Civil Engineering Program Research Articles

Training Entry-Level Engineers in Civil Engineering and Design Consulting Firm

This paper addresses the training of entry-level engineers for civil engineering and design consulting practice. A survey was conducted for both managers and engineers representing 26 firms in Alaska. Managers rated the entry-level engineer's skills/knowledge of design elements within the consulting-engineering business, and the entry-level engineers rated themselves in these areas. The discrepancies between the managers' and engineers' ratings are highlighted to provide focus areas for a consulting firm's internal training program and university civil engineering program curriculum.

Education in Foreign Languages at Vilnius Technical University

Summary The paper deals with studies of engineering programmes in foreign languages at Vilnius Technical University (VTU), Lithuania. In order to organize studies in foreign languages, an International Studies Centre was established in 1992. The following aims were pursued: integrating into the systems of university education of European countries and promoting international exchange of students and staff. BSc studies (architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electronic engineering programmes) are organized in English, French and German. Over 150 undergraduate students from Lithuania and foreign countries are studying at the centre. About 150 students are enrolled for the next academic year.

National Survey of Materials Engineering Program

In December 1989, an ASCE task committee conducted an opinion survey of civil engineering programs in the United States accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology to assess the present status of civil engineering materials courses and to report the results to both ASCE and the responding departments. The committee sought department views of the importance of materials courses and the desired course content in a typical civil engineering program. The respondents were asked to rate the relative importance of topics in design and rehabilitation. The results suggested that traditional civil engineering materials are typically taught in a three‐lecture, one‐laboratory sequence. The questionnaire revealed information on the equipment and other facilities to be marginal at best. Availability and quality of classroom instructional material are rated “good” by the respondents. In the area of incorporating real‐world problems into the materials course(s), the respondents report that the co...

Too Many Failures: What Can Education Do?

In December 1989, the Committee on Education, Technical Council on Forensic Engineering of ASCE, conducted a questionnaire survey consisting of eight questions to assess the status of and inclusion of failure information in civil engineering programs at schools in the United States. The questionnaire was sent to 175 civil engineering department heads listed in the March 1989 issue of Engineering Education. Eighty‐seven schools (49.7%) responded to the survey, and indicated that 74 schools include examples of failure in their technical courses in civil engineering. Information is provided on specific failure courses and seminars taught and teaching materials considered essential for failure studies courses.

Failure of Engineered Facilities: Academia esponds to the Challenge

In response to requests, ASCE is taking a leadership role in the prevention of failures of engineered facilities. The Technical Council on Forensic Engineering Education Committee recently completed a survey of Civil Engineering programs in the United States that identified courses specifically dealing with failure of engineered facilities. This technical note briefly summarizes 12 of the courses. It also recommends that students be continually reminded of the lessons learned from failures, through introductory courses, incorporating failure case studies into undergraduate design and analysis courses, graduate courses dealing with failure case studies, short courses and seminars, and increased availability of case study information, utilizing resources such as the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities.

Bachelor of Civil Technology and Civil Engineering Programs

This position paper, adopted unanimously by the Department Heads Council whose members represent the heads of the 222 civil engineering programs listed in the ASCE Official Register 1992, shows that the delineation between civil engineering practice and the practice of civil technology is not clear. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) evaluates both engineering and technology programs, but the criteria are vastly different in four curriculum areas—mathematics and basic sciences, engineering (technical) science, design, and humanities/social sciences. Despite the major difference in the education of engineers and technologists, technologists can sit for the FE and PE exams in 41 states, and the American Society of Civil Engineers offers technologists membership at all society grades. This position paper argues that the present state of affairs does not serve to advance the safety and welfare of the public and urges ASCE to adopt the position advanced by the National Society of Pro...

Civil Engineering Evolution

The paper discusses the demands on civil engineers in the future and how the skills required of top‐quality professionals will be very different from those required in the past. The profession needs to be able to cultivate top‐quality students with varied backgrounds and be able to recruit from a diverse demographic pool of college graduates and a changing workforce. In addition to traditional technical knowledge, these professionals will need a strong background in people skills. To meet these demands, the profession must refocus its recruitment and outreach strategies to create an approach that is people‐oriented, innovative, and technically sophisticated. It must aim at students who are first starting to formulate ideas about their future, so they can get the training that they will need to compete and fulfill the needs of the profession. The TRAC (transportation and civil engineering) program, outlined in the paper addresses these challenges by focusing on bright young students as early as junior‐high...

