Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering

This course introduces students to the foundation and fundamental principles required to become analytical, detail-oriented, and productive engineers. The students will also gain an overview of what engineers do and of the various areas of specialization. Important topics for the engineering profession such as research in engineering, communications, and safety are also introduced. Additionally, students will work together in interdisciplinary groups to research, design, fabricate, test, and deploy a complete engineering project.

Through lectures, laboratory practicum and project work, the students will become familiar with the following topics:

• Overview of the Engineering Discipline
• Engineering Communications
• Research Skills
• Occupational Health & Safety
• Drafting and 3D Modelling
• Fundamental Dimensions and Units
• Manufacturing (3D Printing and/or others)
• Material & Chemical Properties
• Hydraulics and Fluids management
• Programming * AC/DC circuits

Programming for Engineers is a comprehensive introductory course designed specifically for students with little or no prior programming experience. The course aims to equip students with fundamental programming skills and a solid understanding of the role computation can play in problem-solving. By the end of the course, students will develop the confidence and ability to write small programs to accomplish practical goals, regardless of their field of study.

The module covers the fundamentals of materials science and engineering. These include the understanding of the material structure from the atomic to micro to macro levels. The effects of the structure and the processing techniques on the material properties will be discussed. These concepts will be illustrated using metals to allow students to utilize the knowledge for materials selection in common engineering applications.

Course aims:
1) To build a deep understanding of the interconnections between microstructure, processing, and properties of materials and the implications on large-scale engineering applications
2) To enhance the ability of students to connect atomic level behavior of materials with their mechanical properties
3) Familiarize the students with materials characterization techniques, incl. tools for micro-structural observations and mechanical characterization;

1. Differential equations of first- and second-order
2. Series solution of differential equations
3. Laplace transforms and its application to the solution of initial value problems
4. Some of the important special functions.
5. Linear algebra applications
6. Incorporation of the software package Mathematica for both calculus & linear algebra applications.

This course provides an introduction to basic probability theory and statistics. Topics include sample spaces, events, classical and axiomatic definition of probability, conditional probability, independence, expectation and conditional expectation, variance, distributions of discrete and continuous random variables, joint distributions, central limit theorem, descriptive statistics, confidence interval estimation, and hypothesis testing.

The course is an introductory to the fundamental formulation, methodology and techniques for numerical solution of practical engineering problems. The subject is initiated with fundamental principles and the implications for algorithm accuracy and stability. Error propagation and stability analysis is introduced from first principles. The solution of systems of linear equations, (comprising 90% of numerical effort in science and engineering). The error and stability issues associated with solving linear systems will be covered extensively. The concept of interpolation and its role as foundation for numerical differentiation and integration is introduced, emphasizing classical (Lagrange, Newton) polynomial interpolation. Numerical differentiation and integration is covered in depth, with particular emphasis on the error and convergence analysis. The final part of the course introduces the fundamentals of finite-difference solutions to ordinary differential equations (ODEs), again with emphasis on error and convergence analysis.

In this course students work in interdisciplinary teams toward a holistic approach to design projects; including problem definition, design proposal, implementation, and critical evaluation. The course explores design research and practice within social and economic contexts; including the ethical, cultural, and environmental impacts of design decisions, intellectual property considerations, and aspects of appropriate professional conduct. The course will focus on tools and skill sets that are particularly important for succeeding in a design project, including planning, teamwork, project management, and design reporting. Where possible, it is expected that the projects will include an industrial partner, who will provide realistic industrial problems and support them with necessary guidance and resources. This course requires students form and work in groups of 5 or more in size.

The capstone project is the culminating experience of the student's engineering program and provides students with the opportunity to apply and integrate their knowledge and skills gained from earlier years. This course spans two semesters (one academic year), during which students work in teams to apply their knowledge and skills to solve design and operational problems with real world constraints. At the completion of the unit, students will hand over their project deliverables and present project outcomes in a report as well as end-of-semester oral presentation and defense.

The subject of structural mechanics aims to study forces acting on bodies at rest. Time will be spent finding free body diagrams, as well as finding resultant forces for a variety of force systems and structures. In addition, finding the reacting forces at the boundaries, due to forces acting on bodies will be also derived. From the analysis of forces, the stresses present within the structure will be analyzed. Students shall develop critical thinking skills to be able to develop an analysis that leads to suitable solution(s) to structural (statics) real life problems using force and stress analysis.

