Civil Engineering

M.E. Degree

Students pursuing an ME degree in CE will be assigned a faculty member advisor in their area of interest. The advisor will assist in selection of courses to complete one of four tracks: Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE), Structural Engineering (STR), Transportation Engineering (TRN), or Infrastructure Systems Engineering (ISE). For all tracks, 30 hours of graded coursework is required, as described below. A thesis is not required. Students may be permitted to modify any of the four tracks, provided they have approval from the advisor and the CEE Graduate Director.

EWRE Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which at least four must be from the EWRE core list and at least two must be from the EWRE elective list. The four remaining courses may be selected entirely from the EWRE core and elective lists, or up to two may comprise EWRE technical electives. EWRE core classes include: CE 5010, CE 6010, CE 6030, CE 6200, CE 6220, CE 6230, CE 6240, CE 6250, and CE 6260. EWRE electives include: CE 6009, CE 6210, CE 6270, CE 6280, CE 6130, CE 6500 (Transportation Sustainability), CHE 6450, CHE 6630, SYS 6050, and CE 6070. EWRE technical electives include any course at or above the 5000-level, as approved by the student’s advisor.

STR Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which at least four must be from the STR core list. Two additional courses must be selected from either the STR elective list of the STR core list. The final two courses may be STR classes, STR electives, or technical electives. STR core classes include: CE 5320, CE 6300, APMA 6410 or APMA 6420, CE 7340, CE 6330, CE 6710, CE 6720, and CE 6770. STR electives include: CE 5010, CE 6050, CE 6310, CE 6500 (Smart Structures), CE 6700, CE 6720, CE 6740, and MAE 6020. Suggested classes of interest for the STR technical electives include: APMA 5070, ARCH 7210, ECE 6782, MSE 6050, MSE 6120, MSE 6320, SYS 6016, SYS 6018, and SYS 6050; however, any technical course at or above the 5000-level is acceptable, pending advisor approval. Students pursuing the STR ME without first obtaining a BS in CE will work with their advisor to identify appropriate modifications to this curriculum, including selection of critical undergraduate courses to be taken as prerequisites.

TRN Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which two must be CE 5400 and CE 6410. Six additional courses must be selected from the TRN electives list. The final two courses may be from the TRN electives list or TRN technical electives. TRN electives include: CE 5010, CE 6009, CE 6010, CE 6420, CE 6430, CE 6440, CE 6450, CE 6460, CE 6470, CE 6490, CE 6500 (Transportation Sustainability), CE 7400, SYS 6001, SYS 6021, SYS 6023, SYS 6043, SYS 6050, PLAC 5720, PLAC 5740, ECON 7710, STAT 6440, and PPOL 7035. TRN technical electives include any technical course at or above the 5000-level, as approved by the student’s advisor.

ISE Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which two must be CE 5010 and CE 6030. Four additional courses must be taken from the ISE core list. This list is split into Group A and Group B, and students may not take all four courses from the same group; i.e. they must take at least one course from each group. Students must also take at least two Sustainability, Resilience, Risk, and Modeling (SRRM) electives. The last two courses may be selected from the ISE core and SRRM electives, or they may comprise ISE technical electives. ISE core courses in Group A include: CE 6200, CE 6220, CE 6230, CE 6240, CE 6260, and SYS 6070. ISE core courses in Group B include: CE 5400, CE 6410, CE 6420, CE 6430, CE 6440, CE 6450, CE 6460, CE 6470, and CE 6480. SRRM electives include: CE 6010, CE 6250, CE 6490, CE 6500 (Transportation Sustainability), ARCH 5150, SYS 5044, SYS 6050, PLAN 5620, PLAN 5740, and PLAN 5830. ISE technical electives include any course at or above the 5000-level in APMA, SEAS, PLAN, or EVSC.

All CE ME students must also submit the following three assessment forms, as completed by qualified faculty: engineering design, engineering analysis, and technical writing. These forms are available at the SEAS website.

CE ME students must fulfill all SEAS requirements for the ME degree.

