Best Civil Engineering Masters Programs in Pennsylvania

PhD Costs and Funding.

Many of our graduate students conducting research in the department (typically doctoral students and, in a few cases, MS students) receive financial aid in the form of research assistantships that cover tuition, technology fees, and a stipend for living expenses for the calendar year (including Summer) up to five years, as long as sufficient progress is made toward degree completion. Funds for research assistantships generally come from external research contracts or grants, or from funds provided by fellowships from the US and other countries. Students are required to pay for health insurance, activity and transportation fees, and books and course supplies. Off-campus housing is available within walking distance to campus.

Students awarded with a research assistantship are required to devote approximately 20 hours per week in teaching and research activities, on top of the time they must devote for their course activity, which we consider to be an integral part of their graduate education.

Graduate students are selected to receive offers of a research assistantship based on the following factors:.

The department also encourages all admitted students to apply for all fellowships for which they are eligible prior to joining the university. Students who have been admitted with support will still benefit from a fellowship, which will allow greater flexibility in choosing a dissertation topic and also provides enhanced stability in research funding.

The National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. (GEM), a nonprofit organization, was formed to help assist underrepresented groups (African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic Americans) at the masters and doctoral levels in engineering and physical science.

The College of Engineering is pleased to support the GEM Fellowship program by offering a generous award to recipients in the GEM MS Engineering Fellowship Program. A few select applicants will be eligible for an award which augments the GEM contribution to the fellowship and will help to defray your overall cost of attendance in the MS program at CMU.

Graduate students in Civil Engineering conduct experiments across a breathtaking range of scales, using electrokinetics, nanoparticles, sensor and communications technology, and advanced physics and mechanics while overseeing some of the world largest and most advanced structural testing and simulation facilities.

Lehigh structural testing facilities are the largest in North America and enable research in earthquake engineering, multi-hazard mitigation, fiber reinforced composites, fatigue and fracture, development of smart structures, shipbuilding, and infrastructure reliability, maintenance and life-cycle performance.

Graduate alumni teach in than 60 universities worldwide and excel in private sector and government. Students travel to give presentations at conferences, and to conduct field demonstrations of new technologies.

The department ATLSS (Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems) Research Center houses the largest three-dimensional dynamic testing machines in North America, along with specialized earthquake-resistant testing facilities for real-time dynamic testing.

Research in the CEE department is sponsored by many government and private sources, including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Navy, the Energy, and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance.

Advanced Technology and Large Structural Systems (ATLSS) Engineering Research Center.

NSF Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES).

Advanced Infrastructure Systems Geotechnical and Pavement Engineering Specialty, PhD.

Advanced Infrastructure Systems Structural Engineering and Mechanics Specialty, PhD.

Advanced Infrastructure Systems Transportation Engineering Specialty, PhD.

Sustainability and Environmental Engineering Environmental Engineering Specialty, PhD.

Sustainability and Environmental Engineering Sustainable Engineering Specialty, PhD.

Sustainability and Environmental Engineering Water Resources Engineering Specialty, PhD.

MBA Master of Science in Engineering Dual Degree Program.

The MBA Master of Science in Engineering Dual Degree Program, offered jointly by the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M.

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering in this section.

Many universities separate the disciplines of civil, architectural, and environmental engineering. buildings, air pollution mitigation systems. We differ from other engineering fields because our solutions are not mass-produced. projects deployed under highly variable conditions. Sustainability and resilience are primary concerns. The natural environment is a dominant player in any design solution. And our graduates need to interact well with diverse stakeholders.

The Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering offers three BS program degrees in Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, with multiple hands-on research opportunities and co-ops both here and abroad. Those who qualify can pursue a five-year BS MS degree. Students also have the opportunity to earn dual degrees. CAEE offers Masters and PhD tracks in all three programs.

Take on emerging topics in design, construction, and advances in the fields of civil engineering.

Graduate certificates offer training in a targeted area of expertise. The 9-credits of coursework may be rolled into an MS program curriculum should you decide to continue study.

Number of Credits Required Beyond the Master : 30, including 15 credits of graduate-level didactic coursework and 15 research credits, including preliminary PhD examination and dissertation research.

Post-Baccalaureate (for students WITHOUT a master degree in Civil Engineering).

It may include up to, but no than, 3 credits of CEE 9182 Independent Study I, 3 credits of CEE 9282 Independent Study II, or 3 credits of CEE 9991 Directed Research.