The module is essential for an undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering program since it is a prerequisite for further courses related to environmental engineering area, i.e. environmental engineering, water and wastewater treatment processes, electives. This course will give the students fundamental knowledge on environmental chemistry. It will include chemistry principles, cycles of chemicals in environment, reactions, kinetics, equilibria, electrochemistry, chemistry of environmental processes.

Environmental engineering fundamentals are essential for an undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering program. Environmental engineering is a relatively new field of study in civil engineering. Pollution issues became evident in the 20th century as surface waters became polluted with untreated industrial and municipal wastes. Disease outbreaks were common. These issues have been largely addressed in western society, but in developing countries, access to clean water and adequate sanitation remain as significant public health issues. Overcoming these challenges require successful use of combined tools from civil engineering and chemical engineering domains together with tools from environmental health domain.

This course provides the students with fundamental analysis methods, which they can apply to analyze a range of statically determinate and indeterminate structures. More specifically students will be able to analyze the truss, beam, column and frame. The specific aims of the course are: 1) To lay the foundation for structural engineering design modules 2) To master fundamental methods used in structural analysis for statically determinate and indeterminate structures

This module will introduce the basic concepts of civil engineering drawings with an emphasis on technical solutions. Specifically, students will learn the CAD tools, and general design process for infrastructure projects, such as tall buildings, highways, bridges, dams, tunnels, and land development. This course will also give the students’ knowledge of surveying, including determination of positions on the earth’s surface. Students will gain the ability to understand and apply methods and use instruments to make measurements and collect data for determining horizontal distances; differences in elevation; angular differences and calculating areas and volumes.

The objective of this module is to prepare students for entry level structural engineering employment by providing them with abilities to design reinforced concrete structures. It is a direct application of preceding modules: Structural Analysis. This module will provide the basic design techniques for students to be ready for the succeeding module: Capstone Design. This module provides students with abilities to design reinforced concrete structural members such as beams, columns, slabs and foundations. The mechanics underlying the code design procedures are evaluated as well as their application to practical design problems. The specific objectives are: 1) To introduce reinforced concrete as construction material in structures to students 2) To develop a deep understanding of mechanics underlying concrete design codes for students 3) To develop students’ skills to conduct practical structural design of concrete structures independently.

The objective of this module is to prepare students for entry level structural engineering employment by providing them with abilities to design steel structures. It is a direct application of preceding module: Structural Analysis. This module will provide the basic design techniques for students to be ready for the module: Capstone Design. This module provides students with abilities to design steel structural members such as beams, columns, slabs and foundations. The mechanics underlying the code design procedures are evaluated as well as their application to practical design problems.

This course provides the students with physical description and classification of soils and explanation of the material behaviour in common loading conditions: one dimensional compression and shear loading mode. In addition, the influence of underground water condition on soil behaviour is presented using the concept of effective stress and seepage flow theory. The specific aims of the course are: 1) To provide civil engineering students fundamental knowledge of soil mechanics, which will serve as the theoretical foundation for geotechnical design study and practice To develop practical skills through conducting soil mechanics/geotechnical experiments and through presentation and interpretation of the experimental data.

This course provides the students with geotechnical design of shallow and deep foundations, including spread footings, mats, driven piles, and drilled piers. Additional topics include retaining structures, slope stability, subsurface exploration, construction of deep foundations, and analysis of geotechnical structure using numerical method. The specific aims of the course are: 1) To provide an understanding of fundamental concepts of the civil engineering design process. 2) To demonstrate the significance and basic concepts of site-investigation and ground improvement. 3) To equip students for higher level courses in civil engineering with adequate knowledge on general civil engineering design principles, methodology, and environmental and socio-economic considerations.

This course will cover the fundamental concepts, techniques, and principles underlying fluids' statics and dynamics.

Topics include:
• Basic concepts: Definition of a fluid, control volume and differential analysis, kinematics of fluid motion, stress and strain rate, viscosity, Newtonian fluid
• Fluids at rest: Fluid statics, variation of pressure with depth, forces on immersed surfaces.
• Fluid kinematics and flow types: Reynolds number, Laminar, and Turbulent Flow
• Conservation laws for a steady flow: mass and energy continuity, momentum equation, Bernoulli's equation, and applications
• Introduction to pipe flow: Internal Flow, major and minor losses.

