their education throughout their professional careers and to become registered professional engineers.

A bachelor’s degree from an ABET-accredited institution is required to become a PE, a registered professional engineer. Accreditation is a testament to the quality of the Civil Engineering program.

Internship Requirement

The internship program is intended to enrich the academic experience of our undergraduate students, providing exposure to and participation in a working engineering environment. Each internship must involve a partnership consisting of students, engineering faculty, and employers/organizations to provide each student intern with an optimal experience. A minimum of 300 hours performing relevant engineering duties is required prior to graduation. Students must complete 60 credits toward the bachelor’s degree in civil engineering before an internship is attempted.

The internship carries no credit for the degree; however, the requirement may be satisfied utilizing a co-op position, summer employment, and part-time or full-time positions that are approved by the student’s employer and by the department/internship coordinator as relevant to the goals of the internship experience. A waiver (or substitution) of the internship requirement may be granted for students who are employed in the field, subject to a formal review by the department/internship coordinator. The student’s request for such a waiver must be initiated one year prior to the anticipated graduation date.

Students must complete a total of 129 credits for the bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, including the engineering requirements for the freshman year, the University Core Curriculum requirements, and the internship requirement. Students are also required to earn a cumulative quality point ratio of no less than 2.0 in all civil engineering courses and technical electives.