Sample distribution of the 15 credits associated with PhD examinations and dissertation research is shown, although the actual distribution of credits can vary across courses depending on the student particular needs. Completion of the required 15 credits includes a minimum of 1 credit but no than 2 credits of CEE 9994, a minimum of 1 credit of CEE 9998, and a minimum of 2 credits of CEE 9999, with the further stipulation that the minimum number of credits taken in CEE 9994, CEE 9998 and CEE 9999 combined is 6.

Post-Master (for students WITH a master degree in Civil Engineering).

Preliminary Examination: All students generally complete their didactic coursework prior to taking the preliminary examination. (See Graduate School Policy 02.27.11.) Students in the 30-credit cohort ordinarily take the exam in their third or fourth term. Students in the 60-credit cohort typically take the exam no later than the eighth regular term. Students should register for one credit of CEE 9994 Preliminary Examination Preparation in the term when the exam will be taken.

Research Credits: Students carry out research throughout their studies and register for the corresponding research credits while in the PhD program.

Students are required to register for at least three credits of CEE 9999 following their elevation to candidacy. (See Graduate School Policy 02.28.15.).

Publications: Paper writing and presentation at a conference are considered integral to the student training. Also, peer review, in part, offers an indication of the quality and novelty of the student research. All doctoral students must publish at least two technical papers in refereed journals or refereed conferences. The papers must be based on the student dissertation research with the student as the first author.

The dissertation defense is to take place during a regular academic term (i.e., not scheduled during study days, final exams, or the breaks between terms). If the student is to graduate in the same term as the dissertation defense is held, then the defense should take place at least 30 days prior to the end of the term to allow for document revisions.

The dissertation document should be prepared in a format compliant with University standards. (See Graduate School Policy 02.28.18.) A copy of the completed dissertation must be provided to the committee at least three weeks before the date of the dissertation defense.

A minimum of two weeks prior to the defense, a public announcement of the defense must be posted. Prior to posting, this announcement must be approved in writing by the Graduate School. (See Graduate School Policy 02.28.16.).

However, only members of the Dissertation Examining Committee may actually vote on the decision to accept the dissertation as prepared, accept the dissertation with revisions, or not accept the dissertation. If the dissertation is accepted with revisions, a revised copy of the dissertation must be submitted and approved by the Committee within 30 days of the original defense date.

Go back to Academics in Civil Engineering PhD.

The Civil Environmental Engineering offers master of science degree programs to select candidates in the fields of civil engineering and environmental engineering. Applicants must have earned a bachelor of science degree in an engineering or science discipline to be considered for admission.

Students may also earn a master of science degree in civil or environmental engineering through the five-year bachelor of science master of science in engineering program.

A requirement of the graduate program is the completion of a thesis. Thesis work can be conducted in any of the current research areas in the department or in any area approved by the student adviser and the department. The thesis is considered a contribution to the education of the candidate and normally results in an original contribution to the body of engineering knowledge. Thesis requirements in civil engineering may be satisfied by:.

An exercise in solving a practical engineering problem involving novel features, which may or may not comprise design, and with or without required experimental verification.

The thesis is followed by a final oral or written examination that must be passed at least two weeks before the degree is to be received.

The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering program prepares students for a wide variety of careers including the design, inspection, and management of structures, transportation systems, and environmental systems. The program offers two tracks. Students can pursue a traditional civil engineering program allowing students to specialize in transportation, structures, or advanced project modeling. Students can also earn a concentration in environmental engineering. The distinguishing feature of all our engineering programs is the careful balance between teaching theory and hands-on experience.

Students can complete their first two years at any of these institutions and can then transfer to Ship to complete their mechanical engineering degree.

Engineering programs present a focus on engineering theory and design, supported through advanced science and higher-level mathematics through advanced calculus and differential equations. Engineering Technology programs typically focus on applied sciences and mathematics such as algebra and applied calculus. Graduates of an engineering program may be called engineers graduates of a four-year engineering technology program are called engineering technologists. Graduates of an engineering program may work to earn the professional engineer license whereas the National Society of Professional Engineers opposes acceptance of engineering technology. ABET provides a good summary that describes the differences.

Shippensburg University has the only civil engineering program in Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and only one of twelve in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

CS Engineering Deck Living-Learning Community (LLC) Students enrolled in computer science and engineering programs can choose to live in an LLC in one of the new suite-style residence halls. First-year students in the LLC are enrolled in three courses together, and benefit from living with upper-class computer science and engineering majors.

Student Organizations Student clubs and organizations can help you develop relationships with your peers and help to build a stronger campus community. Computer science and engineering student clubs include: Civil Club, Women in Computer Science and Engineering, the Software Engineering Club, and the Programming Team, which participates in annual programming competitions.

