Chapter 9: Department of Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Professors: Aria Amirbahman, P.E. (Sukhmander Singh Professor and Department Chair), Edwin Maurer, P.E. (Robert W. Peters Professor), Reynaud L. Serrette, Sukhmander Singh, P.E., G.E.
Associate Professors: Rachel He, Hisham Said
Assistant Professors: Vito Francioso, Rocio Segura
Teaching Professor: Laura Doyle
Lecturers: Tracy Abbott, Mohaddeseh Peyro
Professor Emeritus: E. John Finnemore, P.E.
Associate Professor Emeritus: Steven C. Chiesa, P.E.

Overview

The Department of Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering offers graduate programs in the areas of structural engineering, general civil engineering, construction engineering and management, and water and environmental engineering. The focus of the educational effort is on modeling, analysis, and practical methods used to analyze, design, and construct structures and other civil engineering-related infrastructure systems. As such, many of the courses offered are beneficial to civil and construction engineers, and construction managers interested in advancing their knowledge and enhancing their technical skills.

Degree Program

The Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering graduate program at Santa Clara University is designed to accommodate the needs of students interested in advanced study. An individual may pursue the degree of Master of Science (M.S.) as either a full-time or part-time student through a customized balance of coursework, design projects, and directed research. Program participants are also required to supplement their technical work with coursework on project management topics addressed in the graduate engineering core curriculum.

The structural engineering (SE) track provides students with an opportunity to effectively link theory and practice by completing a combination of analysis- and design-oriented courses. Options within the structural engineering track allow students to either complete a capstone design project or a faculty-directed research investigation. This program track is aimed at individuals looking to prepare for a career in consulting structural engineering or in structural plan review.

The general civil engineering (GCE) track has been configured to provide students with additional analytical and design coursework in several infrastructure-related areas of civil engineering. This track could potentially include work in water resources engineering, environmental engineering, transportation engineering, and geotechnical engineering. A capstone design or research project with a required sustainability component is available to integrate these different elements. This track is geared toward individuals preparing for a career in land development, municipal engineering, or public works.

The construction engineering and management (CEM) track is designed to prepare students with the skills and knowledge required to effectively manage time, cost, safety, quality, and sustainability requirements of construction projects. The track has some flexibility to accommodate students with interests in practical applications or research investigations. This track is designed for students with career objectives of managing building or substantial construction projects for contractors, owners, and developers.

The water and environmental engineering (WEE) track prepares students to engage in advanced engineering analysis, design, and research to solve complex issues by quantifying risks related to water supply, flooding, and contamination and designing systems to treat contamination to protect public health and the environment. This track is ideal for people interested in working on these topics with public agencies, consulting firms, nonprofits, or pursuing further graduate work.

Master of Science in Civil Engineering

To be considered for admission to the graduate program in Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, an applicant must meet the requirements outlined in Chapter 3 of the bulletin, with the following additional criteria:

Applicant’s undergraduate degree must be:

• A civil engineering B.S. from an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)-accredited four-year program or its equivalent, or
• A B.S. in a relevant technical area for the proposed graduate track. In such cases, applicants must take sufficient additional courses beyond the 46-unit minimum to ensure coverage of prerequisite material for the required classes. For example, applicants pursuing the water/environmental track would need CENG 41, CENG 141, and CENG 143, plus any missing differential equations, physics, and chemistry prerequisites to those. These additional classes are subject to the same grade requirements as described elsewhere in the bulletin.

Applicant’s undergraduate record must show:

• An overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.75 (based on a 4.0 maximum scale).

In very rare cases, applicants not meeting this may be admitted with a requirement to successfully complete a defined course of studies within a limited time period.

See Chapter 5 of this bulletin for details on transferring credit for courses taken at other institutions.

Upon acceptance to the graduate program in Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, a student will be required to select a graduate advisor (full-time faculty member) from within the Department of Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering. The student’s advisor will be responsible for approving the student’s course of study. Any changes to a student’s initial course of study must have the written approval of the student’s advisor.

