Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering, the most diverse branch of engineering, is directly related to facilities and systems used by the public in their daily life. Civil engineers are engaged in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of bridges, buildings, foundations, dams, sanitary and solid waste disposal systems and related environmental considerations, highways, airport facilities, transportation systems, waterways, hydroelectric installations, pipelines, coal preparation and loading facilities, and other systems and structures.

Engineering students get a sound basic knowledge of science and a set of core courses in humanities and social sciences. The Civil Engineering curriculum at WVU Tech has been designed to give the student a broad coverage of all fields of Civil Engineering with some flexibility to explore a particular field of choice. This approach gives the WVU Tech graduate a well-rounded background to handle Civil Engineering projects.

Design is incorporated across the Civil Engineering curriculum, and the design experience begins early with some exposure in the Surveying and Strength of Materials courses. Design exposure continues in the junior and senior years with 11 courses having a design component for a total of 20 hours of design. The design component is completed with a capstone design course in which student teams are responsible for the completion of a comprehensive Civil Engineering project which involves several Civil Engineering disciplines with oral and written presentations of the project.

Meaningful design experience is also included in several of the required and elective Civil Engineering courses. Required courses and required elective courses which include significant design content are Hydraulic Engineering, Sanitary Engineering, Highway Design, the required structural design elective (Structural Steel Design or Reinforced Concrete Design), the required geotechnical elective (Foundation Design or Groundwater and Seepage), the required environmental elective (Advanced Sanitary or Advanced Hydraulics), and Civil Engineering Projects. One of the three additional electives (one CVLE and two Technical) also must contain significant design.

The Civil Engineering Projects class, originally designed to serve the "capstone design" concept, requires the students to completely design a Civil Engineering project encompassing several of the Civil Engineering disciplines. Discussion and consideration of constraints such as economic factors, safety, reliability, aesthetics, ethics, and social impact are incorporated as a normal part of most design courses. Aesthetics and social impact are stressed in the Sanitary Engineering course; and ethics, safety, social impact, and professional issues are covered in the Civil Engineering Seminar course. In addition to design, the Projects course includes principles of project and/or construction management, cost analysis and estimating, and scheduling.

Civil Engineering Program Goals include the following:

1. To prepare students to be able to apply science and mathematics to the analysis of civil engineering problems and the design of infrastructure systems to increase human welfare and promote sustainable development.
2. To prepare well-rounded students to practice engineering in a professional environment and to be successful in graduate school should they choose to attend.
3. To help students recognize the role of the civil engineer in contemporary society especially with respect to the societal and environmental contexts of civil engineering projects.
4. To energize students to maximize individual potential, including acquisition of necessary skills and recognition of the need for continuing education and lifelong growth and development.

Civil Engineering Program Educational Objectives include the following:

1. Most of our graduates are expected to find employment in the civil engineering field and to hold positions with significant professional responsibilities.
2. Our graduates will seek professional registration.
3. For our graduates who decide to pursue advanced studies, they will be successful.
4. Our graduates will be able to learn new skills as they progress in their careers to the point of being able to move to new positions when it becomes necessary.