Chair    George F. List
Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies   Larry J. Feeser
Coordinator of Graduate Studies   Jacob Fish

Please note: the Department of Civil Engineering is now the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Department Home Page   http://www.ce.rpi.edu/cee_v2/index.html

Civil engineers focus on the analysis, design, construction, maintenance, and operation of largescale physical systems, the infrastructure on which modern civilization depends. This constructed environment is complex, demanding a broad range of skills for its proper creation and care. As a result, civil engineers are broadly trained, having skills in design, analysis, fabrication, communication, management, and teamwork. The current building and rebuilding of the world’s roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, and other physical facilities, has heightened society’s awareness of the profession and given it significant prominence. The growing panoply of sensors, instrumentation, intelligent facilities, and new materials is heightening the high-tech character of the discipline, creating new educational challenges and redefining the skill mix that civil engineers need to succeed.

At Rensselaer, civil engineering has a long and distinguished history. In 1835, the Institute became the first U.S. school to issue a civil engineering degree. Among the graduates are William Gurley (1839) and Lewis E. Gurley (1845), partners in W&LE Gurley, Troy, NY, one of the first manufacturers of precision surveying instruments; Francis Collingwood Jr. (1855), honored by civil engineering’s Collingwood Prize; Washington Roebling (1857), builder of the Brooklyn Bridge; Leffert Buck (1868), designer of the Williamsburg Bridge; John Waddell (1875), founder of Waddell & Hardesty, predecessor to Hardesty & Hanover, one of the oldest consulting engineering firms in the U.S.; Seijiro Hirai (1878), a president of the Imperial Railways, Japan; George Ferris (1881), designer of the Ferris wheel; Rear Admiral Lewis Combs (1916), chair of Civil Engineering at Rensselaer, 1947-1961; Milton Brumer (1923), construction manager for the Verrazano Narrows Bridge; Werner Ammann (1928), former partner, Ammann and Whitney; Clay Bedford Sr. (1925), general supervisor of the construction of the Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams; and Ralph Peck (1934), co-author with Karl Terzaghi of the internationally-known book Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice. Today, Rensselaer civil engineers are found at all levels in both private practice and government throughout the world.

Areas of Advanced Research and Study

Construction Engineering   Transformation of engineering designs into physical facilities and the technological process by which this is accomplished; interior and exterior building systems; 4-D CAD for site visualization and construction staging; in-field fabrication and design; design/build; project management and finance.

Structural Engineering   Design and analysis of bridges, buildings, and other large-scale facilities; material selection and specification; structural technology selection; dynamic and static structural modeling and analysis; seismic response; environmental loads on structures.

Geotechnical Engineering   Behavior of soils and foundations under cyclic and dynamic loads; design methods to accommodate natural and man-made vibrations; geostochastics; earthquake engineering; use of Rensselaer’s 100g-ton centrifuge to study soil dynamics, stability of earth slopes, structures, and dams.

Transportation Engineering   Design, analysis, maintenance, and operation of transport systems and facilities; intelligent transportation systems, especially highway networks, goods distribution systems, and transit systems; real-time, multiobjective network management and control, including route guidance and dynamic traffic assignment; signal control systems; network management strategies; multiobjective routing and scheduling; logistics decision making under uncertainty.

Computational Mechanics   Development of automated finite element modeling techniques; adaptive analysis procedures; development of adaptive multiscale solution techniques; qualification and modeling of engineering idealizations for analysis and design; design systems using knowledge-base techniques; prototype systems for applications including discrete crack propagation, forging simulations, multiple-scale modeling of composite materials and electronic packages, and unsteady aerodynamics.

Infrastructure Engineering   Development of analytical methodologies and software tools for preservation, restoration, and renewal of large distributed systems such as roadways, bridges, pipelines, and power distribution networks; bridge and pavement management systems; remote sensing condition assessment; deterioration modeling and performance prediction; vulnerability assessment; risk analysis; reliability-centered maintenance; and capital investment planning.

Geo-Environmental Engineering   Control of leachates; groundwater contaminant transport, accelerated physical modeling stimulating contaminanat transport and performance of landfill liners and covers, using Rensselaer’s 110-g-ton centrifuge, taking advantage of the drastic time contraction associated with a high gravitational field (at 100g, 1 day of modeling is equivalent to 50 years of real time); site remediation; landfill siting and design; the effects of freezing and thawing on landfill covers and liners; and the use of waste sludges as landfill covers.

