Any civilization inevitably generates a waste stream. If not properly managed, this waste can lead to pollution of our water, soil, and air, which can endanger human life, harm ecosystems, and reduce our ability to thrive as a society. Environmental engineers are charged with managing these residuals of civilization. This responsibility includes cleaning up existing pollution from our water and soils, developing technological solutions to reduce the presence or risk of pollutants from future human activities, and providing a safe supply of water for domestic, industrial, and agricultural use.
Competency as an environmental engineer requires an understanding of the complex pathways through which pollutants can move, the chemistry of contaminants, the biology of microbes that can consume and transform them, and the various technological and societal solutions we can employ to clean our water, air, and soil and reduce the amount of pollutants emitted into the world. This work is necessarily interdisciplinary, and environmental engineers must learn how to work with planners, industry, environmental advocacy groups, government regulators, and others. They must develop competencies in a range of scientific fields, from chemistry to biology to renewable energy. They also require the basic quantitative proficiencies, judgment, and design skills expected of engineers in other specialties.
Environmental Engineering is uniquely designed to produce graduates who can respond to these needs. The curriculum introduces the best available practices into the planning, design, analysis, and operation of natural and engineered water systems, and the management of our air and earth resources. The environmental engineering curriculum strongly emphasizes water resource and water quality engineering, which deals with flood control, environmental issues in groundwater/surface waters, and the planning, management, design, and operation of water supply, treatment, and distribution systems.
The curriculum has much in common with Civil Engineering, addressing concepts of sustainability and civil infrastructure. The first year of both plans is virtually identical, allowing students to transfer between them. In later years, the Environmental Engineering curriculum emphasizes environmental assessment, principles of water management and treatment, remediation of surface water, groundwater and soils, biotechnology, and contaminant transport. Students graduate with social awareness, a breadth of real-world experience, and well-developed numerical and communication skills which will suit them to many tasks.
Areas of Study
The plan has three study areas: waste and water treatment; migration pathways of chemicals in the environment; and environmental assessment and modelling.
Available Options
Management Sciences Option
Society, Technology and Values
Software Engineering Option
Water Resources Option
Administration
Managed by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Environmental Engineering is an interdisciplinary plan involving resources from the Faculties of Engineering, Science, and Environment. Students apply directly to Environmental Engineering.
Academic Curriculum
Legend
CSE is a Complementary Studies Elective course
Term 1A (Fall)
CHE 102 Chemistry for Engineers
CIVE 104 Mechanics 1
ENVE 100 Environmental and Geological Engineering Concepts
ENVE 115 Linear Algebra
ENGL 191/SPCOM 191 Communication in the Engineering Profession (List D-Other CSE)
MATH 116 Calculus 1 for Engineering
Term 1B (Spring)
CIVE 105 Mechanics 2
ENVE 121 Computational Methods
ENVE 153 Earth Engineering
GENE 123 Electrical Circuits and Instrumentation
MATH 118 Calculus 2 for Engineering
Term 2A (Winter)
ENVE 223 Differential Equations and Balance Laws
ENVE 224 Probability and Statistics
ENVE 275 Environmental Chemistry
ENVE 280 Fluid Mechanics
ERS 215 Environmental and Sustainability Assessment 1 (List A-Impact Courses CSE)
Term 2B (Fall)
BIOL 240 Fundamentals of Microbiology
ENVE 225 Environmental Modelling
ENVE 277 Air Quality Engineering
ENVE 279 Energy and the Environment
ENVE 382 Hydrology and Open Channel Flow
WKRPT 200 Work-term Report
Term 3A (Spring)
EARTH 458 Physical Hydrogeology
EARTH 458L Field Methods in Hydrogeology
ENVE 330 Lab Analysis and Field Sampling Techniques
ENVE 375 Physico-Chemical Processes
ENVE 392 Economics and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (List B-Engineering Economics CSE)
GEOE 353 Geotechnical Engineering 1
WKRPT 300 Work-term Report
Term 3B (Winter)
ENVE 335 Decision Making for Environmental Engineers
ENVE 376 Biological Processes
ENVE 383 Advanced Hydrology and Hydraulics
ENVE 391 Law and Ethics for Environmental and Geological Engineers (List D-Other CSE)
One Technical Elective
Term 4A (Fall)
ENVE 400 Environmental Engineering Design Project 1
Three Technical Electives
One Complementary Studies Elective (CSE 2)
WKRPT 400 Work-term Report
Term 4B (Winter)
ENVE 401 Environmental Engineering Design Project 2
Three Technical Electives
One Complementary Studies Elective (CSE 3)
Electives
Each student is responsible for selecting their own combination of electives, in keeping with the ultimate career objectives after graduation. The combination must satisfy the requirements of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, which are in part intended to meet engineering accreditation requirements such that students are eligible to count their undergraduate education towards a professional engineering license. This includes having to meet minimum requirements in: mathematics, natural sciences, engineering sciences, engineering design, and complementary studies.
Technical Electives
Students are required to complete seven technical elective (TE) courses with the following restrictions:
- At least four TEs must be from List A (Engineering Design Intensive Technical Electives)
- The remaining three TEs may be from List A or B
Further information is available from the CEE Undergraduate Office or CEE website. Some courses of interest may require prerequisite knowledge that is not part of the core curriculum in Environmental Engineering. Students may require extra courses or may need to seek enrolment approval from the course professor if the prerequisites have not been satisfied.
