Master of Civil Engineering

This course is a fast-paced review of fundamental techniques covered in undergraduate-level calculus courses as they apply to engineering analysis and design. The class will prepare you for the environmental/water resources engineering and structural engineering tracks of the Master of Civil Engineering program. Enrollment is open only to conditionally accepted students in the engineering graduate programs, or with permission of the program director.

This course presents a review of engineering mechanics fundamentals from the fields of statics, dynamics, and mechanics of materials. You will study free body diagrams, force systems, equilibrium, geometric properties, kinematics, kinetics, and stress and strain. Upon successful completion of this course, three post baccalaureate credits will be awarded.

In this course, you will review the basic concepts of structural engineering that form the required background for later courses. Discussion will include types of structures, construction materials, structural design, and safety issues. You will also become familiar with a number of typical structural design calculation methods. Upon successful completion of this course, six post baccalaureate credits will be awarded.

This course presents a review of fluid mechanics and hydraulics fundamentals, including pipe flow and networks, open channel flow, and measurement techniques for fluids. Upon successful completion of this course, three post baccalaureate credits will be awarded.

This course is a fast-paced review of fundamental techniques covered in undergraduate-level calculus courses as they apply to engineering analysis and design. The class will prepare you for the environmental/water resources engineering and structural engineering tracks of the Master of Civil Engineering program. Enrollment is open only to conditionally accepted students in the engineering graduate programs, or with permission of the program director.

This introduction to the environmental engineering field will prepare you for the environmental engineering sequence of the Master of Civil Engineering program. You will review the basic concepts of environmental and water resources engineering that form the required background for later courses, including environmental chemistry, ecology, biology, microbiology, geology, and soil science.  Upon successful completion of this course, 6 Post Baccalaureate Credits will be awarded.

This course presents broad-based fundamental learning in economics, management, and marketing, from the perspective of a business manager. Students will focus on the economic framework for business decision making, learning the importance of an ability to assess market conditions as the context for all business strategy development and implementation. The seminar will emphasize management’s ability to plan for and execute advantageous strategy so as to achieve organization objectives through efficient and effective allocation of its human, capital, and intellectual resources. Management of marketing will be a core course component in which students will learn theory and skills that represent best practice in the marketing of products and services.

The course will introduce standard techniques of quantitative analysis, business mathematics and statistics integrated into a context of business management. Business mathematics will provide the essential tools for the quantification of business processes through the study of calculus, finance, and other fundamental math systems for business problem solving, while statistics learning will encompass probability, sampling and related risk assessment techniques. Financial analysis will be studied by first establishing understanding of the nature of accounting statements, with emphasis on the use of accounting information to assess financial health of an enterprise. The financing decision will then be introduced and examined, followed by learning of the standard options for funding the enterprise. This will include an examination of the characteristics of financial markets and the common types of financing instruments and securities which are traded in capital and money markets, and which are the vehicles for external financing, as needed to meet organizational objectives.

This course provides an introduction to the engineering properties of soils, soil compression, and shear strength. The foundation engineering portion of the class covers determination of bearing capacity and settlement characteristics of shallow and deep foundations, design and evaluation of earth slopes, and earth retaining structures.  Upon successful completion of this course, six post baccalaureate credits will be awarded.

This course is a fast-paced review of fundamental techniques covered in undergraduate-level calculus courses as they apply to engineering analysis and design. The class will prepare you for the environmental/water resources engineering and structural engineering tracks of the Master of Civil Engineering program. Enrollment is open only to conditionally accepted students in the engineering graduate programs, or with permission of the program director.

This course presents a review of engineering mechanics fundamentals from the fields of statics, dynamics, and mechanics of materials. You will study free body diagrams, force systems, equilibrium, geometric properties, kinematics, kinetics, and stress and strain. Upon successful completion of this course, three post baccalaureate credits will be awarded.

On Campus Laboratory #2 – Intermediate Measurement of Soil Properties

You will explore laboratory determination of soil properties including flexible wall permeability, compaction, and triaxial shear tests with pore pressure measurement as well as field techniques in geotechnical engineering. Upon successful completion of this course, one post baccalaureate credit will be awarded.

This course covers first- and second-order differential equations, basic matrix algebra with an emphasis on solving systems of equations and understanding eigenvalues and eigenvectors, numerical techniques for solving both differential and algebraic equations, and an introduction to partial differential equations. You will explore basic concepts in probability and statistics, random variables, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, and correlation along with the least squares line. In addition to manual problem solving, students will also use software tools.

This course focuses on the fundamentals of project management and practices. The course explores project management framework, the project life cycle, project process, and key project management knowledge. You will study project integration, scope, time, cost, quality, and resource and schedule management, as well as project management procurement and overall project communications requirements.

This two-part course includes an in-depth capstone design project and special topics for independent study.

The capstone design project requires you to anticipate the social, political, economic, and environmental impacts of civil engineering projects prior to project implementation. Acting as the engineer in a leadership position, you will direct a project from conception to completion. You will prepare a comprehensive project business plan including project goals, political hurdles, anticipated revenues and expenses, marketing, facility design, and other issues related to the design of a major civil engineering project.