Military Leaders and Civil Engineers—An Air Force Academy Challenge

A major challenge facing the civil engineering faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy is how to provide a rigorous, ABET‐accredited civil engineering program within the constraints of a national military academy. This paper compares the academy civil engineering curriculum with those at other respected institutions, and summarizes many of the programs, some unique to the academy and some not, which are employed to address the challenge. These programs include management of the curriculum by tracks, an intensive teacher training program, peer and student evaluations, former faculty inputs, interdisciplinary cooperative teaching, and conscious linkage between courses. Using these and other programs, we attempt to achieve our goal of producing the world's best second lieutenants, who are also civil engineers.

Educating Civil Engineers to Work in Space

This paper addresses the role of civil engineering in space operations and its impact on undergraduate education. The history of civil engineering and its role in society is discussed. The increasing complexity of the civil engineer's responsibilities from ancient times to the present is articulated. New civil engineering challenges fostered by man's quest to explore and inhabit the solar system and beyond are addressed. These challenges give rise to new requirements for the undergraduate education of tomorrow's civil engineers. The U.S. Air Force Academy's attempt to respond to these new undergraduate requirements is described. The civil engineering curriculum at the Air Force Academy emphasizes preparation for the unique challenges associated with space exploration and habitation. It is described and presented as a model for other undergraduate civil engineering programs that wish to focus on aerospace engineering activities into the 21st century.

One Perception of Engineering Academia

The perceived decline of a particular civil engineering program is documented based on the personal observations and appraisal by a former student (a practicing engineer who has trained and worked closely with the program's graduates for more than 20 years and who has been a close supporter of student activities on campus for more than 10 years) and a collaboration with several of the program's former and current professors and students. Personal observations and discussions with academicians from other programs indicate that this local experience may be more typical than unique not only in civil engineering departments but throughout colleges of engineering as well. Some symptoms of decline of the civil engineering profession are linked to the decline of civil engineering education. A detailed estimate of the motives and mechanisms that have led to the decline are examined. Some considerations believed to be critical to the reversal of the trend are discussed.

An Approach to the Integration of Communication Skills Development within an Undergraduate Civil Engineering Program

Graduate engineers in the United Kingdom are frequently criticized for lacking communication skills. In undergraduate courses, such as civil engineering, which are mathematically and technically oriented, it is very difficult to find space within a full timetable for the development of communication skills. At Aston University this work has been integrated successfully into a course on Public Sector Planning. Lectures are complemented by a project which culminates in the students participating in a simulated Public Inquiry—part of the planning process intended to provide a forum for public debate. Not only do the students learn about the planning process, tangible and intangible aspects of a water resource development, but at the same time develop their written, oral, and decision-making skills.

The State University at Ghent, Belgium, Educates Engineers in Rwanda

SUMMARY Close established ties bemeen Belgium and Rwanda are also reflected in the setting up of civil and electromechanical engineering programmes in Rwanda, by the State University at Ghent, Belgium. The start-up and general organisation of engineering education, the experiences with four such education programmes and their extension into a practical post-university level education for solving urgent tangible problems of the country, are discussed.

Environmental Issues for 21st Century Engineers

The 21st century is believed to offer unlimited opportunities to civil engineers together with professionals of the other disciplines with whom engineers work. Approaches to these opportunities include (1) Matching capacity to demand with staged approaches, technologies, and incremental design periods that conform to periods consistent with political time scales such as election frequencies, with correspondingly reduced costs, and with reduced accountability and liability for unforeseen consequences of a program or project; (2) basing priorities for investments in health and other environmental projects and programs on marginal rather than average benefits; (3) early identification and resolution of potential environmental conflicts, particularly in the water resources sector; and (4) postaudits of environmental and other civil engineering programs and projects.

