Environmental Engineering (ENE)
The B.S. degree program in Environmental Engineering is dedicated to undergraduate environmental engineering education and is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (EAC/ABET), http://www.abet.org.
ENE Program Educational Objectives (PEOs)
The overarching mission of the program is to prepare engineers who specialize in environmental systems at the baccalaureate level and understand how to apply engineering principles to solve environmental problems and harness energy while maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem. ENE Program identified five specific Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) to address the local, state, and national opportunities and needs. The ENE program expects the graduates within a few years of graduation to attain the following:
- Be employed as practicing engineers in environmental engineering or related fields (civil, chemical, ecological, energy, or agricultural) and satisfy and exceed employers’ expectations;
- Develop professionally through attainment of licensure, or through enrolling in or completing advanced studies in engineering research or engineering management;
- Attain progressive leadership positions in engineering or related professional fields through professionalism and adherence to engineering code, ethics, and responsibilities;
- Contribute to the sustainable development of civil, process, and industrial infrastructures; and
- Make a positive impact on the environment, public health, and wellness of local communities and the global society
Environmental Engineering Curriculum
The curriculum relies on a strong foundation in sciences and mathematics by requiring students to take courses in rigorous college physics (calculus-based), chemistry and mathematics to advanced levels of differential equations and linear algebra. The program also promotes holistic development of students through courses in humanities, and in social and behavioral sciences as required in the general education curriculum.
Students take general engineering courses such as Engineering Computer Graphics, Statics, Dynamics, Strength of Materials, and other courses from the manufacturing engineering program (MFE). With this set of basic science and engineering courses, the program then provides a background in Applied Hydraulics, Wastewater Treatment Systems, Municipal and Hazardous Waste Management, Air Quality Engineering, and other engineering-based courses. There is an internship requirement, and students complete a capstone project in their final year. The Mc Lin Center, which houses the WRM Department, has excellent laboratory equipment in the areas of hydraulics, hydrology, water quality, and soils that is essential for the study of environmental engineering.
The department includes faculty specialized in air quality engineering, hydraulics, hydrology, solid waste management, water quality, water policy and regulations, economics, geography, and geology. The uniqueness of the Environmental Engineering (ENE) program at CSU is the availability of interdisciplinary courses within Water Resources Management (WRM). These courses cover critical issues in water, including policy, socio-economic impacts, environmental regulations, and GIS. The program directly serves the university's land-grant mission by preparing students for careers in civil engineering, environmental engineering, and hydrology in Agriculture, both in the public and private sectors. Environmental Engineering majors can pursue minors in nuclear engineering or in other approved programs.
Student Outcomes for ENE Curriculum
To achieve the program's educational objectives, the environmental engineering program at CSU has adopted the following seven ABET student outcomes:
- An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
- 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
- An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
- 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
- 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
- An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
- An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies
Core Competencies for ENE Graduates
The environmental engineering curriculum provides students with the following competencies upon successful completion of the program:
- Application of mathematics, physics, chemistry, hydraulics, and engineering for finding solutions to environmental problems.
- Problem-solving skills by using mathematical, logical, analytical, and algorithmic constructs.
- Effective communication with peers as well as the general public through reading, speaking, and writing skills.
- Capability to use technology tools in planning, design, operation, and management of environmental engineering systems and in the assessment of spatially distributed problems using geospatial tools such as GIS and remote sensing.
- Ability to use appropriate laboratory and field instrumentation needed in environmental engineering work.
- Understanding and appreciation of the need for accuracy in professional judgment, accountability, engineering ethics, and social responsibility.
- The necessity to continuously update skills in the environmental engineering profession. The coursework, laboratory experiences, fieldwork, summer internship, and a capstone design project are used to teach these competencies to hydraulic and environmental engineering students.
A total of 120 semester hours are required for the B.S. degree in environmental engineering with a grade-point average of at least 2.0 in the major concentration.
Study Life's Complexity
In concert with the mission of the University, Environmental Engineering faculty foster the professional development of students through academic excellence, and provide educational opportunities to students to be competitive in a technological society.
- Opportunities exist for undergraduate research experience, both on campus and through summer internships.
- All faculty hold PhDs and bring real-word experience to the classroom.