In addition to the capstone design project, you will select one or more special topics for independent study. Your choices include topics that are neglected in most undergraduate civil engineering programs, such as BIM, GIS, project management, and LEED. Special topics may also include the fundamentals of utility systems: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment; power supply systems and equipment; lighting, communication, and security systems; or plumbing systems and equipment.

This course addresses two tracks of analysis. You will investigate static analysis using advanced classical methods and matrix methods, the cornerstone of the finite element method. You will also explore dynamic analysis using both classical and matrix approaches for single and multiple degree of freedom systems. Analysis issues related to design codes will be addressed for both static and dynamic conditions, and the use of commercially available software will be introduced.

This course explores advanced structural design issues in the areas of both steel and timber. Using the latest provisions from the American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Design Specification for Wood Construction, the course covers the design and behavior of 2-D and 3-D framing and framing members and connections under various loading conditions, including wind and seismic, as well as strength and serviceability issues.

This course focuses on advanced topics in reinforced concrete design and introduces prestressed/precast concrete using the provisions of the American Concrete Institute. You will study beams, slabs, columns, deflections, analysis and design of prestressed members, loss calculations, and use of standard precast members, as well as design and detailing for seismic loads.

The course also includes an introduction to Geographic Information Systems as they apply to the structural engineering field and will devote time to formulating proposals for students’ upcoming capstone design project in the final course of the program.

This course will cover basic physical, chemical, and biological concepts, reactor kinetics, water and wastewater qualities and quantities, and physical, chemical, and biological unit processes. An emphasis will be placed on design of individual unit processes and integration of unit processes into treatment trains capable of meeting treatment objectives.

This course will examine stormwater management issues from both flood control and water quality points of view as they relate to land development, urbanization, and watershed hydrology. Topics include rainfall-runoff relationships (including statistical analysis), channel and basin routing, stormwater treatment, low-impact development, best management practices, and wetland utilization and benefit/cost ratio analysis. Geographic Information Systems software will be introduced and used to examine and analyze decision making processes involved with the stormwater management components of the course.

This course approaches the field of geoenvironmental engineering from two points of view: groundwater flow and contaminant transport issues and the principles related to solid waste disposal and containment.

The groundwater portion of the course focuses on aquifer properties, principles of groundwater flow, flow into wells, soil moisture and groundwater recharge, regional groundwater flow, and the advection, diffusion, and attenuation of groundwater contaminants.

The solid waste portion of the course focuses on landfill site selection, design, and construction. You will explore material properties and engineering design of geosynthetic components, including geomembranes, geotextiles, geocomposites, and geosynthetic clay liners, and methods to estimate and design landfill leachate quantities and gas generation.

Time will be devoted to formulating proposals for students’ upcoming capstone design project in the final course of the program.

This course develops a base-level competency in a host of project management software products. You will gain an understanding of the strategic importance of integrating IT across all aspects of a project using the latest virtual design and construction software programs.

One of the most controversial issues in a project is the understanding and allocation of risk. This course addresses the risk characteristics of various contractual forms and the roles insurance and surety play in the AEC arena. The emergence of new contractual forms from AIA and the ConensusDocs require a new perspective on contracts and project organization. This course provides a strategic understanding of contract variables, from plans and specs to integrated project delivery.

Every project is judged on its financial performance, and the same project can have different performance characteristics for different players. This course will enable students to address the ever-increasing complexity of the financial arena and impart skills that effective project managers need to understand the financial ramifications of decisions across all project participants. Discussion will include the opportunities and risks of traditional arrangements as well as new models such as the Special Purpose Entity (SPE) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP).

Intermediate Soil Mechanics focuses on general principles of soil mechanics and their applications, including soil structure, mineralogy, fluid flow through porous media, shear strength, slope stability, primary and secondary consolidation, and classical earth pressure theories. The foundation engineering portion of the course covers analysis of shallow and deep foundations, including bearing capacity and settlement of footings, rafts, drilled piers, and piles, as well as analysis of stability and design of retaining walls and anchored bulkheads.

Earthquake engineering covers evaluation of geotechnical earthquake hazards and mitigation, plate tectonics, seismicity, wave propagation, characterization of ground motions, theory of vibrations, effect of local soil conditions on ground response, development of design ground motions, liquefaction, dynamic lateral earth pressures, slope stability and deformation, and earthquake design codes. The soil stabilization portion of the course focuses on the application of mineralogical and physicochemical principles to soil stabilization problems and stabilization techniques for highway and foundation applications.

This course surveys computer methods and applications for analysis of complex geotechnical engineering problems. You will explore finite element, finite difference and closed form solution techniques, and modeling applications.

On Campus Laboratory #2 – Intermediate Measurement of Soil Properties

You will explore laboratory determination of soil properties including flexible wall permeability, compaction, and triaxial shear tests with pore pressure measurement as well as field techniques in geotechnical engineering. Upon successful completion of this course, one post baccalaureate credit will be awarded.