To qualify for the degree of Master of Science in Civil Engineering, the students must complete a minimum of 46 quarter units, including elective and required core courses, within the School of Engineering. Required and elective courses for structural engineering, general civil engineering, and construction management tracks are provided below. Students may elect to do a design project or research project. Students undertaking a design project would investigate applying a new technique or method in the analysis or design of a structure, system, or element, and this must be documented in a design report. Students undertaking a research project would develop a new technique, method, component, or design criteria, and this must be documented in a conference or journal publication or report. Course requirements for the SE, GCE, CEM, and WEE tracks are summarized in the following table:

Units are shown in parentheses: x/y indicates x-unit course with y-unit lab. No more than 6 units from CENG 293, 295, and 297 may be used to satisfy degree requirements. Taking Required Technical Course(s) that repeat previously taken course(s) is discouraged; in such cases, Elective Technical course(s) may be substituted. On rare occasions, program plans may deviate from these requirements with Department approval.

† CENG 205 & 206 may be replaced by MECH 251.

* Replace with CENG 246 if a timber design course was taken previously.

**Courses listed in the required section not taken to satisfy that requirement may be used as technical electives. An advisor may approve selected upper-level undergraduate classes including those listed (no more than 12 units total) that do not duplicate course content of graduate courses in the program of studies.

^ May simultaneously satisfy a Graduate Core requirement, but course credit may only count once toward the degree. Balance of credits shall be made of technical electives.

Upon the approval of the student’s advisor, alternative elective courses may be taken. Courses used to satisfy the 46-unit minimum total for the Master of Science in Civil Engineering degree cannot be used to satisfy any previous undergraduate degree program requirement. This includes cross-listed undergraduate courses at Santa Clara University and/or their equivalent courses at other institutions. Where required courses in the SCU graduate Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering program have been completed prior to graduate-level matriculation at SCU, additional elective courses may be required to satisfy the minimum unit total requirement as necessary.

Laboratories

The Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Laboratories contain equipment and facilities to support research and teaching in materials engineering, structural engineering, stress analysis, soil mechanics, geology, transportation engineering and surveying, environmental engineering, and hydraulics.

The Simulation and Design Laboratory maintains Windows-based personal computers that are used extensively in course assignments, design projects, and research. Commercial software packages in all the major areas of civil engineering are available on the systems, with full documentation available to students.

The Concrete Testing Laboratory contains facilities for mixing, casting, curing, and testing concrete cylinders and constructing reinforced concrete test specimens.

The Environmental Laboratory is equipped with the instrumentation needed for basic chemical and biological characterization of water, wastewater, and air samples. Several
pilot-scale treatment systems are also available.

The Geology Laboratory is equipped with extensive rock and mineral samples, as well as topographic, geologic, and soil maps.

The Hydraulics Laboratory is shared with the Mechanical Engineering Department. The laboratory contains a tilting flume that can be fitted with various open-channel fixtures.

The Soil Mechanics Laboratory contains equipment for testing soils in shear, consolidation, and compaction, and for conducting other physical and chemical tests. Field-testing and sampling equipment are also available. A complete cyclic triaxial testing system with computer control is used for both research and instructional purposes.

The Structures and Materials Testing Laboratory is equipped with three universal testing machines and an interim high-bay structural test system. These machines/systems are used for testing a variety of construction materials and assemblies under quasi-static and pseudo-dynamic loading. Complementing this equipment are a series of digital and analog instruments and high-speed data acquisition and control systems.

The Structural Laboratory Annex (offsite) is a high-bay test facility equipped with a closed-loop hydraulic system, high-speed data acquisition and control systems, and a variety of digital instrumentation. The Annex has the capability to test unique building components that incorporate wall/frames and floor systems.

The Surveying Laboratory has a wide variety of equipment, including automatic
levels, digital theodolites, total stations, and GPS-based surveying instruments available for instructional purposes.

The Traffic Laboratory has electronic volume counters that are used in studies to classify vehicles and measure their speeds in user-specified ranges and periods of time

Course Descriptions

For undergraduate courses refer to the undergraduate bulletin. https://www.scu.edu/bulletin/undergraduate-bulletin/

CENG 205. Finite Element Methods I

Introduction to structural and stress analysis problems using the finite element method. Use of matrix methods, interpolation (shape) functions, and variational methods. Formulation of global matrices from element matrices using direct stiffness approach. Development of element matrices for trusses, beams, 2D, axisymmetric and 3D problems. Theory for linear static problems and practical use of commercial FE codes. (2 units)

