Faculty of Engineering

The complex problems and needs of current and future societies have created challenges for Engineering unparalleled in our history. To interpret and satisfy these needs, Civil Engineers currently direct the spending of more than one tenth of Canada's gross national product – more than any other professional group. The Civil Engineer must deal with the human impact of engineering – the social, moral, and legal issues – to a far greater degree than ever before.

Historically, Civil Engineering is the oldest branch of engineering and dates back at least 5,000 years to the profession of "master builder" involving pyramids, temples, and irrigation projects. Civil Engineering has become an extremely diverse field with opportunities for graduates in many areas of application. Furthermore, the use of electronic data collection methods and the application of computers has revolutionized the practice of Civil Engineering. Consequently, our curriculum is being constantly reviewed in order to produce graduate engineers who can use advanced aids to solve complex problems.

The Civil Engineering program is designed to provide the necessary fundamentals of mathematics and the natural sciences as well as to provide perspectives from the fields of the social sciences and humanities.

The Department of Civil Engineering at Waterloo, being one of the largest in Canada, is able to offer elective courses in each of the following areas.

Structural Engineering

Deals with the design and construction of all types of structures including buildings and bridges. Emphasis is placed on mechanics and the behaviour of materials.

Construction Engineering and Management

Intended for students interested in project management, construction materials, construction engineering, and building engineering.

Water and Waste Management Engineering

Addresses water and waste water treatment, surface and ground water pollution and control, solid and hazardous waste management, contaminant transport and behaviour in the environment. Support areas involving aquatic chemistry, computer modelling, simulation and laboratory experimentation as examples are also stressed.

Transportation Engineering

Deals with the planning, design, construction, traffic operation and evaluation of streets, highways, airports, and transit systems.

Geotechnical Engineering

Familiarizes students with the engineering properties of soils, the fundamentals of soil mechanics, and the application of geotechnical data and fundamentals to the design of foundation elements, earth-retaining structures, excavations, earth embankments and highway pavements.

Engineering Mechanics

For students with a strong interest in a rigorous study of mechanics, applied mathematics and related fields. Leads to an understanding of advanced analysis and serving as a preparation for graduate study in structural engineering, hydraulics, mechanics of solids and fluids, or properties of materials.

Water Resources Engineering

Deals with the planning, management, design and operation of water supply and distribution systems, flood control and flood hazard mapping, hydrologic and hydraulic aspects of environmental issues, and application of remotely-sensed data to hydrologic and environmental problems.

Experimental Mechanics

Intended for students with an interest in experimental investigations of the static and dynamic response of structures and machines, and in the development of improved techniques to obtain and analyze experimental data.

Materials

Courses in this area are intended to provide students interested in structural engineering, mechanics, or properties of materials with a background in materials science.

Additional Areas of Study

Alternatively, the student can choose a more general pattern of study involving courses from several topic areas, or a program outside the traditional Civil Engineering field. For instance, with the approval of the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies, the student may augment Civil Engineering course programs with elective courses from:
Public Administration
Planning
Management Science
Business Administration
Bioengineering
Environmental Health, and others.

To this end, the Civil Engineering Curriculum has been designed to allow the maximum possible flexibility while still meeting the requirements for the professional degree. The curricula of the Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Geological Engineering programs are common in the first year to allow transfer among the three programs up to the end of first year. The Civil Engineering Curriculum enables the students to conduct engineering analysis and design, to perform risk and life cycle analysis, and asset management, and to evaluate the impact of engineering work on the environment.

The profession of Civil Engineering is involved with the creation, operation, and maintenance of structures associated with water resources, transportation, power generation, and a wide range of industrial, commercial and institutional buildings and complexes including whole urban structures. The activities include investigation, planning design, construction, and evaluation.

Vocationally, a Civil Engineer may specialize in such areas as biomechanics, solid mechanics, fracture mechanics, elasticity, building structures, bridges, hydrology, hydraulics, sanitation (public health), industrial wastes, water resource structures, irrigation and drainage, inland waterways, harbours, aerospace, highways (roads and streets), railroads, pipelines, geology, meteorology, soil mechanics, foundations, tunnelling (rock mechanics), surveying and cartography, urban and regional planning and overall project planning. A Civil Engineering education may also be combined to advantage with another discipline or profession, such as Economics, Law, Medicine, or Biology.

