Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

For information regarding the GRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering offers two curricula that are designed to provide a broad, but integrated education in the scientific, mathematical, engineering, sociohumanistic, and ethical principles that are the basis for a professional career. The curricula also provide sound preparation for continued professional development through informal studies, continuing education programs, or graduate study in a specialized engineering or related field. The philosophy of the faculty is to offer students a quality education, preparing them to enter any field of civil or environmental engineering. The department assists students in achieving the technological, communication, and interpersonal competencies, as well as a sensitivity to and understanding of socioeconomic issues, necessary for the professional practice of engineering.

For those students wishing to concentrate in environmental engineering, two opportunities are available. Students may pursue the more specialized environmental engineering curriculum leading to the BS in Environmental Engineering. Alternatively, students pursuing the civil engineering degree may select 15 hours of electives during the senior year with emphasis on technical, socio-economical, and regulatory issues in environmental engineering.

In collaboration with external Civil and Environmental Engineering Program Advisory Committees and other constituents, the faculty established the following program educational objectives for the undergraduate Civil Engineering degree program:

Objective 1 - be active in practice, research, education, or management in their engineering and professional careers, while upholding the highest ethical standards of the profession to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

Objective 2 –advance in civil/environmental engineering practice and/or graduate studies.

Objective 3 – be an effective communicator, capable of addressing the range of audiences encountered in industry, education, research, and general public.

Objective 4 – be engaged in life-long learning

Objective 5 – Attain or advance through the process of professional licensure.

Objective 6 – be engaged as an active member and emerging leader in professional, community, government or other public organizations that benefit society by providing sustainable solutions that meet the highest ethical standards.

In collaboration with external Civil and Environmental Engineering Program Advisory Committees and other constituents, the faculty established the following program educational objectives for the undergraduate Environmental Engineering degree program:

Objective 1: be active in practice, research, education, or management in their engineering and professional careers, while upholding the highest ethical standards of the profession to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

Objective 2: advance in engineering practice, graduate studies or professional school programs, drawing from experiences as an undergraduate in environmental engineering.

Objective 3: be an effective communicator, capable of addressing the range of audiences encountered in industry, education, research, and general public.

Objective 4: be engaged in life-long learning, attaining or advancing through the process of professional licensure, while applying new ideas and technologies as the field of environmental engineering evolves.

Objective 5: Promote the health, safety and welfare of the public and the environment through professional practice, civic leadership and community service

The department is committed to the continual improvement of its BS degree programs in civil engineering and environmental engineering. Specific outcome objectives have been established for the degree programs and will utilize the following measures for assessing the achievement of these objectives:

• technical and professional capabilities of students in open-ended project design courses
• faculty assessment of scientific/technical knowledge and ethical behavior of students
• student participation in professional organizations
• student performance on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination
• subsequent professional registration of graduates
• success of graduates in post-graduate degree programs

The data from these assessment measures will be evaluated and used as the basis for improvement of all elements of the degree programs based on the following student outcomes:

1. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
2. an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
3. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
4. an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
5. an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
6. an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
7. an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies

Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering

Civil engineering is a profession that advances the well-being of people, while improving and protecting the environment. A civil engineer gains knowledge of mathematics and physical sciences through study, experience, and practice. This knowledge is applied with judgment under economic constraints to provide facilities for living, industry, transportation, and a myriad of other activities. Civil engineering graduates can practice in the fields of structural, transportation, hydraulic, water resources, geotechnical, construction, environmental, public works engineering, and surveying/geodesy. They are employed by private industry as well as governmental agencies and many ultimately establish their own consulting engineering businesses.

The philosophy of the department is to provide the students a broad background in key areas of civil engineering. Specifically, students take several courses each in the fields of structural, geotechnical, transportation, surveying, water resources, and environmental engineering. Eighteen hours of electives in the senior year provide the means for a student to focus on one or two of these areas, if desired.

The graduates of the civil engineering program shall:

• be prepared to take a leading role in the provision, upkeep, and improvement of the state and national infrastructure in an efficient, economic, environmentally sensitive, and socially responsible manner;
• have an understanding of professional practice issues, understand their roles in a local and global societal context, and have the interpersonal and communication skills needed to be effective engineers;
• be prepared and motivated to become licensed professional engineers and to continue their education through professional development and post graduate programs;
• be proficient in analysis and structural, transportation, geotechnical, geodesy, and water resources engineering; and
• be proficient in laboratory and field measurements and the ability to design, conduct, and critically evaluate the results of experiments in the areas of hydraulics, construction materials, and geotechnical engineering.

The successful civil engineer is a registered professional engineer who affiliates with various professional and technical societies. The department recommends that its students join and participate in the Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and encourages each senior to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination that is a partial requirement for registration as a professional engineer.

The civil engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.

Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineering is a separate and distinct baccalaureate degree program within the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. As a discipline, environmental engineering is defined as that branch of engineering concerned with the application of scientific and engineering principles for:

• Protection of human populations from the effects of adverse environmental factors;
• Protection of environments, both local and global, from the potentially deleterious effects of natural and human activities; and
• Improvement of environmental quality.

The degree program at LSU is broad based and encompasses core courses that cover principles and mass and energy conservation and fundamentals of chemical, biological and physical transport processes needed to protect human health and the environment. Students are then exposed to courses in five areas of practice of environmental engineering: water and wastewater treatment; air pollution; protecting and preserving natural water quality and quantity; solid and hazardous waste management and environmental sustainability. The program concludes with a 2 semester capstone design experience where professional responsibility; and multi-disciplinary efforts across private and public sectors to assure environmental protection are put into practice. For achieving additional depth in specific areas of environmental engineering, elective courses are available in a range of topics including engineering sustainability, water and wastewater treatment in developing countries and special topics and design/research project courses.

The basic mission of the program is to provide the fundamental intellectual knowledge, when supplemented by professional experience, that will provide the technical and interpersonal skills required to conceive, plan, design, and implement the systems needed to provide and ensure environmental protection for human health and the sustainability of our natural ecosystem.

The graduates of the environmental engineering program shall:

• possess the technical and professional skills needed to ensure that they are adequately prepared to enter and progress professionally in the practice of environmental engineering or progress academically in advanced areas of study;
• be proficient in the fundamentals of mathematics and statistics, computational methods, natural and physical sciences, and chemical, civil, and environmental engineering sciences necessary to communicate and collaborate effectively with a broad spectrum of environmental professionals;
• have an introductory level of knowledge of environmental issues associated with air, land, and water systems and associated environmental health impacts;
• be proficient to conduct laboratory experiments and analyze and interpret data in the areas of soil properties and behavior, water quality and unit operations–physical, chemical, and biological;
• have the ability to perform engineering analysis and design of water, air, and land treatment/protection systems that minimize risk to the environment and public health;
• have an understanding of concepts of professional practice and the roles and responsibilities of public institutions and private organizations pertaining to environmental engineering and the interpersonal and communication skills needed to be effective engineers and citizens; and
• become licensed professional engineers and continue their education through professional development and post graduate programs.

Students are encouraged to participate in the activities of the student chapters of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists; Louisiana Water Environment Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Air and Water Management Association, and Engineers Without Borders. Other professional organizations that may be of interest to students include the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO).

The department encourages each senior to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination that is a partial requirement for registration as a professional engineer.

The environmental engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.

Programs

• Civil Engineering, B.S.C.E.
• Environmental Engineering, B.S.Ev.E.

• Environmental Engineering Minor
• Structural Engineering Minor
• Surveying Minor
• Transportation Engineering Minor