CENG 206. Finite Element Methods II

Isoparametric elements and higher order shape functions for stiffness and mass matrices using numerical integration. Plate and shell elements. Mesh refinement and error analysis. Linear transient thermal and structural problem using finite element approach. Eigenvalue/eigenvector analysis, frequency response, and direct integration approaches for transient problems. Application of commercial FE codes. Prerequisite: CENG 205. (2 units)

CENG 207. Finite Element Methods III

Solution of nonlinear problems using finite element analysis. Methods for solving nonlinear matrix equations. Material, geometrical, boundary condition (contact), and other types of nonlinearities and applications to solid mechanics. Transient nonlinear problems in thermal and fluid mechanics. Application of commercial FE codes to nonlinear analysis. Also listed as MECH 252. Prerequisite: CENG 206. (2 units)

CENG 208. Engineering Economics and Project Finance

Time value of money, cash flow, rate of return, and depreciation; financing approaches and sources; applications to large-scale energy projects such as wind and solar energy, cogeneration, biomass, and geothermal. (3 units)

CENG 218. Construction Engineering

Introduction to construction roles and responsibilities, construction project phases, building systems, bidding and cost estimating, building trades and subcontractors, construction methods, and safety and quality management. Also listed as CENG 118. (3 units)

CENG 219. Designing for Sustainable Construction

Design strategies for sustainable commercial and residential construction. Use of LEED criteria for assessing sustainable construction. Team-based project planning, design, and construction. Economic evaluation of sustainable technologies. Prefabrication. Overall project management. Also listed as CENG 119. (3 units)

CENG 220. Structural Dynamics

Analysis and behavior of simple linear oscillators. Natural mode shapes and frequencies for distributed and lumped mass systems. Introduction to nonlinear vibrations. (4 units)

CENG 222. Advanced Structural Analysis

Advanced methods for the analysis of statically indeterminate and non-conventional structural systems. Explicit modeling of cross-sections and joints in structural systems. Hands-on experience with modern commercial analysis software. Prerequisite: CENG 132. (4 units)

CENG 231. Bridge Engineering

An introduction to modern bridge structural systems, bridge loading, bridge deck slab design, girders, and substructure. Prerequisites: CENG 134 and CENG 135. (4 units)

CENG 232. Masonry Engineering

Design of unreinforced and reinforced masonry structures, including shear-wall and bearing-wall systems. Prerequisite: CENG 135. (2 units)

CENG 233. Wood Design

Design of wood structural systems. Design of sawn and structural composite lumber members for tension, compression, bending, and shear. Introduction to shear wall and diaphragm design. Design of connections. Also listed as CENG 133. Prerequisite: CENG 132. (4 units)

CENG 234. Structural Steel Design II

Design of lateral systems, including new and innovative systems, and connections. Introduction to hybrid and composite design. Application of performance-based design requirements for steel structures. Prerequisite: CENG 134. (4 units)

CENG 236. Advanced Concrete Structures

Confinement, moment-curvature, and shear-displacement response; modeling; design and detailing of special moment frames, shear walls, and diaphragms; pre-stressed concrete beams. Also listed as CENG 136. Prerequisite: CENG 135. (4 units)

CENG 237. Earthquake Engineering Design

Introduction to seismic sources, wave propagation, and effects on structures. Spectral representations of demands. Design according to current code provisions and using simplified pushover methods. Also listed as CENG 137. (4 units)

CENG 238. Geotechnical Engineering Design

Foundation exploration; bearing capacity and settlement analysis; spread foundations; piles and caissons; earth-retaining structures; loads on underground conduits; subsurface construction. Also listed as CENG 138. Prerequisite: CENG 121A/B. (3 units)

CENG 238L. Geotechnical Engineering Design Laboratory

Structural design of footings, piles, and retaining walls. Also listed as CENG 138L. Prerequisite: CENG 148 or instructor approval. Co-requisite: CENG 238. (1 unit)

CENG 239. Earthquake Engineering II

Continuation of CENG 237. Performance-based earthquake engineering. Use of advanced techniques for the design of new buildings and rehabilitation of existing buildings to meet clearly delineated seismic performance expectations. Modeling of structural components and use of nonlinear analysis software for static and dynamic analyses. Prerequisite: CENG 237. Co-requisite: CENG 239L. (3 units)

CENG 239L. Earthquake Engineering Laboratory

Co-requisite: CENG 239. (1 unit)

CENG 240. Soil-Structure Interaction

Introduction of soil-structure analysis for evaluating seismic response. Dynamic interaction between the structure and its surrounding soil. Soil-structure interaction models. Prerequisites: CENG 237 and CENG 238. (2 units)