This course introduces the principles of hydraulics and hydrology for civil and environmental engineering students. It aims to provide fundamental principles of hydraulic engineering principles and designs in build environments; and the methods for statistical analysis of hydrologic data, concepts of risk and design, and hydrological consequences of climate change.

The various concepts, the definitions, and the methodologies presented in lectures are:

• Open channel hydraulics to the design of lined and unlined channels
• Energy and momentum principles with application to channel transitions, critical flow, choked flow, hydraulic jumps, and gradually varied flow
• Methods for natural channel design and channel restoration
• The hydrologic processes of precipitation and snowmelt, evapotranspiration, groundwater movement, and surface and subsurface runoff
• Water resources sustainability issues including water usage and water shortages, climate change impacts, land-use impacts, and source water protection
• Conceptual models of runoff and basics of hydrologic modeling, including runoff hydrographs, the unit hydrograph method, and the Rational Method

A successful student will be able to understand the mechanical behaviors of various civil engineering construction materials including aggregate, Portland cement and Portland cement concrete, asphalt cement and asphalt concrete, masonry, and woods. They will also be able to apply material properties to design and analyze the civil engineering structures.

This course introduces the fundamental principles and methods in planning, design, and operations of transportation systems, driver and vehicle performance capabilities, geometric design principles, traffic analysis, and transportation planning. It also allows students to understand the basic principles and methods which engineers and planners use in planning, designing, and operating transportation systems. Applications of fundamental principles and methods of transportation engineering and planning in an urban and rural environment are included.

This course will introduce students to the civil engineering projects. Various activities encountered during the life cycle of a civil engineering project will be discussed. The basic learning requirements for the civil engineering project manager will be introduced and the qualitative nature of the construction project management will be emphasized. According to the needs of the construction industry, the course will cover overview of construction projects, procurement, contract management, estimation, project planning, construction technology and introduction to information technology in construction.

This course provides students basic knowledge of water and wastewater treatment systems by teaching the physical, chemical, and biological unit processes such as softening, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, granular filtration, disinfection, biological treatment, and waste sludge treatment.

This course will teach students to work with Remote Sensing, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data, to process satellite data and apply data for the civil engineering projects. Students will be introduced to the Remote Sensing and GIS software tool to work with satellite data. The student will develop their own projects with combined applications of satellite and geodesy datasets. The course will strive to instill an appreciation for the work performed by surveyors, geodesists, and geographers, cartographers and their importance to practice of civil engineering.

The first half of the course provides the fundamentals of geology from the perspective of civil and environmental engineering; including common geological processes in nature that lead to the formation of different minerals, rock types, and structures along with their description and classification. The second half of the course introduces the elemental principles of geoenvironmental engineering; including the properties of soils and contaminants, the movement of contaminants in soil, and primary methods for the characterization and treatment of contaminated sites.

This course provides an overview of air quality management. Topics include background of air quality monitoring, types of air pollutants and related health impacts, pollutant sampling and measurement devices, pollutant distributions and dispersal modes as well available methods to control the pollutants. Control management includes both physical and chemical mechanisms, as well as other policy/regulation approaches.

This course is a continuation of “Individual Research Project in Civil and Environmental Engineering I” which allows more time to further develop knowledge and skills in the chosen topic. In line with the “Individual Research Project in Civil and Environmental Engineering I”, this course focuses on the application of knowledge and skill to the publication of research, patent, and conference proceedings. Building upon previously acquired and developed civil and environmental engineering knowledge, this course will allow students to get a further exploration of real research and/or practical engineering problems in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Students are required to integrate civil and environmental engineering related knowledge and skills in order to provide a viable solution to the problems. The aim is to provide students an opportunity to handle practical engineering problems and/or research topics and thereby obtain research achievements from the relevant research fields and societies. Students are required to present the findings in a professional format.

The objective of this module is to provide students with abilities to conduct structural analysis and design as a whole system. It is a synchronization of previous modules: Structural Analysis, Structural Design Concrete and Structural Design Steel. This module will deepen the knowledge in structural analysis and design delivered in structural engineering core modules. This module covers a wide range of structural system design topics including structural design loads summary; structural gravity load resisting system; structural lateral force resisting system; structural stiffness, stability and integrity; structural seismic design; and innovative structural systems.

