Undergraduate Course Catalog 2014-2015

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

» http://www.ceps.unh.edu

Civil Engineering (CIE)

Chairperson: Erin S. Bell
Professor: Jean Benoit, M. Robin Collins, Jo S. Daniel, Kevin H. Gardner, David L. Gress, Jennifer M. Jacobs, Nancy E. Kinner, James P. Malley Jr.
Research Professor: Paul H. Kirshen
Associate Professor: Thomas P. Ballestero, Erin S. Bell, Raymond A. Cook, Charles H. Goodspeed, Robert M. Henry, Ricardo A. Medina
Assistant Professor: Tat S. Fu, Majid Ghayoomi
Research Assistant Professor: Alison W. Watts

Civil engineering involves the planning, design, and construction of public works: buildings, bridges, roads, dams, water transmission systems, water treatment systems, tunnels, and more. These facilities must provide efficient service, be cost effective, and be compatible with the environment. Moreover, civil engineers work under a code of ethics in which their primary, overriding responsibility is to uphold the public’s trust by working to plan, design, build, and restore safe, sustainable, and environmentally responsible public works.

Civil engineers work as private consultants and for government agencies in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor settings around the world. There is a strong and constant market for civil engineers due to the demands placed on the profession to construct, maintain, and repair the infrastructure.

As civil engineering is such a broad field, it is traditionally divided into several sub-disciplines. At the University of New Hampshire, five are offered: civil engineering materials, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, and water resources engineering. Civil engineering majors may choose the sub-discipline in which to focus their studies during their senior year. Additionally, the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, through the Departments of Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering, offers a B.S. in environmental engineering (ENE), which is a major for students who choose to specifically focus their attention solely in that area. (Students who are interested in environmental engineering but who also want a broader or more traditional civil engineering focus should pursue the civil engineering major and elect environmental engineering courses in their senior year.) Students may readily transfer between the civil engineering (CIE) and ENE programs within the first two semesters. Both the B.S. in civil engineering and the B.S. in environmental engineering provide a firm base in mathematics, science, and engineering, and all majors are expected to develop excellent communication and computer skills. Graduates are prepared to enter the profession and to pursue advanced study. Because of the broad technical background attained, some graduates also successfully pursue further education in business, architecture, education, and law.

Mission
The mission of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Hampshire is fourfold:

To pursue and disseminate knowledge through teaching, scholarship, and public service.
To provide excellent undergraduate and graduate education.
To conduct research and engagement activities, advancing the state of the art in science and engineering.
To enhance the quality of life for people in New Hampshire and beyond.

Educational Objectives
In accordance with its University, college, and department missions, the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering has established clear educational objectives for students to help them find rewarding professional employment, primarily in the civil and environmental engineering disciplines; to help them participate in post-graduate continuing education, coursework, and research; to help them attain positions of leadership, directing the work of others; to help them achieve professional licensure or certification in civil engineering disciplines and other professions; and to help them participate and find positions in community, public, and professional service. Thus, the civil engineering program is designed to provide the following achievements and capabilities in our students at the time of graduation:

To have obtained a working knowledge in the areas of civil engineering materials, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, and water resources engineering
To be able to locate, assess, and compile existing information and data, to design and perform experiments to gather new information and data, and to analyze such to draw conclusions.
To have an ability to use and independently learn new techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools and software necessary for engineering practice.
To be able to work effectively as a team member or a team leader on multidisciplinary teams.
To be able to communicate and defend ideas in documents and public presentations to a variety of audiences and to make effective use of visuals in doing so.
To be able to apply mathematics, science, and engineering to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems.
To have been prepared for and have taken the fundamentals of engineering examination.
To have the broad education necessary to have an understanding of contemporary issues and the interaction between sustainable and ethical engineering practice and global, social, economic, political, and environmental issues.
To have a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, life-long learning and to understand the importance of professional licensure.
Given realistic economic, environmental, social, political, and ethical constraints, to be able to critically analyze and design equipment, structures, systems, or processes to meet society’s current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

Matriculating students should have strong aptitudes in mathematics and science along with imagination, spatial and graphic abilities, communication skills, and creativity. Students then follow a four-year program that conforms to the guidelines of, and is accredited by, the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012, (410) 347-7700.

The first two years of the program provide the necessary technical knowledge in mathematics, chemistry, and physics, while introducing and developing problem-solving techniques in eight courses tailored to civil engineering students. The junior year provides courses in each of the civil engineering sub-disciplines, providing students with skills in each and allowing students to determine which they wish to pursue further. The senior year is flexible, allowing students to choose where to focus attention by selecting from more than thirty elective courses in civil and environmental engineering.

The required curriculum includes eight writing-intensive courses, thereby not only satisfying but exceeding the University’s writing requirement. (See University Academic Requirements.)

Electives
Approximately one-third of the major’s total credits and nearly all of the senior-level courses are elected by the student. Of these, there are Discovery Program electives required by the University and other electives required by the department in order to satisfy departmental objectives and accreditation requirements.