CENG 241. Introduction to Blast Analysis

This introductory course will cover well-established procedures and principles used to design structures to resist the effects of accidental explosions. Concepts covered include design considerations; risk analysis and reduction; acceptable performance criteria; levels of protection; air-blast loading phenomenon, blast loading functions, current state of practice of structural blast analysis, and design and detailing requirements. Prerequisite: CENG 148 or instructor approval. (2 units)

CENG 242. Water Resources Design

Design of system components for water supply and flood control projects, including storage facilities, closed conduits, open channels, well fields, and pumping systems. Also listed as CENG 142. Prerequisites: CENG 141 and CENG 140 (CENG 140 may be taken concurrently) or permission of instructor. (4 units)

CENG 246. Design of Cold-Formed Steel Frame Structures

Introduction to cold-formed steel design and construction. Practical design of members for tension, compression, shear, and torsion. Connection detailing. Lateral force-resisting systems. Also listed as CENG 146. (4 units)

CENG 247. Pavement Design

Paving materials. Design of highway pavement systems, subgrades, subbases, soil stabilization, and drainage. Design of flexible (asphalt) and rigid (concrete) pavements. Cost analysis and pavement selection. Pavement evaluation. Layout and design of airport runways. Also listed as CENG 147. Prerequisites: CENG 115 and 121. (4 units)

CENG 249. Civil Systems Engineering

Introduction to engineering systems analysis and management technologies and their applications to civil engineering problems, such as transportation, assignment, critical path, and maximum flow problems. Topics include linear programming, nonlinear programming, probability, and queuing theory, as well as relevant applications to civil engineering problems. Also listed as CENG 149. (4 units)

CENG 250. Traffic Engineering: Design and Operations

Basic characteristics of motor-vehicle traffic, highway and intersection capacity, applications of traffic control devices, traffic data studies, signal design, and traffic safety. Also listed as CENG 150. Prerequisite: CENG 145. (4 units)

CENG 251. Special Topics in Transportation Engineering

Coverage of special topics in transportation engineering, including dynamic traffic flow forecasting, analysis and application of traffic flow patterns, and static and dynamic traffic analysis and modeling for short-term and long-term planning and optimization. Also listed as CENG 151. Prerequisite: CENG 145. (4 units)

CENG 252. Air Pollution

The study of generation of common air pollutants, their transport, effects, and state-of-the-art air pollution control strategies. Also listed as CENG 122. Prerequisite: CENG 143 or instructor’s consent. (3 units)

CENG 253. Pollutant Fate and Transport

Study of reaction energetics, kinetics, interphase mass transfer, and partitioning as they relate to pollutant transformation in the environment. Application to surface waters and groundwater. Also listed as CENG 123. Prerequisites: CHEM 11, AMTH 106, or instructor’s consent. Corequisite: CENG 253L (3 units)

CENG 253L. Laboratory for CENG 253

Use of experimentation and computer modeling to analyze problems in chemical kinetics, pollutant transport, and phase partitioning. Also listed as CENG 123L. Co-requisite: CENG 253. (1 unit)

CENG 254. Water and Wastewater Treatment

Design of water and municipal wastewater treatment systems. Topics include unit operations such as flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, biological treatment, nutrient removal, disinfection, and sludge management. Also listed as CENG 144. Prerequisites: CENG 143 or instructor’s consent. Corequisite: CENG 254L. (3 units)

CENG 254L. Laboratory for CENG 254

Laboratory experiments to characterize water samples, including BOD and COD measurements. Field trips to local water and wastewater treatment plants. Also listed as CENG 144L. Corequisite: CENG 254. (1 unit)

CENG 256. Public Transportation

Evolution of mass transit in the United States. Characteristics of major components of mass transit: bus, light- and rapid-rail transit. Prominent systems of mass transit in selected major U.S. cities. Paratransit systems. Financing and administering transit and paratransit systems. New technology applications in mass transit. The course requires students to get hands-on experience with one of the major transit systems in the Bay Area as a case study. (3 units)

CENG 258. Water Law and Policy

Introduction to the legal and regulatory concepts related to water. Examines rights, policies, and laws, including issues related to water supply and access (water transfers/water markets, riparian and appropriative doctrines), flood control, water pollution, and quality (the Clean Water Act, EPA standards, instream flows for fish), and on-site stormwater management/flood control. A focus on California water law and policy is complemented with some national and international case studies. Also listed as CENG 124 and ENVS 124. (4 units)