Computer science and engineering graduates find employment across the region and nationally.

Demand for civil engineers is continues to be strong. Graduates will have the skills necessary to work as civil engineers or go on to earn the Professional Engineer license. The Commonwealth is forecasted to need 14,640 civil engineers by 2024, with an expected 8.3% growth rate. This makes civil engineering one of the most in-demand fields. The same report identifies civil engineering as one of the top demand gaps for the South Central Pennsylvania region.

Graduates will be prepared and encouraged to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, the first step to earning their Professional Engineering certificate. Some of our graduates will be expected to go onto earn master and doctoral degrees in engineering, while others may choose a career track towards project management and work towards a Master of Business Administration.

Ultimately, graduates of this program must be able to analyze and solve complex problems, work to deadlines and under pressure, communicate with others across disciplines, and identify cost value trade-offs within the social, cultural, economic, environmental, health and safety, and ethical aspects of a project.

ENGR 100 Engineering Seminar I (1 cr).

ENGR 200 Engineering Seminar II (1 cr).

ENGR 300 Engineering Seminar III (1 cr).

ENGR 110 Modeling Simulation (3 cr).

ENGR 120 Programming for Engineers (3 cr).

CIVE320 Construction Methods and Materials (3 cr).

Civil Engineering No Concentration 12 credits.

Civil Engineering Environmental Concentration 12 credits.

Credits: 3Description: The course introduces the principles and methods for measuring different quantities in the lab and in the field. Students will collect data and then using a CAD tool, such as AutoCAD Civil, create a site plan and then make a presentation of the prepared plan. Students will work in small teams to complete these tasks.

Credits: 4Description: The course provides an introduction to the strength of different materials. Students will learn different types of stresses, analyze and measure those stresses and find the limits of the materials.

Credits: 3Description: Methods for analyzing statically determinate and indeterminate structures and loads. Course presents methods for analyzing statically determinate loads, including equations of equilibrium, shear-moment diagrams, and influence lines. Course also presents methods of statically indeterminate loads, including approximations, moment-area theorems, conjugate-beam method, Castigliano theorem, the force method, and slope-deflection methods.

Credits: 3Description: The design and behavior of steel structures. Course analyzes the strength and limits of steel members including girders, beams, and columns. The course will also study the behavior and design of different joining techniques, including welding, bolting, and gusset plates. Mixed concrete and steel structures will also be introduced. Students will also learn relevant safety considerations and code requirements for building steel structures.

Credits:3Description: This course provides an introduction to a variety of construction methods and the materials used in them. Students learn the material properties, such as hardness, torsional strength, and tensile strength. Students will also study the long-term mechanical and non-mechanical properties of various building materials and the physical properties that act on them, such as corrosion, cold and work hardening, and fatigue. Students will also study different construction methods and the applicability of materials to those techniques. Students will carry out lab experiments on materials and will work to design and test scale models.

Credits: 3Description: An introduction to topics in environmental engineering. The course provides an introduction to environmental chemistry, air and water pollution, environmental mass and energy balances, and interactions between the air-water interface. The course also studies topics in sustainability, including waste management, risk assessment, and impact human activity has on the environment.

Prerequisites: CIVE320 Construction methods and materials C or better.

Credits: 3Description: Focuses on the construction project life-cycle, from planning phases through start-up and commissioning. Topics include: procurement, contracts, estimating, and bidding scheduling and planning techniques performance measurement and process control. The course also emphasizes site management, safety, risk and value management. Other topics include: contract and claims management, liability, sub-contracting, quality management, benchmarking.

Credits: 3Description: Course studies topics related to design and construction of foundation structures. Topics include: soil parameters, bearing capacity, settlement, and structural design of shallow and deep foundations and retaining walls.

Credits: 3Description: An introduction to transportation engineering. Topics include planning and design to operation of transportation systems. The course will explore the various modes and complexity of various transportation systems as both a human activity and as an engineering discipline.

Credits: 3Description: Introduction to site data collection and modeling site characteristics. The course also introduces the finite element method for modeling physical system and its application to structural analysis.

Credits: 3Description: This course introduces theory and practice used to treat water into either safe drinking water or wastewater that is safe to reintroduce to the environment. Topics include different types of pollutants, processes to treat those pollutants, and measuring the impacts of those processes on the performance of a treatment system.

Prerequisites: CIVE 0 Environmental Engineering C or better.

