MS Civil Engineering

MATERIALS ENGINEERING

Materials deals with the durability of materials. For example, better portland cement concrete does not fall apart from intrusion of chemicals (salts, etc.), better asphalt concrete will not be susceptible to water intrusions (e.g., less potholes during the spring thaw)

When materials last longer, the maintenance cycle is extended (i.e., less often) resulting in substantial savings

Better materials also reduce the carbon footprint of everything we built.

Concrete last between 20 to 50 years and is responsible for 5% of all greenhouse emission in the planet

Over $40M are spend every year in road maintenance. Given a 10 year cycle, a simple improvement of 1 year will result in $4M in savings. That's every year!

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

Structural engineering involves learning the theory of structures such as buildings and bridges, and includes computer-aided engineering and structural dynamics, and earthquake and wind engineering analysis and design. Structural engineers carry out performance-based design and study the behavior of structures built using reinforced and prestressed concrete, structural steel, timber, or composites. Moreover, structural engineers are involved in mitigating the impact of natural hazards and extreme weather using advanced structural sensing, hybrid simulation and reliability, to improve infrastructure resilience.

TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

The transportation engineering program in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering emphasis on the applications of state-of-art advancements concerning planning, design, operations, maintenance, and assessment of transportation systems. The faculty conducts research in the area of the transportation system design and modeling, addresses contemporary issues such as shared mobility, vehicle electrification and automation, and stresses the development of computational analytics and problem-solving skill sets.

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

Geotechnical Engineering is the application of Civil Engineering technology to some aspect of the earth, usually the soil and rock found on or near the surface. Infrastructure and natural geologic landforms and hazards designed and/or analyzed by Geotechnical Engineers include foundations for many types of structures (for example, buildings, bridges, dams, and roadways), natural and human-made slopes, retaining walls, tunnels, earthen dams and levees, highway embankments, earthquakes, liquefaction and lateral spread, ground contamination, ground improvement and stabilization, lightweight embankment materials, and re-use of construction and other waste materials. Sub-disciplines and related disciplines include Soil Mechanics, Rock Mechanics, Foundation Engineering, Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Geological Engineering.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Environmental Engineers work to improve public health and quality of life, while protecting and restoring environmental systems. These engineers focus on drinking water treatment, wastewater reclamation, air pollution control, solid waste management and environmental remediation.