The Discovery Program is described in University Academic Requirements. Courses required by the BSCE major fulfill requirements in Inquiry (CIE 402); Writing Skills (ENGL 401); Quantitative Reasoning (MATH 425); Physical Sciences (PHYS 407); Laboratory Coursework (PHYS 407); Environment, Technology, and Society (CIE 402); and a Senior Capstone Experience (CIE 784/788). Therefore, students select electives to satisfy Discovery requirements in Biological Science, Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, Historical Perspectives, World Cultures, and Social Science.
In the senior year, students take seven 700-level electives subject to the following restrictions:
1. Four of five concentration areas (Environmental, Geotechnical, Materials, Structures, and Water) must be covered.
2. Of the four concentration-area electives, at least three must be design courses.
3. Of the three design courses, at least one must be a principal design elective.
4. Electives that do not have a concentration area cannot be taken as one of the four concentration area courses.
5. One of the seven 700-level courses is a senior technical elective, which can be any CEPS 700-level course of 3 credits or more including CIE and ENE courses and GEOG 757 (cross listed as NR 757).

Lists of courses that fulfill these electives are available from the department.

Additional Program Policies and Requirements

To transfer into the BSCE major, a student must have the following:
1. an overall grade-point average of 2.33 or greater;
2. an overall grade-point average of 2.33 or greater for all CIE and ENE courses taken to date;
3. a grade-point average of 2.33 in courses taken to date of MATH 425, PHYS 407, CHEM 405 or CHEM 403, CIE 525 or ME 525, and CIE 526 or ME 526;
4. if CIE or ME 525 has been taken, a minimum grade of C+ in CIE or ME 525 if CIE or ME 526 has not yet been taken or an average grade of 2.33 in CIE or ME 525 and CIE or ME 526.

Students who are transferring into the BSCE major may only transfer in CIE and ENE 600- and 700-level courses in which the student has received a grade of C- or better.
BSCE majors wishing to participate in domestic or international exchange programs must achieve a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better in all MATH, PHYS, CHEM, CIE, and ENE courses taken to date at the time of application to the exchange program.
To begin taking the required 600-level courses in the junior year, students must complete CIE or ME 525, CIE or ME 526, MATH 425, PHYS 407, and CHEM 405 or CHEM 403 and achieve a GPA of 2.00 or greater in each of the following categories:
1. CIE or ME 525 and CIE or ME 526
2. CIE and ENE courses
3. CIE or ME 525, CIE or ME 526, MATH 425, PHYS 407, and CHEM 405 or CHEM 403

To graduate with a bachelor of science in civil engineering, a student must achieve the following:
1. 129 or more credits,
2. credit for the civil engineering program’s major and elective courses,
3. satisfaction of the University’s Discovery Program requirements,
4. satisfaction of the University’s writing-intensive course requirements,
5. a cumulative grade-point average of 2.0 or better for all courses,
6. a cumulative grade-point average of 2.0 or better for all CIE and ENE courses.

First Year

Abbreviation	Course Number	Title	Fall	Spring
CIE	402	Intro. to Civil Engineering	4	-
ENGL	401	First-Year Writing	4	-
TECH	564	Fundamentals of CAD	3	-
Elective (2)		Discovery Program requirement*	4	4
CIE	505	Surveying and Mapping	-	4
MATH	425	Calculus I	-	4
PHYS	407	General Physics I	-	4
Total			15	16

*A course satisfying one each of the Discovery Program categories of Biological Science, Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, Historical Perspectives, World Cultures, and Social Science.

Sophomore Year

Abbreviation	Course Number	Title	Fall	Spring
CIE	525	Statics	3	-
ENGL	502	Technical Writing	4	-
MATH	426	Calculus II	4	-
PHYS	408	General Physics II	4	-
ENE	520	Environmental Pollution and Protection	4	-
Elective		Discovery Program requirement*	-	4
CHEM	405	General Chemistry	-	4
CIE	526	Strength of Materials	-	3
CIE	533	Project Engineering	-	3
MATH	644	Statistics for Engineers and Scientists	-	4
Total			19	18

*A course satisfying one each of the Discovery Program categories of Biological Science, Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, Historical Perspectives, World Cultures, and Social Science.

Junior Year

Abbreviation	Course Number	Title	Fall	Spring
CIE	622	Engineering Materials	4	-
CIE	642	Fluid Mechanics	4	-
MATH	527	Differential Equations with Linear Algebra	4	-
CIE	665	Soil Mechanics	-	4
CIE	681	Classical Structural Analysis	-	3
ENE	645	Fundamental Aspects of Environmental Engineering	-	4
Elective (2)		Discovery Program requirement*	4	4
Total			16	15

*A course satisfying one each of the Discovery Program categories of Biological Science, Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, Historical Perspectives, World Cultures, and Social Science.

Senior Year

Abbreviation	Course Number	Title	Fall	Spring
Elective (1)		Design Elective 2**	3	-
Elective (2)	-	Civil Engineering**	3	3
Elective (1)	-	Area Elective	-	3
Elective (1)		Principal Design Elective**	4	-
CIE	784	Intro. to Project Planning and Design***	1	-
Elective (1)		Discovery Program requirement*	4
CIE or ENE	788	Project Planning and Design***	-	3
Elective (1)	-	Design Elective 3**	-	3
Elective (1)		Senior Technical Elective**	-	3
Total			16	15

*A course satisfying one each of the Discovery Program categories of Biological Science, Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, Historical Perspectives, World Cultures, and Social Science.

** Approved list available in the CIE office.

*** Satisfies capstone requirement for Discovery.

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