Course Descriptions
Project Management Techniques
Techniques of Project Planning and Control
Advanced Construction Techniques and Methods
Fundamentals of Construction Accounting and Finance
Risk Management and Personnel
International Construction
Construction Law
Advanced Cost Estimating
Air Pollution Control
Advanced Environmental Engineering
Environmental Management
Surface Water Quality Management
Special Topics in Environmental Engineering
Geoenvironmental Engineering
Ground Improvement Methods for Foundations
Practicum in Geotechnical Engineering
Earthquake Engineering
Earth Retaining Structures
Special Topics in Geotechnical Engineering
River Engineering
Coastal Engineering
Urban Hydraulics
Ports and Harbors
Special Topics in Hydraulic Engineering
Analysis and Design of Prestressed Concrete
Advanced Analysis and Design of Structures
Finite Element Analysis for Structural Engineering
Introduction to Structural Dynamics
Advanced Concrete Design
Advanced Composite Materials and Thier Uses in Structures
Special Topics in Structural Engineering
Graduate Directed Study
Special Topics in Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering Seminar
Graduate Project
Thesis 1
Thesis 2
Infrastructure Problems and Solutions
Infrastructure Systems
Infrastructure Cost and Management
ECE5213 Project Management Techniques, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.
The wide range of management techniques in civil infrastructure projects. Focus on construction scheduling, budgeting, cash flow, and quality management. Current software is used throughout the course. Actual civil infrastructure projects used include highway, airport, water and wastewater facilities.
ECE5223 Techniques of Project Planning and Control, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Project planning and control systems at the firm and project level. Topics: planning and scheduling techniques, including CPM, PERT, LOB; resource allocation; project control; supply chain models; treatment of uncertainty; and electronic integration of time and cost planning and control.
ECE5233 Advanced Construction Techniques and Methods, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.
An in-depth evaluation of current and emerging construction techniques and methods that are designed to improve the constructability, performance and life-cycle costs of civil infrastructure projects. New materials, design approaches and construction techniques are investigated by examination of specific experiences in the construction industry.
ECE5243 Fundamentals of Construction Accounting and Finance, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Introduces the concepts and fundamentals of financial accounting and economics in general, and specifically in the construction industry. Financial statement understanding and analysis, accounting concepts, project accounting methods, and the nature of project costs. Case study of major construction contractor. Ownership structure, working capital, and the sources and uses of funds.
ECE5253 Risk Management and Personnel, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.
The many risks and liabilities associated with construction, including safety and insurance issues. A detailed analysis of the human factor in construction, including allocation and utilization of personnel, recruitment and training. Labor relations and related contractual issues are evaluated.
ECE5263 International Construction, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Prepares construction professionals for international projects, exploring the differences in: construction systems, technology, management, and culture between advanced industrial countries (AIC), newly industrialized countries (NIC), and less developed countries (LDC); privatization of infrastructure, economic drivers of construction projects, risks, and risk management.
ECE5273 Construction Law, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Topics discussed include bid errors, contract disputes, and payment issues. Engineer, architect, and construction manager professional liability will be reviewed. Health and safety law, environmental liability, and administrative law are emphasized.
ECE5283 Advanced Cost Estimating, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Advanced procedures and methods to prepare quantity measurements, estimate labor and equipment productivities, obtain material costs, and develop comprehensive cost estimates for construction. Topics: cost estimating at conceptual, schematic, detailed, and bid stages, measurement and pricing of work; and work breakdown structures.
ECE5333 Air Pollution Control, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Methods of source testing and monitoring. Control of air pollution by process modification and various air pollution control methods. Design techniques coupled with air dispersion modeling and their relative effectiveness.
ECE5343 Advanced Environmental Engineering, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisite: ECE4343 or equivalent; Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Recent advances in the design of unit operations in water and wastewater treatment plants. New developments in natural systems for waste management and treatment practices. Microcomputer applications.
ECE5353 Environmental Management, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Designing and implementing environmental regulations and impact assessment programs. Techniques used in environmental impact assessment and regulation. Methods of analysis and the process of environmental planning and management.
ECE5363 Surface Water Quality Management, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisite: ECE4343 or equivalent; Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Management models in the cause-effect analysis of water quality in surface water bodies such as lakes, estuaries, bays, harbors, streams and rivers. Waste load allocation management strategies to reduce waste inputs to surface water bodies. Water quality modeling and control in the transport and fate analysis of contaminates in surface water.
ECE5393 Special Topics in Environmental Engineering, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisite: Senior standing or permission of graduate advisor.
Material of a specialized nature that is of interest to faculty and students.
ECE5423 Geoenvironmental Engineering, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Waste containment facilities design, construction and operation; including linear systems and geosynthetics, interaction of soil with chemicals, and transport of chemicals and water in soils.
ECE5433 Ground Improvement Methods for Foundations, 3 CREDITS
Prerequisites: ECE3424; Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Practical and innovative design methods for ground improvement related to soft ground, deep foundations, slope stability, seismic activity, and geosynthetics. Combines investigation of case histories, current projects, design methodology, and geotechnical engineering theory.
ECE5453 Practicum in Geotechnical Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Design-intensive investigation of current practices and applications in geotechnical engineering. Existing field projects are incorporated into the class activities.