The course will focus on the design of shallow foundation and axially loaded pile foundation. The field and laboratory soil testing methods will be introduced to determine the required design parameters. Lateral earth pressures theories and design of various retaining structures will be covered. Design of sheet piles and bracing system and the selection of proper foundation or characteristics of foundations for different soils will also be discussed.

This course covers the principles of integrated solid waste management. It provides an overview of municipal solid waste, industrial waste, and hazardous waste management, including some design and economic analysis. It also covers the planning and engineering principles needed to address the growing and increasingly intricate problem of controlling and processing the solid and hazardous waste created by urban societies. Some discussion will focus on options such as landfilling, composting, and incineration from engineering; social, and regulatory perspectives. The course finally reviews physical, chemical, and biological treatment of hazardous waste.

This course will introduce the theory of information systems, advanced spreadsheet modeling, relational database management systems, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and other state-of-the-art ICT tools relevant with construction and civil engineering. Upon course completion, the students will be able to understand the need and challenges of information integration in the AEC industry. It will enable them to develop fundamental understanding towards and basic skills of information modeling using spreadsheets and relational databases. Students will be able to work with the basic and advanced BIM techniques and be able to prepare and use a building’s or structure’s information model for construction project planning, design, construction and operational phases; and will have a basic knowledge of mobile and/or cloud applications in the construction industry.

This course introduces planning and design for potable water supply and distribution. Population growth, especially when coupled with urbanization, is the starting point of the course, then it focuses on concentrated demands for increased water supplies throughout several city contexts. This course further teaches water collection methods from surface resources, including lakes and dams. It provides the engineering design principles for water delivery pipelines, and the latter part focuses on water distribution networks by rendering water supply and distribution systems. Topics include:
• The civil engineering design process,
• pressurized pipe networks,
• pump selection,
• water demand estimation,
• surface- and groundwater resources, and reservoir operation.

This course is to provide students with an understanding of the analysis and design of highway pavements, including both flexible and rigid types. The course requires students have background knowledge in both asphalt and Portland cement concrete materials, geotechnical engineering, and basic structural design. This module will provide the basic knowledge of pavement design concepts and processes to students. This module also provides students with abilities to develop pavement analysis skills through conducting class projects using computer skills.

This course will allow students to know how to conduct real research or practical engineering investigation under a close supervision of a faculty member in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Students will be required to apply and synthesis civil and environmental engineering related knowledge and skills in order to provide a viable solution to the problems. Students will learn the processes of research as well as research methods. The course will consider the effective management of research project, which should help students to decrease stress and improve performance.

This module introduces the relationships between the microstructure and the macro properties and characteristics of Portland cement concrete (PCC) systems; a thorough understanding of the early-age, mechanical property development, and durability characteristics of Portland cement-based systems. This course enables students to build up the ability to practice and apply the knowledge of materials engineering in the field of Portland cement material systems. 

This course will provide students an introduction to formulations and implementations of the Finite Element Methods and its application to solid and fluid mechanics. The specific topics include: (1) linear algebra; (2) one-dimensional solid element formulations; (3) two-dimensional solid element formulations; (4) one-dimensional fluid flow formulations; and (5) one-dimensional heat transfer formulations.

This course aims to acquaint students with the building information modelling for application in geotechnical engineering with respect to sustainable design of slope stability, retaining walls, foundations and soil-structure interaction. This course will include (1) concepts of building information modelling; (2) software used in building information modelling in particular related to geotechnical design; (3) digital data in geotechnical engineering; (4) geographical information system; (5) numerical analyses for modelling geotechnical engineering problems and (6) geotechnical instrumentation

This course aims to prepare students for entry-level structural engineering employment by providing them with abilities to design and analyze reinforced concrete structures. It is a direct application of the preceding modules: Structural Analysis and Structural Design – Concrete. This module will provide the foundation for students to be ready for the succeeding module: Capstone Design. This course covers topics including torsion, biaxial bending of short columns, slender columns, and the design of slab systems. The mechanics underlying the code design procedures and their application to practical design problems are evaluated.