M.S. Degree

Students pursuing an MS degree in CE will be assigned a faculty member advisor in their area of interest. The advisor will serve as a research mentor and also assist in selection of courses to complete required coursework. The CE MS requires 30 credits beyond a BS. Of these, at least 24 credits must comprise graded coursework, and up to six may comprise MS research (CE 8999). At least 12 of the 24 graded coursework credits must be from within CEE.

CE MS students will work with their advisor to form a three-person faculty committee to review and approve the student’s academic record, written thesis, and oral thesis defense. At least two of the three MS commitee members must be from CEE. When the student circulates the thesis to the committee, prior to the oral defense, he/she must also circulate a copy of his/her draft Academic Requirements Report (ARR) from SIS. As part of the oral defense examination, the MS commitee will review the ARR and certify that all degree requirements have been satisfactorily completed. The documentation certifying successful completion of the CE MS thesis defense will not be filed until revisions to the ARR have been filed with CEE departmental staff and implemented in SIS.

CE MS students are expected to participate in departmental events, including: trainings, symposia, socials, and the weekly seminar series. They must also fulfill all SEAS requirements for the MS degree.

Ph.D. Degree

Students pursuing a PhD degree in CE will be assigned a faculty member advisor in their area of interest. The advisor will serve as research mentor and also assist in selection of courses to complete required coursework. The CE PhD requires 72 credits beyond a BS, of which at least 24 credits must comprise graded coursework. At least 12 of the graded coursework credits must be in CEE. The other credits typically comprise dissertation research (CE 9999).

CE PhD students will work with their advisor to complete the three key milestones of a CE doctorate (Qualifying Exam, Dissertation Proposal, and Dissertation Defense) and also complete other departmental and SEAS requirements.

Qualifying Exam
PhD students will confer with their advisor to determine when they should take the CEE Qualifying Exam, typically within 1-2 years of starting the doctoral program. The purpose of the exam is to assess the student’s core knowledge within their CEE focus area and evaluate their research aptitude. The exam will comprise both a written and oral component, but the timing and format will vary based on the composition of the student’s doctoral committee. All PhD committees must comprise at least four faculty members at the time the exam is convened. As part of the qualifying exam, the committee will review the student’s draft Academic Requirements Report (ARR) from SIS and make recommendations about additional coursework or other relevant professional development matters. A fifth member may also be named for the doctoral committee. The documentation certifying successful completion of the CEE Qualifying Exam will not be filed until the appropriate SEAS forms and a revised ARR has been delivered to designated CEE staff and implemented in SIS.

Dissertation Proposal
Within one year after completing the qualifying exam, PhD students will write and defend a dissertation proposal. Typical PhD proposals are roughly 15-pages long; however, the exact format is at the discretion of the student’s PhD committee, which by this time should comprise five faculty members (including at least one non-CEE member). As part of the proposal defense evaluation, the doctoral committee will once again review the student’s ARR and make recommendations about relevant professional development matters. If the committee is satisfied with the proposal and the ARR, the student will progress to doctoral candidacy. The documentation certifying successful completion of the CEE Proposal Defense will not be filed until the appropriate forms and a revised ARR has been delivered to designated CEE staff and implemented in SIS.

Dissertation Defense
Upon completion of required coursework, proposed dissertation research, and all other degree requirements (see below), the PhD candidate will write and defend his/her doctoral dissertation. This may occur no earlier than one semester after completion of the dissertation proposal. The format of the dissertation is at the discretion of the student’s committee, taking the form of either a single monograph or an integrated compendium of at least three papers/manuscripts. The dissertation defense will be open to the public. If the committee is satisfied with the dissertation and the student’s ARR, the PhD degree will be conferred.

Additional Requirements
CE PhD students are required to serve as graduate teaching assistant (GTA) for at least two semesters. They must be first author on at least one published (or accepted) peer-reviewed journal paper prior to scheduling his/her final defense. They are also expected to participate in departmental events, including: trainings, symposia, socials, and the weekly seminar series. Finally, they must fulfill all SEAS requirements for the PhD degree.