About the Degree
The Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from UNO is an ABET-accredited, 127-credit-hour program that requires 39 general education credits, 40 general engineering credits, and 48 civil engineering–specific credits.
In addition, the degree encompasses five areas of specialization, so you can choose the path that best matches your interests and career goals.
Environmental Engineering
When you choose to focus your B.S. in civil engineering on environmental engineering, you’ll explore and contribute to engineering solutions for complex, multimedia environmental concerns. Specifically, you’ll build a strong foundation in three major areas of environmental engineering: water and wastewater treatment, solid and hazardous waste management, and air pollution control. Each of these areas encompasses a number of engineering systems, all of which work to strike a balance between human activity and environmental sustainability.
Geotechnical Engineering
All major structures or systems that are supported by rock or soil depend on the expertise of a geotechnical engineer for their strength and stability. By earning a bachelor of civil engineering with a focus on geotechnical engineering, you’ll learn how different underlying materials such as soil or rock types will behave when bearing heavy loads, and how complicating factors like the presence of water can affect that behavior. Your degree will prepare you to play a leading role in analyzing, designing, and building the foundations of anything supported by soil or rock, from highway pavements, earth embankments, and building foundations to dams, levees, and much more.
Structural Engineering
When you focus your B.S. in civil engineering on structural engineering, you’ll make your mark on the world by designing the bones of modern buildings, bridges, docks, and towers. You’ll learn all about the behavior of building materials including steel, concrete, and wood, as well as how to analyze the effects of structural loads like wind or earthquakes. And you’ll practice solving complex structural problems by using matrix methods and computer codes, as well as more classical methods of analyzing beams, trusses, and frames. By the time you complete your degree, you’ll be ready to have a hand in the new and exciting structures defining the world’s skylines.
Surveying
A fulfilling career as a professional land surveyor, a topographic engineer, or a GIS mapping scientist begins here, with a B.S. in civil engineering from UNO. You’ll study the key concepts needed to successfully map and define locations, distances, and boundaries on the surface of the earth: topographic mapping with aerial photos, highway surveying, construction surveying, hydrographic surveying, and geodesy. A specialty in surveying has countless practical applications, and UNO will make sure you’re prepared for all of them.
Water Resources
Every aspect of life on Earth depends on water—and when you focus your bachelor’s degree in civil engineering on water resources, you’ll play a role in ensuring that safe, clean water is easily and readily available. You’ll come to understand the fundamentals of developing, using, and protecting surface water and groundwater, and you’ll use your knowledge to solve complex problems involving water quality and quantity. With this specialization, you’ll help lead the way in preserving the world’s most precious resource—building the systems that connect humanity to our water supply.
Research Opportunities
Research is a critical way of advancing knowledge in your field, and you’ll have many opportunities to conduct research yourself while earning a Bachelor of Science in civil
engineering. Our expert faculty are engaged in advanced research in a number of fields, and they regularly seek out student research assistants to participate in their projects. A small selection of our faculty’s research interests includes:
- Application of geographic information systems (GIS) to water resources management
- Design code modification
- Finite element analysis of building frames
- Geodesy of new GPS satellite-derived systems
- Geodesy of subsidence in southeastern Louisiana
- Industrial air quality management
- Industrial applications of digital image photogrammetry and lidar (“laser radar”) in shipbuilding
- Industrial hazardous waste
- Municipal solid waste
- Physical and numerical modeling of water systems
- River mechanics and sediment transport
- Structural testing of building components and connections
- Surface water hydraulics
- Transport of toxic pollutants in urban and rural environments
- Wetland hydrology and physical, chemical, and biological wetland functions
- Worker exposures and impact assessment of air pollution
What You’ll Learn
Civil engineering is a broad and exciting field, and one that has a deeply tangible impact on where and how we live. As you work toward a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, you’ll gain the knowledge of science and mechanics you need to leave your mark on the structures and systems that power our world.
In UNO’s Bachelor of Science in civil engineering program, you will:
- Identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- Apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs while addressing public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
- Communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
- Recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments.
- Function effectively on a team that provides leadership, creates a collaborative and inclusive environment, establishes goals, plans tasks, and meets objectives.
- Develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- Acquire and apply new knowledge as needed.
By the time you complete your bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, you’ll be ready to help create the scaffolding for modern life.
Sample Courses
- Air Quality Monitoring
- Geotechnical Engineering
- GIS Applications in Engineering
- Groundwater Engineering
- Hydraulic Engineering
- Hydrology
- Mechanics of Materials
- Meteorology and Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling
- Modeling and Design in Environmental Hydraulics
- Pollution Prevention
- Reinforced Concrete
- Statics
- Statistics
- Structural Analysis
- Structural Steel Design
- Treatment Plant Process Chemistry and Microbiology
- Water Resource Engineering
- Water Supply and Sewer System Management
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Design
Student Organizations
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
The mission of ASCE is to advance the field of civil engineering while serving the public good and improving members’ lives. The UNO chapter of ASCE meets weekly to discuss issues relevant to the organization and to plan for a variety of events that take place throughout the year, including the ASCE Deep South Regional Conference. Other activities include the Concrete Canoe competition, the Steel Bridge competition, the Surveying team, the annual Pontchartrain beach cleanup, and more. ASCE is open to all students, not just those pursuing a B.S. in civil engineering.
To learn more about ASCE or to get involved, reach out to Donald Gilardoni at dlgilard@uno.edu.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Facilities
The UNO campus has a number of different facilities and laboratories for study and research, and you’ll have access to all of them as you pursue your bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Learn more about our campus facilities and what you can achieve there.
Construction Materials Laboratory
This laboratory is designed to test the structural integrity of materials including asphalt and asphalt concrete, Portland cement concrete, soil and aggregate stabilization agents, and more. With a bituminous testing room, a temperature-controlled humidity room, and more, practically any construction material test can be conducted here.
Environmental Laboratory
The UNO Engineering Building offers a huge range of analytical instrumentation and equipment capabilities, including GC and GC-MS with data systems, a total organic carbon analyzer, an Alpaca Auto Analyzer, an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, and more.
Geotechnical Laboratory
Located in the UNO Engineering Building, this laboratory has external access for receiving soil samples or truck-mounted equipment, and its environmentally controlled rooms are ideal for sample storage and test preparation. If your coursework requires you to measure the physical and engineering properties of soils, this lab is at your service.
GIS and Spatial Analysis Laboratory (GSAL)
Geographic information systems (GIS) are a powerful tool for conducting environmental management and research activities. This laboratory provides the instruments to create a spatial modeling environment for use in resource planning and management.
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering Laboratory (HWRENG)
This laboratory is designed to house basic instruction units for undergraduate classes, as well as a multipurpose tilting flume for applied and basic research in hydraulics and coastal engineering. Specialized setups can also be arranged for local and national industrial needs.
Mechanics of Materials Laboratory
This lab includes equipment for testing tension, hardness, dynamic sheer, and other mechanical properties of metals, plastics, and composites.
Structures Laboratory
UNO’s structures laboratory can house static and dynamic testing of structural components of all sizes, including full-size beams. The lab floor can resist gravity loads as well as uplift forces.
Topographic Engineering and Photogrammetric Laboratory
Here, UNO students and professors use photogrammetric instrumentation for a variety of applications, including analytical aerotriangulation, topographic mapping, planimetric mapping, and more.