The Civil Engineer, regardless of whether she or he is a generalist or a specialist, draws heavily upon the work of the physical and social sciences, other professions and other branches of engineering. Moreover, as engineers have become involved in many interdisciplinary activities over the last decade, the job demarcation between boundaries of engineering has become much less restrictive. Certainly one of the advantages of completing a Civil Engineering program is that it allows professional registration while simultaneously providing a basis for further study and professional development in a large variety of specialized fields.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM (For students entering 1A in Fall 2011 and later)

Term 1A (Fall)
CHE 102 Chemistry for Engineers
CIVE 125 Civil Engineering Concepts 1
MATH 115 Linear Algebra for Engineering
MATH 116 Calculus 1 for Engineering
PHYS 115 Mechanics

Term 1B (Winter)
CIVE 121 Digital Computation
CIVE 127 Statics and Solid Mechanics 1
CIVE 153 Earth Engineering
CIVE 199 Seminar
GENE 123 Electrical Engineering
MATH 118 Calculus 2 for Engineering
CSE 1 Approved Complementary Studies Elective

Term 2A (Fall)
CIVE 204 Statics and Solid Mechanics 2
CIVE 221 Advanced Calculus
CIVE 224 Probability and Statistics
CIVE 265 Structure and Properties of Materials
CIVE 292 Engineering Economics (CSE 2)
CIVE 298 Seminar 

Term 2B (Spring)
CIVE 205 Mechanics of Solids 2
CIVE 222 Differential Equations
CIVE 240 Engineering and Sustainable Development
CIVE 280 Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences
CIVE 299 Seminar
CSE 3 Approved Complementary Studies Elective

Term 3A (Winter)
CIVE 303 Structural Analysis 1
CIVE 331 Advanced Mathematics for Civil Engineers
CIVE 342 Transport Principles and Applications
CIVE 353 Geotechnical Engineering 1
CIVE 375 Water Quality Engineering
CIVE 398 Seminar
CSE 4 Approved Complementary Studies Elective
WKRPT 200 Work-term Report

Term 3B (Fall)
CIVE 332 Civil Engineering Systems
CIVE 399 Seminar
3 Technical Electives *
CSE 5 Approved Complementary Studies Elective
WKRPT 300 Work-term Report
*At least one of the following before graduation:
CIVE 313 Structural Concrete Design 1
CIVE 413 Structural Steel Design

Term 4A (Spring)
CIVE 400 Civil Engineering Project 1
CIVE 491 Engineering Law and Ethics (CSE 6)
CIVE 498 Seminar
3 Technical Electives *
WKRPT 400 Work-term Report
*At least one of the following before graduation:
CIVE 313 Structural Concrete Design 1
CIVE 413 Structural Steel Design

Term 4B (Winter)
CIVE 401 Civil Engineering Project 2
CIVE 499 Seminar
4 Technical Electives

Electives

Each student is responsible for selecting his or her own program of electives, in keeping with the ultimate career objectives after graduation. The program must satisfy the requirements of the Department of Civil Engineering. This includes having to meet minimum requirements in:
Mathematical Foundations
Basic Sciences
Engineering Sciences
Engineering Design
Complementary Studies

Technical Electives*
Elective courses may be selected from the following list, in accordance with the academic program for the term, and in consultation with the Faculty Advisor. A number of elective courses may be taken from the offerings of other departments including Wilfrid Laurier University.

Complementary Studies Electives

Four elective courses in approved non-technical subjects, must be taken. The marks obtained in these courses will be included in the calculation of term averages. These courses are organized on a Faculty basis and detailed in this calendar, under the Complementary Studies in the Faculty of Engineering page.

FACULTY OPTIONS

Complete details of designated options available to engineering students are provided in this Calendar in the Engineering section entitled Options and Electives for Engineering Students. Students who satisfy the option requirements will have the appropriate designation shown on their transcript. The following three options are of primary interest to Civil Engineering students. (Note: To qualify for these options, the student must achieve a grade of at least 50% in each course and must obtain a cumulative average of 60% or more in these courses.)

Civil Engineering with an Option in Environmental Engineering

This Option is for students who wish to pursue their education with an emphasis on environmental concerns, assessment of the environmental impact of new or existing products or processes, methods for solving problems resulting from pollution in the air, in the water, or in the earth, and on the management of resources in order to minimize pollution in the environment. This is a Faculty option and includes course material related to all of the disciplines but applied specifically to environmental concerns. The Option is described earlier in this section of the calendar, within the Options and Electives for Engineering Students page.

Civil Engineering with an Option in Water Resources

This is a designated Engineering Faculty Option available to Civil Engineering students interested in the development, management and protection of our water resources. Students may choose from the water and waste management elective courses or the water resources engineering elective courses as well as from a list of approved courses from other departments. Students who complete the Option will have both a Water Resources and a Civil Engineering designation on their transcript. The Option is described earlier in this section of the calendar within the Options and Electives for Engineering Students page.

Civil Engineering with an Option in Management Sciences

This Option provides an understanding of the issues, concepts and techniques related to the management of technology. The Option consists of a sequence of six courses. A student who wishes to follow the Management Sciences Option must declare his or her intent before starting the 2B term. For further details see the "Engineering Management Sciences" page.

Combined Bachelor's - Master's Program in Engineering

The Faculty of Engineering offers a combined Bachelor's - Master's Program. See Engineering Combined Bachelor's - Master's Program for more details.