- All students benefit from small-class settings and one-on-one mentoring from professors.
Program map
-
First time students
- Complete Math | English | Biology | Chemistry requirements
- Complete Introductory Major ENE courses
- Complete Remedial Math & Science Courses (if needed)
- Complete First Year Seminar Course
- Academic Advising (Heavy) | Faculty Advising (Introduction)
- Explore Research Apprenticeships | Internships
- Involve Professional Societies | Honor Societies
-
Undeclared to STEM
Transfer Students
- Complete Engineering Science Courses
- Complete Advanced Math & Biology courses
- Complete other General Education courses
- Faculty Advising
- Explore undergraduate research/internships
- Involving Professional Societies | Honor Societies (lower-level leadership)
-
2+2 Transfer Students
- Complete Environmental Engineering Theory courses
- Complete Initial level design courses
- Take Minor courses
- Faculty Advising
- Enhance undergraduate research/internships
- Research presentations & Attend conferences
- Involve Professional Societies | Honor Societies (middle level leadership)
- Engage Peer Mentoring & Tutoring
- Attend Career Fairs & Networking
-
- Complete Advanced Environmental Engineering Courses
- Complete Capstone design project
- Complete optional Certificate & Minor courses
- Faculty Advising | Career Service Advising
- Take GRE and Apply for Graduate and Professional Programs
- Take EIT Upper-level certification exams
- Research presentations, Attend conferences, Publish papers
- Involve Professional Societies | Honor Societies (Upper-level leadership)
- Engage Peer Mentoring & Tutoring
- Attend Career Fairs, Networking, Resume Writing & Job Interviews
Graduate to Industry
Graduate Schools
-
Year 4+
- Degree Awarded
- Post graduate surveys
- Get Official Transcripts
- Begin your post-CSU Experience
- Complete advanced coursework
- Attend Graduate and Professional Schools
- Pass licensure exams
- Enter workforce
Environmental Engineering Courses
-
ENE 2200. Introduction to Environmental Engineering (I; 3) An introductory course that gives students some basic understanding of stoichiometry, chemical equilibrium, mass balances and kinetics (chemical and biological) in continuous and batch unit operations pertaining to environmental systems. Characterization of pollution in open systems such as streams, lakes and soil will be covered. Applications include drinking water, wastewater, municipal and industrial landfills, and hazardous waste operations. Site characteristics, risk analysis and assessment, toxicology, and site remediation will be briefly addressed. Students will work on generating an environmental impact statement
for a construction project. Prerequisites: CHM 1201, MTH 2503.
ENE 3305. Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics (I; 3) First course that deals with statics and dynamics of incompressible fluids in general, and water in particular. Fluid properties; Principles of hydrostatics; Kinematics and dynamics of fluid flows; Flow visualization; Mass, momentum, and energy conservation; Bernoulli’s principle; Introduction to fluid flow in closed conduits and open channels; Introduction to turbo machinery - pumps and turbines. Laboratory work includes demonstration of Bernoulli’s principle and Reynold’s laminar and turbulent flow concepts; estimating pipe friction; energy principles in open channel flow and steady flow formulas - Chezy and Manning’s formulas; Hydraulic behavior of turbo machinery. Additional two contact hours are required for laboratory experiments. Three one hour lectures/one two-hour lab. Prerequisites: MTH 2503 and PHY 2411. Equivalent to OET009.
ENE 3309. Water Chemistry (I; 3) This is an applied course in chemistry dealing with chemical reactions in water. Chemical equilibrium speciation studies - Aqueous speciation, Precipitation-Dissolution, Oxidation Reduction in both natural and impaired aqueous environments. Rate laws and kinetics of aquatic reactions of environmental importance – Hardness Removal, Acid mine drainage, Disinfection. Laboratory experiments include estimation of total metals using atomic absorption spectrometer, organics using HPLC and Gas chromatograph/Mass spectrometer using EPA approved methods. Estimation of pH, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity. Colorimetric methods for estimation of chloride, nitrite, and nitrates in water. Use of a water chemistry model, MINTEQA2 to estimate species concentrations given the total metal, pH, and redox conditions. Two additional contact hours for the laboratory is required. Three one-hour lecture/one two-hour lab. Prerequisite: CHM 1202.
