Master of Science in Engineering: Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) with an emphasis in Civil and Environmental Engineering is a master’s level graduate degree program built upon the overarching themes of sustainability and advanced engineering design. The program allows students to achieve depth in a single discipline or breadth across multiple disciplines. The two emphases of the program are:

• Sustainable Systems

• Advanced Engineering Design  

The Sustainable Systems theme focuses on sustaining environmental and built systems with topics related to energy, the natural and built environments, and policy and management. The Advanced Engineering Design theme emphasizes innovation (e.g., designing new products, integrating processes, advancing applications, delivering sophisticated services, and introducing new strategies).

The sustainability and advanced engineering design themes, however, naturally intersect – the methods of design and innovation are a necessary element to the successful development or support of sustainable systems.  Likewise, the principles of sustainability can foster innovation and economic development.  

The M.S.E. curriculum requires 30 units as described below:

• 6 units Research and thesis (CENE 699)

• 3 units Advanced mathematics or statistics

• 6 units EGR 501 (3 units) and EGR 502 (3 units) – core topics in sustainable systems and advanced engineering design

• 15 units Electives

Since the M.S.E. program emphasizes interdisciplinary topics, students may wish to take courses outside of their primary disciplinary focus.  Some courses may require prior completion of pre-requisite courses.  Other requirements for master of science students in civil and environmental engineering include the following:

• You are responsible for choosing the chair and members of your advisory committee before completing 9 units of coursework.  

• You must submit a plan of study that lists all coursework intended to satisfy the M.S.E. degree requirements by the first month of the semester in which you take your 10th credit.  The elective and math/statistics courses are selected in consultation with and acceptable to the student’s graduate committee and its chair.

• A maximum of two courses, up to 8 units, may be at the 400-level.

• Nine of the 15 units of electives must be in civil and environmental engineering (which may include up to 3 units of CENE 698)

• You must complete at least 24 hours of formal coursework, other than such individualized studies as independent study, directed readings, thesis and research.

Click here for the overall requirements of the M.S.E. program.

Click here for more information about Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate courses and faculty.