Mechanics of Composite Materials and Structures   Development of material models and constitutive equations for metal, polymer, ceramic, and carbon matrix composites; elastic-plastic and thermoplastic behavior of metal matrix composites with continuous or discontinuous reinforcement, dimensional stability, fracture, and fatigue; damage mechanics and damage development in polymer, metal, and carbon systems; finite element programs for plasticity and damage analysis of composite structures; structural response of plate and shell structures; spacecraft materials and structures; applications of composites in bridges and other structures.

Faculty

Professors

Clesceri, N.L.   Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin); advanced waste treatment, environmentally sound manufacturing, sediment decontamination.
Dobry, R.   Sc.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); geotechnical engineering, soil dynamics, earthquake engineering, seismic analysis.
Dvorak, G.J.   Ph.D. (Brown University); mechanics of solids, composite materials and structures, fracture and fatigue.
Feeser, L.J.   P.E., Ph.D. (Carnegie Mellon University); structures, computer applications and computer graphics, computer-aided design, structural optimization.
Fish, J.   Ph.D. (Northwestern University); computational mechanics, finite element methods, micromechanics, mathematical modeling.
Grivas, D.A.   Ph.D. (Purdue University); infrastructure engineering and management, nondestructive evaluation, mathematical morphology, image analysis, probabilistic modeling, risk analysis, reliabilitycentered maintenance, mobility engineering.
List, G.F. P.E.,   Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania); intelligent transportation systems, sensors, instrumentation and control, multiobjective
Shephard, M.S.   Ph.D. (Cornell University); computational mechanics, parallel processing, adaptive finite element techniques, automatic mesh generation.
Zimmie, T.F.   P.E., Ph.D. (University of Connecticut); geo-environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, ground water hydrology, flow through porous media, landfills, centrifuge modeling, geosynthetics.

Assistant Professors

Kilduff, J.   Ph.D. (University of Michigan); physicochemical processes; separations and recovery processes in water and wastewater treatment; effects of adsorption and mass-transfer on pollutant fate and transport in natural systems; membrane processes for water quality control.
Komisar, S.   Ph.D. (University of Washington); water and wastewater treatment, biological processes, solid and hazardous waste.
Manson, J.R.   Ph.D. (University of Glasgow, Scotland); mathematical modeling of flow; fate and transport in fluvial and lacustrine systems; environmental hydrology fluid mechanics; applied mathematics, episodic pollution.
Nyman, M.C.   Ph.D. (Purdue University); fate and transport of hydrophobic organic contaminants in natural systems, environmental chemistry.
Symans, M.   Ph.D. (State University of New York at Buffalo); structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, seismic isolation and energy dissipation systems, structural vibration control.
Zeghal, M.   Ph.D. (Princeton University); soil dynamics and geotechnical earthquake engineering, computational geomechanics, geo-technical system identification and seismic response monitoring, damage diagnosis and nondestructive evaluation, and seismic risk analyses.

Adjunct Faculty

Dunn, R.H.P.   M.S. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); geotechnical engineering.
Floess, C.   Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); geotechnical engineering.
Reilly, J.   Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); transportation systems.

Research Assistant Professor

Abdoun, T.   Ph.D. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); geotechnical engineering.

Undergraduate Programs

After completing the core engineering sequence, a student enters this curriculum and follows a baccalaureate program leading to the Bachelor of Science degree or a professional program leading to the Master of Engineering degree as well as the Bachelor of Science degree.

Undergraduate concentrations include construction, environmental, geotechnical, structural, and transportation engineering. The table below shows recommended collections of courses for each of these concentrations.

Subject to other requirements, students may use core engineering electives to accelerate their entrance into the program. Students also may take courses in related fields. Courses bearing the following designations are suggested for particular consideration in consultation with the student’s adviser: ARCH, ECSE, MEAE, ENVE, MATH, CSCI, ERTH, and DSES.

Civil Engineering Baccalaureate Program   A typical four-year program is presented below. It is recommended that students already convinced they want to become civil engineers follow this plan of study in lieu of the general core engineering program presented earlier. Required or strongly recommended core engineering electives are shown for optimum scheduling.

* This course will be fulfilled from a published list at the start of each semester.
** PDIII can be taken either semester of the senior year.
1. For these two courses, order does not matter.
2. Choose either ENGR-1600, Chemistry of Materials II, or CSCI-1100, Computer Science I.
3. For Multidisciplinary Elective I, choose either ENGR-2250 Thermal & Fluids Engr. I, or ENGR-4750 Engineering Economics and Project Management. For Multidisciplinary Elective II, choose either ENGR-2350 Embedded Control, or ENGR-4300 Electronic Instrumentation.
4. Can be satisfied with Computer Science I.
5. Text below lists the allowable courses.
6. The Engineering Elective should be chosen from courses with designations of ENGR, BMED, CHME, CIVL, ECSE, MTLE, MEAE, ENVE, DSES.