Credits: 3Description: Introduces topics around solid and hazardous waste management engineering. Topics include technology for collection and disposal, health and policy issues, regulations, distribution of contamination into the environment, and impacts on public health and safety.

Credits: 3Description: The goal of the capstone project is to provide students with an opportunity to work on a real-world engineering project and provide valuable experience to the students.

Prerequisites: CIVE320 Construction methods and materials with C or better.

Credits: 4Description: Introduces organization and architecture of computer systems from the standard von Neumann model to recent architectural concepts. Internal structure and organization of a computer leads to significant differences in performance and functionality, giving rise to an extraordinary range of computing devices from hand-held computer to large-scale, high performance machines. To gain a better understanding of exactly how a computer functions, students will write programs in a common assembly language.

Credits: 4Description: An operating system provides an abstract interface with which programmers can control hardware. The study of this area includes both the use of operating systems (externals) and their design and implementation (internals). This course will include laboratories to simulate or experiment with operating system concepts. Topics include of operating systems, processes and concurrency, memory management, scheduling, input output and file systems, system performance evaluation, ethics, and security.

Students will use basic research strategies, including literature reviews, designing experiments, and conducting tests to complete a research project. Students are expected to produce results that lead to external publication at a conference or in a journal. This course is designated as a capstone course for Computer and Electrical Engineering. Although the course is two credit hours, students should expect to work considerably to complete their projects.

Credits: 2Description: Computer and Electrical Engineering students will work together in development teams to complete a development task. Starting from a given problem, they will plan and design a solution to that problem, and then go on to implement and test their plan. Students demonstrate their capabilities by using the engineering method to analyze the problem to develop requirements, estimate time and costs, perform safety and risk analysis, and develop an implementation plan. The team will then follow that implementation plan to develop their solution and demonstrate their final product. This course is designated as a capstone course for both Computer and Electrical Engineering. Graduate students are not permitted to take this course.

Credits: 1Description: An introduction to computer programming from an object-oriented perspective. Students will complete several programs with an emphasis placed on good software engineering principles and development of good programming skills. Students will implement complete programs using an object-oriented programming language and development environment. Programming assignments will address the implementation and use of fundamental programming techniques including algorithm design, documentation, style, and debugging fundamental program constructs including simple data types, and control structures fundamental object oriented techniques including classes, abstraction, polymorphism, inheritance, and encapsulation and fundamental software engineering principles.

Credits: 3Description: An introduction to computer programming from an object-oriented perspective. Students will complete several programs with an emphasis placed on good software engineering principles and development of good programming skills. Students will implement complete programs using an object-oriented programming language and development environment. Topics include: fundamental programming techniques including algorithm design, documentation, style, and debugging fundamental program constructs including simple data types, and control structures fundamental object oriented techniques including classes, abstraction, polymorphism, inheritance, and encapsulation and fundamental software engineering principles.

Credits: 4Description: Students will reinforce their proficiency with core programming techniques by developing challenging programs than in CS1. Students will apply new techniques such as pointers, structures and unions to create advanced programs and solutions. Students will also need to improve their solutions to enhance efficiency and soundness. Topics include intermediate programming techniques using advanced data types including multi-dimensional arrays, queues, stacks, linked lists, recursion sorting and searching algorithms.

Credits: 4Description: This course will look at the key concepts needed to build 2D and 3D video games using an existing game engine. The course will look at asset management, animation, collision detection physics, and user input. Additionally, It will look at some key design patterns related to game programming.

Credits: 4Description: Detailed examination of theory and practical issues underlying the design, development, and use of a DBMS. Topics include characteristics of a well-designed database high-level representation of an application using ER modeling functional dependency theory, normalization, and their application toward a well-designed database abstract query languages query languages concurrency integrity security. Advanced topics may be included (e.g., distributed databases object-oriented databases). Theory to practice is applied in a number of projects involving the design, creation, and use of a database.

Credits: 4Description: This introductory course gives an of machine learning. This is a wide ranging field including topics such as: classification, linear regression, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), neural networks, bagging and boosting, support vector machines, hidden Markov models, Bayesian networks, Q-learning, reinforcement learning.

Credits: 4Description: Studies protocol suites, emphasizing the TCP IP 4-layer model. Topics included are network addresses, sub netting, client server network programming via the sockets API, network utilities, architecture of packets, routing, fragmentation, connection and termination, connection-less applications, data flow, and an examination of necessary protocols at the link layer, particularly Ethernet. Other topics may include FDDI, wireless, ATM, congestion control, and network security.

