"Civil and environmental engineering is a really great department. I came here to get a master's degree with a focus on air quality. It's so interesting, that I'm staying for my PhD. It's a great opportunity."

—Maria Val Martin
Valencia, Spain

The program
Environmental engineering and water resources engineering apply science and engineering principles to the management of the environment—for the protection of both human health and nature’s ecosystems.

Graduate students work with faculty to make significant contributions to society and the
engineering profession through research and practice.

Degrees

• MS in Environmental Engineering
• MS in Civil Engineering
• MS in Environmental Engineering Science
• Master of Engineering
• The Master’s International Program combines graduate studies with service in the U.S. Peace Corps
• PhD in Environmental Engineering
• PhD in Civil Engineering

Research excellence
Departmental research funding exceeds $4.5 million per year. Current research includes

• Atmospheric chemistry and air quality engineering
• Drinking water and wastewater treatment
• Environmental microbiology and chemistry
• Environmental modeling
• Groundwater and subsurface remediation
• Hydrology, hydraulics, and sediment transport
• Water resources systems analysis
• International development
• Surface water quality and lake management
• Sustainability, industrial ecology, and pollution prevention

Students regularly work on interdisciplinary research projects involving other departments, including biological sciences, chemistry, physics, forestry, geological engineering and sciences, and chemical and mechanical engineering.

Additional opportunity
Students also can work with other University research and outreach centers.

• The Remote Sensing Institute includes researchers from seven academic departments.
• The National Center for Clean Industrial and Treatment Technologies supports work in
  pollution prevention and industrial ecology.
• The GEM Center for Science and Environmental Outreach allows students to interact with local school children.

Financial assistance
Research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and fellowships are available to qualified
applicants.

Stature
U.S. News and World Report ranks Michigan Tech’s environmental engineering program as one of the best in the nation.

The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department includes more than 50 faculty and professional staff, close to 500 undergraduate
students, and more than 80 graduate students (40 percent of whom are in doctoral programs).

The department is housed in the new $44-million Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building and the newly renovated Dillman Hall. Students have more than 25 state-of-the-art laboratories for their academic pursuits.

The department is part of an interdisciplinary campus group that in 2002 bought a 36-foot boat to support education and research on Lake Superior. The boat is designed, constructed, inspected, and outfitted for use on the open waters day and night and during all seasons of the year.