ENE 3315. Fundamentals of Air Quality Engineering (II; 3) Characterization and control of air pollution problems. Analysis of fundamental chemical and physical processes governing pollutant transport and dispersion in air. Combustion chemistry of hydrocarbon fuels. Air pollution control systems. Pollution sources, control techniques with introduction to sensors. Transformations, atmospheric transport, deposition and modeling. Indoor Air quality management. Three one-hour lecture.
ENE 3320. Engineering Hydrology (I; 3) Physical hydrology phases hydrologic cycle evaporation, precipitation, infiltration and runoff. Physical and empirical models of evaporation from water bodies, evapotranspiration models; Precipitation measurement and assessment of temporal and spatial variability; Infiltration theory and modeling; rainfall runoff correlation in watersheds - overland flow, hydrographs and flow routing; Empirical models of rainfall-runoff correlation; statistical hydrology concepts; Environmental Hydrology. Three one hour lecture/one two-hour lab. Prerequisites: ENE 3305 and MTH 2001.
ENE 3325. Groundwater Hydraulics (II; 3) Study of aquifers and their characteristics- porosity, specific yield and specific retention, permeability and transmissivity. Darcy’s law and fluid continuum in soils; steady flow through confined/ unconfined/artesian aquifers with and without recharge; hydraulics of wells in confined and unconfined aquifers; design of wells; estimating groundwater characteristics using pumping data; groundwater contamination - site assessment, geologic study, plume delineation and remedial action. Introduction to groundwater flow models using MODFLOW; Well-head protection. Three one-hour lecture/one two-hour lab. Prerequisites: ENE 3305, and GEL 1101 or instructor’s permission.
ENE 4405. Applied Hydraulics (II; 3) Application of principles of fluid mechanics to flow in pipes, pipe networks, open channels and hydro-machinery. Estimation of pressure distribution in pipe networks; Design of pipe networks; friction loss computation using Darcy-Weisbach, Hazen-Williams and Manning equations, solutions to pipe network problems using Hardy-Cross method, and use of computer models for the hydraulic design of pipe networks. Nonuniform flow in open channels and its application to flooding in rivers; introduction to unsteady flow in pipes andCSU-ENE|GEL|GEO|WRM COURSE DESCRIPTIONS 2020-2021 Page 3 of 9 open channels; dimensional analysis; hydraulics of pumps and turbines; and introduction to sediment transport in rivers. Prerequisite: ENE 3305.
ENE 4410. Water Model Applications (I; 4) This will be an applied course in the use of various water quality and water quantity models used in the water industry. The areas will cover hydrology, hydraulics, and groundwater and water quality. Emphasis on problem solving with real world conditions. Models considered include HEC-HMS and RAS, GMS, QUAL2EU, EPANET, WMS. Prerequisite: ENE 3325 or permission of the instructor.
ENE 4415. Water Supply (I; 3) The course will focus on the design and operation of water supply facilities collection, treatment, and distribution. US EPA regulations on water quality, water quality standards, clean water act; water abstraction systems; theory and design of physical and chemical treatment systems-screening, sedimentation, coagulation, filtration, softening and disinfection. Water distribution pipe networks; laboratory experiments include jar testing for coagulants, and also an analysis of trihalomethanes. Three one-hour lecture/one two-hour for laboratory work and design calculations. Field trip to a local water treatment plant. Prerequisites: ENE 3309 and ENE 3305.
ENE 4425. Solid and Hazardous Waste Management (II; 3) Municipal solid waste topics include history, regulations, sources, composition, properties, engineering principles in handling, transferring and transporting, material separation, processing technologies, recycling, thermal conversions, design of incinerators, biological and chemical conversions, and remediation. Topics related to hazardous waste including identification, segregation, labeling, storing, disposal and clean up, and related hazardous waste regulations. Three one-hour lecture classes. Prerequisite: CHM 1202.