ECE5463 Earthquake Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Geotechnical considerations of earthquake engineering and foundation vibrations. Stress-strain behavior of soils under dynamic loading; seismicity; liquefaction; soil-structure interaction; foundation vibrations.
ECE5473 Earth Retaining Structures, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Analysis and design of retaining walls, braced cuts, tie back cuts, and mechanically stabilized earth. Lateral earth pressure due to soil, water, surcharge, and other effects; local and overall stability; and the design of earth retaining systems.
ECE5493 Special Topics in Geotechnical Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Senior standing or permission of graduate advisor.
Material of a specialized nature that is of interest to faculty and students.
ECE5523 River Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
An investigation into multi-purpose river usage. Sediment erosion, transportation and deposition in rivers and reservoirs. Channel modification practices and impacts. Hydraulic design of river structures. River restoration techniques. Computer modeling. Possible field trips.
ECE5533 Coastal Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
An overview course on coastal engineering including Great Lake applications. Fundamentals of water wave motion including wave generation, propagation, and breaking. Coastal sediment transport and shore erosion processes. Functional planning and design of coastal structures. Computer modeling. Possible field trips.
ECE5543 Urban Hydraulics, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Theory, planning, analysis, and design of hydraulic structures in urban areas such as pipe networks, impoundments, spillways, culverts, etc. Computer modeling.
ECE 5553 Ports and Harbors, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
This course will investigate the design procedures behind ports and harbors ranging from private small craft harbors to large commercial ports. The course will focus both on hydrodynamic concerns and construction aspects such as breakwater design, bearthing layout, and dredging. Basic coastal engineering knowledge is preferred, but not a pre-requisite. See instructor if you have not taken a coastal engineering course.
ECE5593 Special Topics in Hydraulic Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Senior standing or permission of graduate advisor.
Material of a specialized nature that is of interest to faculty and students.
ECE5713 Analysis and Design of Prestressed Concrete, 3 credits
Prerequisite: ECE4743 or equivalent; Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Use of prestressed concrete in infrastructure applications: prestressing principles, analysis and design of pre- and post-tensioned systems, losses, flexure, shear, bond, camber and deflection, continuous prestressing, columns, and circular prestressing. Use of advanced composite materials such as prestressing strands to solve infrastructure problems. ACI and PCI prestressed concrete design manual discussed.
ECE5723 Advanced Analysis and Design of Structures, 3 credits
Prerequisite: ECE4733 or equivalent; Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
A unified presentation of the entire field of structural analysis, including introduction to the analysis of indeterminate structures, force method analysis and applications, displacement method analysis and applications, analysis of shear walls, plastic analysis of continuous beams and frames, and concrete, steel and wood design topics.
ECE 5733 Finite Element Analysis for Structural Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
The course presents an advanced analysis of truss and framed structures, and also of continuous structures like shear walls and dams. The course emphasizes the finite element method for analyzing structures. The course also addresses the issues of symmetry in structures, structural dynamics and thermal stress.
ECE5743 Introduction to Structural Dynamics, 3 credits
Prerequisite: ECE4733 or equivalent; Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Practical analysis and design of real structures; basic theory and numerical analysis of one- and two-degree elastic systems, lumped-mass multi-degree systems; distributed mass and load, approximate design approach, earthquake analysis, and earthquake design.
ECE5753 Advanced Concrete Design, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Advanced concepts of reinforced concrete design. Design methods presented for structural components including flat slabs, waffle slabs, and foundations. Also, advanced concepts related to design for torsion and buckling are covered.
ECE5763 Advanced Composite Materials and Their uses in Structures, 3 credits
Prerequisite: ECE3723 or equivalent; Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Definitions, mechanical properties and durability of advanced composite materials. Protruded sections and fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) bars. Concrete structures reinforced and/or prestressed with FRP bars; behavior and strength in bending and shear. Repairs and rehabilitation of structures. New applications and design concepts.
ECE5793 Special Topics in Structural Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of graduate advisor.
Material of a specialized nature that is of interest to faculty and students.
ECE5911-3 – Graduate Directed Study, 1-3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
In-depth study of particular civil engineering topic. Normally a written report is required. Hours of credit designated by last digit in course number.
ECE5923 Special Topics in Civil Engineering, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chairperson.
Topic or topics of current interest in the field of civil engineering. Course content subject to change each time the course is offered.
ECE6011-31 Civil Engineering Seminar, 1 credit
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Includes a schedule of invited speakers on infrastructure-related and graduate level civil engineering topics. An individual presentation is also required. Normally required for three semesters.
ECE6053 Graduate Project, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Completion of research or design project which merges infrastructure concerns with the student’s area of specialization. Report required.
ECE6073 Thesis 1, 3 Credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Initiation of a graduate thesis based on applied research. Normally available only with an approved and funded project.
ECE6083 Thesis 2, 3 Credits
Prerequisite: ECE6073.
Completion of thesis. Normally available only with an approved project.
ECE6123 Infrastructure Problems and Solutions, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
In-depth examination of infrastructure problems and their solutions, the study of failures and their avoidance, quality in the constructed product, the maintenance of the infrastructure, and sustainable development.
ECE6143 Infrastructure Systems, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
A systems approach to the understanding and solution of infrastructure problems and the application of operations research techniques, particularly as they apply to the infrastructure.
ECE6163 Infrastructure Cost and Managment, 3 credits
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of department chair.
Applied engineering economic decisions, infrastructure financing, the permit process, legal considerations and management techniques.