National Science Foundation Support for Civil Engineering Research

The National Science Foundation is a major source of support for fundamental research in civil engineering. In the past five years, the Engineering Directorate of NSF was extensively reorganized. In particular, the Civil and Environmental Engineering program was discontinued and its research support activities divided among a number of new or continuing programs. This paper examines trends in NSF support for civil engineering research, especially in light of the recent reorganization and inauguration of new programs. The amount of research support for civil engineering has continued to grow, although not as fast as for other engineering disciplines. However, the focus of some research support has been changing.

Ensuring Quality Civil Engineering Education

Excellent students, an outstanding and dedicated faculty, and well‐equipped facilities are essential components of a quality civil engineering educational experience. Civil engineers are in great demand to address the challenges and opportunity of rebuilding our national infrastructure. It is important that outstanding men and women enter civil engineering programs of study. The quality of life of the nation rests in the hands and minds of the bright young people who accept the challenges and opportunities in civil engineering. The primary role of engineering faculty is to teach a diverse audience, including undergraduate and graduate students, research and academic peers, engineering practitioners, and the public. Civil engineering faculty must be at the forefront in their area of expertise through research and practical experience. There is a fine line between research and testing, and faculty must direct their talents to the pursuit of fundamental research. Technology transfer is essential so that the results of research which can improve the design and construction of facilities and projects are available to the engineering practitioner. Adequate facilities, modern equipment, and qualified clerical and technical staff personnel also are required to support a civil engineering education experience that will prepare graduates to meet the opportunities and challenges of the last decade of the twentieth century and of the twenty‐first century.

Engineering education in Canada—the early years

The beginnings of engineering education in Canada, in the mid-19th century, are described. The development of engineering programs in 10 of Canada's universities is outlined. The activities of a number of pioneers in engineering education are described, and the curricula for several of the early civil engineering programs are presented. Key words: history, education, civil, engineering.

Systems theory education in the civil engineering program at the University of Manitoba

Abstract The systems theory component in the undergraduate and graduate programs in civil engineering at the University of Manitoba is reviewed. Proposals for increasing the systems theory content in the undergraduate program arediscussed. The primary element in the proposals is the 'lowering' of the basic civil engineering systems course currently in the graduate program, into the undergraduate program. It is anticipated that this course will first be introduced as a technical elective in the fourth year of the program. The long range plan is to place this course in the second year of the program. The implications of this approach for the graduate and undergraduate programs are analysed.

Planning Education: Desirable for Civil Engineers?

The education committee of the Urban Planning and Development Division of the ASCE undertook a survey of undergraduate civil engineering programs to ascertain educators' opinions on the appropriate role(s) of civil engineers in urban planning and development and the education and training necessary to fulfill that role. Findings indicated that while civil engineering and planning concerns often overlap and that there is a role for civil engineers in planning‐related issues, there appears to be little need or unmet demand for expanded training of civil engineers. Any changes in curricula are likely to be minor and incremental in nature.

Undergraduate Engineering Consultants

Many traditional engineering programs offer a final-year individual research problem to introduce students to research and to assist them in developing self learning abilities. In the Civil Engineering program at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, this research has been replaced with a comprehensive design project, this being considered more appropriate, particularly for a part of Canada which is still relatively nonindustrialized. Unlike other project work, the course is operated in a fashion as close to a real life situation as possible. Students form consulting groups to tackle a problem specified by a local professional engineer who develops a normal client-consultant relationship with the group. Complete designs are required. Calculations, specifications, cost estimates, quantities, detailed plans and construction proposals must be presented for evaluation. The students are placed in a situation where they learn, not only form the teaching staff but also from engineers in industry, from each other, and by themselves.

Civil Engineering Faculty Development

A method of selecting civil engineering faculty members is proposed to enhance their professional advancement. Each small to moderately large civil engineering program has been advised to select one, two, or a few areas of specialization rather than selecting one or two faculty members from each of the many disciplines housed under the civil engineering umbrella. This requires each specialist to contribute to undergraduate education outside his or her area of spcialization. An approach to assuring that this is effectively accomplished is also proposed. Graduate education and research can be more effectively pursued within these concentrated areas having four to six faculty members with similar or complimentary backgrounds and research interests. The recommended approach is expected to improve stability of graduate programs, assure opportunity for professional growth and development of civil engineering faculty members, and provide for sound undergraduate civil engineering education.