Credits: 4Description: of artificial intelligence. Emphasis on basic tools of AI, search and knowledge representation, and their application to a variety of AI problems. Search methods include depth-first, breadth-first, and AI algorithms knowledge representation schemes include propositional and predicate logics, semantic nets and frames, and scripts. Planning using a STRIPS-like planner will also be addressed. Areas that may be addressed include natural language processing, computer vision, robotics, expert systems, and machine learning.

Credits: 4Description: Introduces the science of robotics from the perspective of artificial intelligence. Emphasizes various robot control architectures and their implementations using mobile robots. Topics include history of robotics hierarchical, reactive, and hybrid architectures Braitenberg vehicles integration and calibration of sensors construction techniques and considerations and implementation of various types of behaviors.

Credits: 2Description: Students will learn basic research strategies including conducting literature reviews, designing experiments, defining hypotheses, and writing proposals. The course will include topics including finding and evaluating sources of information, defining topics, developing and supporting a hypotheses, and acceptable research and experimental practices. Students will develop a proposal for a research project to be completed in CSC 499. Graduate students are not allowed to take this course.

Prerequisites: CS Major with Junior Status and C or better in five computer science courses.

Students will conduct the experiments outlined in their testing implementation plan. Students will then analyze the results and determine if their hypothesis was supported or not. The goal of this course is to gain experience with a formal development process and understand how the scientific method, mathematical reasoning, logic, and algorithmic thinking will generate concrete answers to problems. Pre-requisite: Completion of CSC 498 with a C or better. Graduate students are not allowed to take this course.

Credits: 3Description: This course provides an of the different mechanisms and instruments used to measure physical values such as temperature, pressure, flow, and force that are common in modern industrial processes. The course provides background in the sources of measurement error and methods to compensate for them.

Credits: 4Description: Students will learn the principles of designing advanced circuits using state-of-the-art CAD tools to create a schematic within given engineering constraints, including factors such as functionality, physical limitations, cost, standard parts inventories, reliability, verifiability, signal integrity, and manufacturing complexity. Students will use advanced simulation tools to verify their designs. Students will learn Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), and will create a PCB layout for their schematic. Students will then use the lab facilities to manufacture their board, from blank copper plates to populated board. This board will then be inspected, verified, and reworked as needed. Finally, the student will learn use system programmers and debuggers to load their software onto the board, and deliver a completed system.

Credits: 3Description: This is a study of the design and implementation of control systems used across a wide range of modern mechanical and electrical systems. This course explores the theory behind control systems allows us to effectively model their behavior, including frequency and time domain models of these systems. Both open and closed-loop control systems are developed, with a special emphasis on the PID controller. Finally, students will compare the theoretical results and the actual results of their control systems.

Credits: 4Description: Introduction to analog and digital communication systems. Emphasis on engineering applications of theory to communication system design. Students will study the basics of sampling quantization, coding, signal detection, and digital modulation schemes including AM, FM, PAM, and PCM. Transmission of information and system performance in the presence of noise will be covered. Students will use state of the art tools such as MATLAB to analyze communication systems limited by bandwidth and noise.

Credits: 1Description: The goal of this course is to prepare the student for study in an engineering discipline. This will include general skills for achieving success in college in addition to an introduction to the engineering disciplines and the engineering development process.

Credits: 3Description: An introduction to programming for electrical engineers. This course is a highly focused introduction to programming in C language. It covers the basics of programming including procedures, variables, types, loop, and control structures. The course introduces basic computing resources, and introduces algorithmic solutions to common engineering and numerical problems.

Credits: 1Description: This course is focused on the tools that teams use to engineer solutions together. Participation in a team project will help the students learn and apply current team coordination tools for project management, configuration management, and personal improvement.

Credits: 1Description: The goal of this course is to prepare the student for upper class courses and entering the workplace. Career preparation will include strategies for finding internships and full-time positions and preparing for the hiring process (building a resume, writing a cover letter, and interviewing). Academic preparation will be focused on find and read journal publications on a given topic.

Credits: 3Description: The course will develop the students understanding of statistical process control. A variety of control charts will be used for assessing process stability and estimation of process capability. We will also study how engineers design experiments based on statistical quality control for the purpose of controlling, improving, and optimizing the engineering process.

Rule, discrete and continuous random variables, joint distributions, expectation and variance, probability distributions to include binomial, geometric, hypergeometric, Poisson, Gaussian, exponential, lognormal, t, F, and Chi-square, correlation and covariance, Central Limit Theorem and sampling distributions, simple linear regression, and inference procedures for means and proportions. A statistical software package will be used throughout the course. Prerequisites MAT211 and MAT225.˅ More Details