CE Design Electives   Six credit hours of civil engineering design electives are required. These must be selected from the following list. Any pair of courses can be selected, providing prerequisites are met, but students most often select a combination focused on a specific area of concentration. Terms when the courses are offered are listed in parentheses.

† Special topics course.
†† Offered on availability of faculty.

CE Technical Electives   Any of the design electives listed above can be taken as a CE technical elective, provided the necessary prerequisites are met. The following other civil engineering courses can also be selected:

With adviser approval, courses from related disciplines can also be taken. These include architecture; environmental, mechanical, chemical, and industrial engineering; and operations research. Graduate level courses (6xxx) are allowable under certain circumstances. A representative list of such courses is as follows:

Minimum Credit Hours   A minimum of 128 credit hours is required. Non-engineering courses graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory are not counted in the 128 credit-hour requirement. The Pass/No Credit option can be used only for the free electives and the humanities and social sciences electives in this curriculum. All other courses used to satisfy the degree requirements must be taken on a graded basis.

Humanities or Social Sciences Electives   The humanities and social sciences electives are based on the Institute and School of Engineering requirements for these electives. It is recommended that the student elect sequences in appropriate departments in order to provide adequate breadth and depth in subject areas. Students desiring minors must consult the school or department in which these courses are offered for specific requirements.

Minor in Civil Engineering   Students not majoring in civil engineering may receive a minor in civil engineering by completing fifteen credit hours selected from the following list (subject to consultation with a program adviser from the department):

Students pursuing a minor must satisfy the prerequisites and/or corequisites for these courses, which may involve other course work. Courses in mechanics and structures taught by the School of Architecture may substitute for certain core engineering, mathematics, and mechanics/materials courses (with instructor approval). Students wishing a minor in environmental engineering are referred to the section regarding Environmental and Energy Engineering.

Cooperative Education   Students may augment their academic course work with work experience through the Cooperative Education Program. Studies and work assignments are scheduled after consultation with their curriculum adviser. Although many co-op students complete their academic program in four years, some delay graduation for a year to obtain additional work experience.

Graduate Programs   Graduate programs leading to the Master of Engineering, Master of Science, Doctor of Engineering, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees are available. All four graduate programs are available for degrees in civil engineering and transportation engineering. The selection of a graduate program and degree is based on student interest, area of graduate concentration, and satisfaction of prerequisites as indicated below for each graduate program.

Graduate Degree Requirements   In addition to the Institute requirements for master and doctoral programs, given in the section on graduate school information and regulations, students obtaining graduate degrees through the Civil Engineering Department must satisfy the additional requirements given below.

Master of Engineering   This is a 30-credit structured program of advanced professional study aimed at preparing students for professional practice. Except for computational mechanics, candidates for this degree must have an accredited bachelor’s degree in engineering. No project or thesis need be undertaken, but students electing to do so may elect this option, at either the three or six credit level, in consultation with their academic advisers.

Master of Science   This is a research-oriented degree open to students with suitable undergraduate degrees in engineering, mathematics, and science. In addition to the satisfactory completion of an approved set of advanced courses, candidates for this degree must complete a six credit thesis. This thesis must provide documentation of an independent research related effort and be approved by the student’s faculty adviser.

Listed below are recommended core courses in each of the five civil engineering areas of concentration. A master’s student would typically take all the courses listed below in his or her area of concentration.

Students without accredited degrees in engineering must fulfill the intent of the baccalaureate program as well as the requirements above. Individual programs are developed in consultation with the program adviser.

Doctor of Engineering   This is a specialized program aimed at advanced engineering problem solving. The degree includes the preparation of a dissertation that poses a significant engineering problem and develops a solution to that problem. The dissertation can represent up to 30 credits of the student’s approved plan of study. In addition to the examination processes required of all Rensselaer doctoral students, civil engineering students working toward this degree must pass a preliminary examination during their first year of doctoral study.

Doctor of Philosophy   This is a research-oriented degree focused on the development of new knowledge in the student’s chosen area of study. It includes the preparation of a dissertation that carefully documents the original contribution of the student’s research. The dissertation can represent up to 30 credits of the student’s approved plan of study. In addition to the examination processes required of all Rensselaer doctoral students, civil engineering students working toward this degree must pass a preliminary examination during their first year of doctoral study.

Courses   Courses given primarily for civil engineering majors appear in this catalog under the listing bearing the department designation CIVL. Courses in closely related areas may be found under the department designations ARCH, ECSE, MEAE and ENVE.