ENE 4430. Wastewater Treatment Systems (II; 3) A process design approach to studying wastewater treatment systems. Study of wastewater flows- quantity and quality. Study of sewer system design and maintenance. Fundamentals of reactor design with illustrations from wastewater treatment systems. Theory and design of key unit operations in wastewater treatment plant. Primary treatment processes-grit settling chambers and Parshall flume design, mechanically agitated screens, primary clarifier and odor control unit; Secondary treatment suspended growth systems; activated sludge with various configurations on feed and oxygen introduction, and oxidation ditch; attached growth systems theory of biofilms, design of trickling filters and rotating biological contactors. Solids handling: sludge digester theory and design, sludge loading and dewatering, digester gas and cogeneration. Field trip to a wastewater treatment plant. Laboratory experiments include wastewater characterization and disinfection bi-products identification using gas chromatograph/mass spectrophotometer. Three one-hour lecture/one two-hour for laboratory work and design calculations. Prerequisites: BIO 2650, ENE 4415.
ENE 4435. Soil and Water Pollution Control (II; 4) An advanced course that deals with physical and chemical characteristics of pollutants in soil and water and their fate and transport; thermodynamic properties of organic and inorganic pollutants in soil and water; equilibrium partitioning of pollutants in the environment; air to water partitioning using Henry’s Law; vapor pure liquid partitioning using Raoult’s Law; soil water partitioning using Freundlich, Langmuir and BET sorption isotherms; modeling fate and transport of pollutants in soil and water, non-aqueous phase liquids. Use of 1-D groundwater models such as CXTFIT; Groundwater contamination using CHEMFLO and MODFLOW; Overview of remedial technologies discussion on engineering controls such as pump and treat and soil washing, biological treatments such as bioremediation and phytoremediation; case study on non-point source pollution. Prerequisites: ENE 3309 and ENE 3325.
ENE 4440. Environmental Professionals Seminar (I, II; 1) Discussions led by working professionals in the field of Environmental Engineering on selected topics in the field. Designed to expose students to a wide range of practitioners and issues.
ENE 4496. Senior Capstone Design Project I (I; 1) The first part of a two course sequence. It is designed for graduating seniors to integrate the knowledge they had gained in all ENE courses and apply in a field application/capstone design project related to a topic of interest within the field. Each student/student team will be required to work on an engineering project such as designing a typical environmental engineering system or recommending improvements in the operation of an environmental control system. Students will be expected to submit a formal report and an oral presentation to the Environmental Engineering Professionals class. This course involves selection of a topic and advisor(s), conducting literature search, understanding codes and regulations, conceptual design, selection of design tools, plan of work, and securing necessary resources.CSU ENE|GEL|GEO|WRM COURSE DESCRIPTIONS 2020-2021
ENE 4497. Special Problems in Environmental Engineering (I, II, III; 3) Individual study in advanced water resources management research. Open only to juniors and seniors.
ENE 4498. Senior Capstone Design Project II (II; 2) The second part of a two course sequence. It is designed for graduating seniors to integrate the knowledge they had gained in all ENE courses and apply in a field application/capstone design project related to a topic of interest within the field. Each student /student team will be required to work on an engineering project such as designing a typical environmental engineering system or recommending improvements in the operation of an environmental control system. Students will be expected to submit a formal final report and an oral presentation to the Environmental Engineering Professional class. This course involves design implementation, evaluation of alternatives, economic analysis, and inclusion of public health, safety and welfare aspects. Prerequisite: ENE 4496.
ENE 4596. Internship (I, II, III; 3) On the job training in agencies and/or companies engaged in activities related to environmental engineering/ water resources management. Not open to students who have participated in the co-op program
Career Paths
Environmental engineers apply the principles of engineering in practice using their knowledge in basic sciences and mathematics and socio-economics to develop solutions to environmental problems. Environmental engineering involves engineering better environments with preservation, prevention, control, remediation, and restoration of the earth.
Experiences and Opportunities
Learning doesn’t stop when class ends. Opportunities to increase your knowledge and expand your network include hands-on research for all students, and top speakers from the field.
-
At CSU, even undergraduates do research, whether it’s at the campus lab or off-campus at an internship. You’ll work with professors and research scientists, and some students present and publish nationally.
-
You’ll hear about research, the bedrock of the field from guest speakers throughout the year. And you’ll begin to imagine the career paths you can take with your degree and the impact you’ll be able to have.
-
Students who qualify for induction have access to national speakers and networks in the discipline.