Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

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The MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering assists the region’s and the nation’s industries, small businesses, and governmental agencies by providing an accessible source of graduate education for its engineering employees. The need for advanced degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering is both regional and global. The region is experiencing growth pressure and its attendant development, environmental and infrastructure problems. Our master’s degree program helps provide Civil Engineers, with skills that are needed to handle such challenges, now and in the future. The educational goals of the program include (a) enhancing the knowledge of practicing civil and environmental engineers and providing them with the skills, experience, and confidence to solve the complex problems of today, as well as problems not yet encountered and (b) providing civil engineering graduates with the necessary basis to embark on a journey of lifelong learning either in professional development or in higher education.

The program offers small classes, close contact with a diverse faculty, and easy access to well-supported computational and experimental research facilities to provide state-of-the-art learning and research experiences. Courses are scheduled to permit either full-time or part-time study.

Resources

The faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department are active in funded research activities and thus are in a strong position to support graduate students in conducting world class research in such areas as transportation materials, water and wastewater treatment, hazardous waste decontamination, fate and transport of contaminants, geotechnical engineering and offshore geotechnics, applied and computational mechanics and materials engineering, structural engineering, quantitative engineering sustainability hydrology, water resources engineering and ocean engineering. The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department maintains Geotechnical, Environmental, Fluid Mechanics, Mechanics of Materials and Coastal Engineering Laboratories, and a Highway Sustainability Research Center for research and educational purposes.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the MS program is competitive. Students possessing a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a recognized institution and a strong academic background in civil or environmental engineering or a similar discipline are encouraged to apply for admission. Typically, MS applicants with an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale for all engineering, math, and physics courses will be considered. Current UMassD civil and environmental engineering BS students with a GPA of 3.0 or above are automatically qualified for the 5-Year accelerated BS-MS program. Those with a GPA of 2.5-3.0 may also be eligible but will need the positive endorsement of at least one UMassD CEN faculty member.

Applicants for the MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering must submit the required application materials to the Graduate Office.

In addition:

• Transcripts should show class rank if available.
• The two-three letters of recommendation should be from persons in the field of the applicant’s academic major at the institution most recently attended or be from supervisors familiar with the applicant’s recent job performance. UMassD civil and environmental engineering students with a GPA of 3.0 or above are automatically qualified for the 5-year accelerated BS-MS program and need not submit any letter of recommendation.
• The essay should be from 300 to 600 words in length. This essay should indicate the prospective student’s graduate study objectives, research interests and experience, and business or industry experience if applicable. If the applicant also applies for a teaching or research assistantship, the application must include any special skills or experience that would assist in assistantship decisions.
• International applicants to the MS program are required to demonstrate English language proficiency by submitting official results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Pearson Academic PTE or Duolingo. We require an overall/total minimum score of 72 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.0 on the IELTS or a 52 on the Pearsons PTE Academic for entrance to any program and a minimum score of 79 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.5 on the IELTS for consideration for a teaching assistantship. We also accept the Duolingo with a minimum score of 95.

Graduate Financial Assistance

Financial assistance in the form of Teaching and Research Assistantships is available. Teaching assistantship is awarded by the graduate committee based on both merit and alignment of the applicant’s background to the needs of the department. For Research assistants, the applicant would need to consult the faculty member closest to his/her field of interest.  For information about loans or other assistance, please consult the chapter on “Expenses and Financial Assistance.”

Many employers will assist employees in furthering their professional education; contact the personnel office at your place of work.

Faculty and Fields of Interest

Beemer, Ryan, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2019), BSCE 2008 Washington State University, MS 2010 Texas A&M University, PhD 2016 Texas A&M University.  Specializations:  Geotechnical engineering, offshore foundations, marine renewable energy systems.

Nefeli, Bompoti  Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2023) Diploma 2012 National Technical University of Athens, MSc 2014 National Technical University of Athens, PhD 2014 University of Connecticut. Specializations: Fate and Transport of Pollution in the Environment, Environmental Site Assessment and Remediation, Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Probabilistic and Data-Driven Approaches for Engineers.

MacDonald, Daniel (Department Co-Chairperson) Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2003) BSCE 1992 University of New Hampshire, MS 1996 Cornell University, PhD 2002 Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Joint Program. Specializations: Estuarine oceanography, hydrodynamics, stratified turbulence, environmental engineering.

Mellor, Jonathan (Department Co-Chairperson) Assistant Teaching Professor, BS 2001 College of William and Mary, MS 2006 University of Virginia, MS 2009 Michigan Technological University, PhD 2013 University of Virginia. Specialization: Water resources, climate resiliency, water and health and environmental engineering.

Mogawer, Walaa S Commonwealth Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1989), BSc 1981 Kuwait University, MSc 1984, PhD 1989 University of Rhode Island. Specialization: Pavement engineering.

Sengupta, Sukalyan Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1994), BS 1985 Calcutta University, MS 1991, PhD 1994 Lehigh University. Specialization: Environmental engineering.

Tootkaboni, Mazdak Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2010), BSc in Civil Engineering 2000 and MSc in Earthquake engineering 2002 University of Tehran, MSc 2007 and PhD 2009 in Structural Mechanics Johns Hopkins University. Specializations: Computational solid and structural mechanics, uncertainty quantification, data analytics, topology optimization, design under uncertainty.

Contact

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