The civil engineering profession is concerned with the built environment. Civil engineers plan, design, and construct major facilities including highways, transit systems, dams, tunnels, energy facilities, harbors, canals, buildings, and bridges. Civil engineers help manage our air, water, and energy resources and help protect society from natural catastrophes, such as earthquakes, as well as dealing with the hazards society itself generates in the form of toxic wastes. Their role is often more than just technical, requiring also a high degree of communicative skills and an ability to deal with people.
Civil engineering is a profession with a long and respected history.
We marvel today at the works of our ingenious predecessors and the impact they had on their societies. The irrigation systems of Egypt and China, the Inca and Mayan temples and cities, the water supply tunnels of the Greeks, and the roads and aqueducts of Rome are examples. Through these many years, civil engineering has evolved into a broadly based discipline that deals with the technical as well as the social and economic aspects of our built environment. The undergraduate civil engineering curriculum includes a core, to be taken by all declared majors, that provides a broad introduction to the major areas of civil engineering. Two tracks then allow students to take additional specialized course work in either Environmental and Water Studies or Structures and Construction.