Civil Engineering

  • CV

    What is Civil Engineering?

    Civil engineering is the oldest of the engineering disciplines and involves the planning, design, and construction of facilities essential to modern life.

    Graduates can look forward to employment by construction companies; city and county engineering departments; state and federal transportation organizations (such as the Georgia Department of Transportation); and civil engineering consulting and design firms. Graduates have the qualifications to enter careers in areas such as, but not limited to, transportation engineering, structural engineering, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, water resource engineering, and construction engineering. Typical job titles for graduates may include construction engineer, project engineer, planner, project supervisor, consulting engineer, and design engineer.

    Civil Engineering requires rigorous training in basic engineering principles along with the development of skills in the areas of planning and management of construction projects and the associated systems and resources. Graduates in the area of Civil Engineering will be required to master technical elements and to demonstrate particular competence in the areas of communication, fiscal management, and project control. The broad-based background is tailored to develop professionals who will be able to move between the technical and managerial aspects of civil engineering projects and to serve in key leadership positions within the engineering profession.

    The first two years of each undergraduate engineering program’s curriculum are considered to be lower division while the remaining two years are considered the upper division. For the most part, upper division engineering courses are those with course numbers in the 3000’s and 4000’s. In addition to the stated prerequisites and unless otherwise noted in the catalog, students must apply for and be granted Engineering Standing in order to enroll in any upper division engineering course taught in the School of Engineering. (Note: Courses requiring Engineering Standing will include in their list of prerequisites “Test ENGR with a minimum score of Y” or “Engineering Standing” or words to that affect.)

    Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

    Learn More About Civil Engineering

    Admission Requirements


    None

    This program does not have specific admission requirements. Only admission to Kennesaw State University is required to declare this major.

    General Education Core IMPACTS Curriculum Requirements Specific to This Major


    M: Students must take MATH 1190.

    T: Students must take MATH 2202.

    T:  Students must take PHYS 2211/L and PHYS 2212/L.

    Related Minors or Certificates Available


    • Environmental Engineering Minor

    Sample Classes


    • This course is the introductory course in identification and analysis of basic structural elements. Topics include the determination of beam deflections, methods for the computational analysis of statically indeterminate trusses, moment distribution, and the analysis of frames.

    • Introduction to fundamental knowledge of soil/foundation engineering for construction projects such as commercial building, highway, bridge, airport, and water/wastewater treatment plant. Course topics will include composition of soils, subsurface investigation, soil classification systems, groundwater flow, permeability, compaction, stress/strain analysis, shear strength, consolidation/settlement, shallow and deep foundations, earth retaining structures, slope stability, and ground modification methods.

    • This course addresses many challenges facing engineers when designing and constructing highways.  Areas of study include the design of horizontal and vertical alignments, roadside features, parking facilities, intersection design elements, traffic control devices, traffic signal operations and vehicle detection design, and the socioeconomic impacts of the roadway design.

    • This course focuses on fundamental concepts of air pollution, emission sources, atmospheric dispersion, ambient concentrations, adverse effects, governmental regulations, emission standards, air-quality standards, processes and equipment for controlling emissions, and noise pollution.

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