The Technical Elective Lists for Environmental Engineering are provided below. Note that the offering of these courses is contingent upon sufficient demand and/or available teaching resources. There may be courses added and changes made to the content, term of offering, or meet times from what is listed below. Further information is available from the CEE Undergraduate Office or CEE website.
Legend for List A and B:
Term courses are offered: F=fall term, W=winter term, S=spring term
List A - Engineering Design Intensive Technical Electives (choose at least four)
| Term |
Course |
Title |
| F,W |
CHE 361 |
Bioprocess Engineering |
| F,S |
CHE 420 |
Introduction to Process Control |
| F |
CIVE 241 |
Transport Principles and Applications |
| F |
GEOE 354 |
Geotechnical Engineering 2 |
| F |
SYDE 533 |
Conflict Resolution |
| F |
CHE 516 |
Energy Systems Engineering |
| F |
CHE 571 |
Industrial Ecology |
| W |
CHE 572 |
Air Pollution Control |
| W |
CHE 574 |
Industrial Wastewater Pollution Control |
| W |
CIVE 341 |
Transportation Engineering Applications |
| W |
CIVE 440 |
Transit Planning and Operations |
| W |
ENVE 583 |
Design of Urban Water Systems |
| W |
ENVE 577 |
Engineering for Solid Waste Management |
W
|
GEOE 554 |
Geotechnical Engineering 3 |
|
| W |
ME 571 |
Air Pollution |
| W |
SYDE 332 |
Introduction to Complex Systems
|
List B - Technical Electives (choose a maximum of three)
| Term |
Course |
Title |
| F,S |
BIOL 354 |
Environmental Toxicology 1 |
| F |
BIOL 364 |
Mathematical Modelling in Biology |
| F |
BIOL 447 |
Environmental Microbiology |
| F |
BIOL 455 |
Ecological Risk Assessment and Management |
| F |
BIOL 462 |
Applied Wetland Science |
| F |
BIOL 470 |
Methods of Aquatic Ecology |
| F |
CHE 514 |
Fundamentals of Petroleum Production |
| F,W,S |
CHEM 237 |
Introductory Biochemistry |
| F,W |
CHEM 262 |
Organic Chemistry for Engineering |
| F |
EARTH 342 |
Geomorphology and GIS Applications |
| F |
EARTH 421 |
Geochemistry 2 |
| F |
EARTH 440 |
Quaternary Geology |
| F |
EARTH 444 |
Applied Wetland Science |
| F |
GEOG 459 |
Energy and Sustainability |
| F,S |
ME 459 |
Energy Conversion |
| F,S |
ME 559 |
Finite Element Methods |
| F |
SYDE 411 |
Optimization and Numerical Methods |
| F |
SYDE 575 |
Image Processing |
| W |
BIOL 488 |
Ecotoxicology from a Watershed Perspective |
| W |
CIVE 422 |
Finite Element Analysis |
See Note
|
CIVE 497 |
Special Topics in Civil Engineering (as offered) |
| W,S |
EARTH 221 |
Geochemistry 1 |
| W |
EARTH 456 |
Numerical Methods in Hydrogeology |
| W |
EARTH 459 |
Chemical Hydrogeology |
| W |
ENVE 573 |
Contaminant Transport |
| W |
GEOG 471 |
Remote Sensing Project |
| W |
SYDE 531 |
Design Optimization Under Probabilistic Uncertainty |
Note on List B:
Special topics courses (CIVE 497) are offered as resources and faculty interests permit. Students should consult the CEE Undergraduate Office or CEE website for upcoming topics.
Complementary Studies Electives
Two complementary studies elective (CSE) courses in approved non-technical subjects, must be taken. The CSEs are in addition to those courses which are part of the core curriculum and contain complementary studies material, such as ENGL 191/SPCOM 191 (List D), ERS 215 (List A), ENVE 392 (List B), and ENVE 391 (List D). The CSE courses are organized on a Faculty basis and detailed in this Calendar, on the Complementary Studies in the Faculty of Engineering page.
The two CSE courses must be chosen from List C-Humanities and Social Sciences Courses.
Faculty Options
Complete details of designated options available to Engineering students are provided in this Calendar in the section entitled Options, Specializations and Electives for Engineering Students. Students who satisfy option requirements will have the designation on their transcript and degree. The following three options are of primary interest to Environmental 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 at least 60% in these courses.)
Water Resources Option
The Water Resources Option is a designated Engineering Option available to Environmental Engineering students interested in the development, management, and protection of our water resources.
Management Sciences Option
The Management Sciences Option provides an understanding of the issues, concepts, and techniques related to the management of technology. A student who wishes to follow the Management Sciences Option must declare their intent before starting the 2B term. For further details, see the Engineering Management Sciences Option website.
Statistics Option
The Statistics Option provides a broad background in applied statistics, especially in the areas of multiple regression, quality control, experimental design, and applied probability.
Accelerated Master's Program in Engineering
The Faculty of Engineering offers an Accelerated Master's Program. See Accelerated Master's Programs in Engineering for more details.