CENG 259. Groundwater Hydrology

Groundwater occurrence, flow principles, flow to wells, and regional flow. Groundwater contamination, management, and modeling. Field methods. Field trips. Also listed as CENG 139. Prerequisite: CENG 141 or instructor’s consent. (3 units)

CENG 260. GIS in Water Resources

Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology with applications in watershed analysis, interpolation, site suitability assessment, and spatial analysis of environmental data. Obtaining and processing digital information at different scales for state-wide, watershed, and urban areas and combination of location information with tabular information such as census data. Commercial and open-source software are used. Prerequisite: experience with Windows directory and file management. Also listed as CENG 160. (3 units)

CENG 261. Sustainable Water Resources

Analysis and design of water resource systems, from flood control projects to drinking water supply, as environmental constraints and societal values shift. Quantitative analysis of environmental data is used to detect changes and project future conditions. Includes sustainable and low-impact design techniques, climate change impacts on water, assessing sustainability, life-cycle economics, and current topics. Also listed as CENG 161. Prerequisite: CENG 140 or instructor’s consent. (3 units)

CENG 262. Computational Water Resources

Use of professional application software to analyze systems for water resources engineering projects. Computational tools include the development of a computer model to translate rainfall into runoff for a river basin and assess the impacts of climate variability and change on water supply. Also listed as CENG 162. Prerequisite: CENG 140, which may be taken concurrently, or equivalent. (3 units)

CENG 281. Construction Law for Civil Engineers

Legal aspects of construction procedures. Quantitative methods, case studies, and procedures for measuring, analyzing, and mitigating the value of change orders and claims. Discussion of key construction topics for the construction professional. General review of contract types, tort law, contract interpretation, liens, claims, and disputes. A project term paper is required. (3 units)

CENG 282. Introduction to Building Information Modeling

Parametric design and modeling, BIM-based scheduling and estimating, model checking and validation, 4D visualization, green building design, applications in integrated project delivery and facilities management, interoperability, standardization, and web-based collaboration. Also listed as CENG 182. (3 units)

CENG 284. Construction Project Delivery

Project organization and delivery systems, Project stakeholders authorities and responsibilities, contractual payment schemes, bidding process, preconstruction administration, contracts, payment measurement, change orders, quality management, safety, claims and disputes, risk and liability sharing, project documentation and closeout, lean construction, pull planning, work structuring, lean supply chain, lean project delivery system. Also listed as CENG 184. (3 units)

CENG 285. Cost Estimation

Types of construction cost estimates and their uses. Direct and indirect costs. Cost budgeting and control. Quantity Takeoff. Cost databases and software. Detailed cost estimates of main building systems. Also listed as CENG 185. Prerequisite: CENG 118. (3 units)

CENG 286. Construction Planning and Control

Work breakdown structure; work sequencing and logic; activity duration estimates; schedule network representations; critical path method; resources loading, allocation, and leveling; planning of repetitive tasks; cost estimates; time-cost tradeoffs; project cash flow analysis; and time-cost control. Use of commercial scheduling software. Group project on construction planning. Also listed as CENG 186. (3 units)

CENG 287. Heavy Construction

Earthmoving with dozers, scrapers, and excavators; hauling, compacting, concrete operations, asphalt paving, work, and production plans. Machine power and resistance, piling, cranes, and rigging operations. Also listed as CENG 187. (3 units)

CENG 288. Engineering Decision and Risk Analysis

Epistemic and aleatory uncertainty, reliability and probabilistic risk assessment, risk management, decision trees, sensitivity analysis, optimization, reliability analysis (MCFOSM/FORM/SORM), Monte Carlo, Latin Hypercube, and importance sampling, utility theory. Prerequisite: AMTH 108 or instructor’s consent. (4 units)

CENG 293. Graduate Design Project

Design of an approved civil engineering system using new methods and/or materials. A formal design report is required. (1–4 units)

CENG 295. Master’s Thesis Research

By arrangement. Limited to MSCE candidates. (1–6 units)

CENG 297. Directed Research

By arrangement and department chair approval. (1–6 units)

CENG 299. Independent Study

Special/advanced topics. By arrangement. (1–6 units)