about.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Duke University is one of the four departments of the Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School of Engineering (Pratt). Currently, the department has 17 tenured and tenure-track faculty members, and is in the process of recruiting another eight members during the coming four years. The number of undergraduate students at CEE typically varies between 60 and 80, emphasizing an unusually low ratio of students per faculty. This exemplifies Pratt's goal to provide a personalized engineering learning experience to match the interests and commitment of our students. The number of graduate students at CEE is growing, with the expectation to reach a maximum of about 120 students within five years, after the faculty recruitment has been completed. CEE is currently located in Hudson Hall, and it is in the process of expanding its research laboratories into the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Science (CIEMAS), which opens in Summer 2004.

The mission of CEE is to study and teach fundamental and advanced engineering processes relevant to the discipline of civil engineering in general, with a special interest in the development of new technologies for the observation, monitoring, and simulation of structures, and Earth and space environments.

Preparing tomorrow's leaders

Academic programs in CEE at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are designed to accomplish this mission. We trust that tomorrow's leaders will be the decision makers who will bring their understanding of the tools and the interrelation of engineering, science and policy to positions of influence in the public and private sectors.

At the undergraduate level, the emphasis is on forming the foundation for both research and practice in civil engineering. We view our undergraduate program as the first stage and training ground for life-long learning. The program gives our students the basic intellectual and organizational skills that allow them to work with complex, multidisciplinary natural and built civil engineering systems. This implies a curriculum that provides a strong background in the core and integrative engineering disciplines, as well as an appreciation for the larger social and legal aspects of civil and environmental issues. Through independent study projects and the Pratt Fellows program, many CEE undergraduates participate in faculty-directed, cutting-edge, research projects.

At the graduate level, students are directly engaged in the creative and discovery process through participation in the department's specialized and/or multidisciplinary research projects. Our graduate program is designed to prepare professionals for positions of leadership and responsibility in research, teaching, government and business. Students in our professional masters program will receive advanced training in the core and specialized civil engineering disciplines.

The educational process in our undergraduate and graduate programs also emphasizes how to communicate effectively; how to work both individually and in groups; how to analyze and use information; and how to cope with uncertainty and complexity. It provides an appreciation for the interaction between human activities and the built and natural environment.

Creating new knowledge and technologies through research

Current knowledge of fundamental environmental processes is hindered by the lack of technology aimed at observing the key environmental variables beneath, on, and above the Earth's surface. To provide new insights into such variables and processes, new sensors (including bio-sensors) need to be developed. This requires a concerted effort between engineers and scientists. The CEE (together with other groups of engineers and scientists at Pratt and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences) is well-positioned to advance this technology.

As new materials are being developed and introduced in modern structures (e.g., electro- and magneto-rheological materials), there is an opportunity to develop new sensors. Such sensors should be able to communicate the nature and intensity of extreme environments approaching the structures (e.g., earthquakes, floods, or tornadoes, among others) so that adequate perturbation damping and material strength can be adopted by the structures. Sensing the progress of a collapsing structure as a result of fire or other extreme environments is another technology that could be very useful, especially for rescue team management. The CEE is planning to position itself to lead the profession in developing such technology.

Mathematical and experimental simulators have been used extensively by civil engineers for simulating the environment and/or structures. Mathematical models of hydrological processes that provide runoff forecasts and wind tunnels used to estimate pressure distributions on buildings are but two examples of such simulators. CEE is internationally renowned for its strength in mathematical simulations of structures and environmental fluid dynamics. Our plan is also to lead the profession in developing new types of experimental simulators aimed at modeling the chemical-biological-physical aspects of the environment, including scaling laws to extrapolate processes from the model scale to the local, regional and global scales. This new type of physical model will also provide means of studying the fundamental processes necessary to develop self-sustained environmental systems to be used for long-term space exploration missions.

Providing public service to the nation and profession

When dealing with issues that are essential for the future of humankind, it is especially important for leading-edge engineers to participate in influencing the directions of the profession and by contributing to the plans and actions of the world, nation, regions and communities. CEE seeks to achieve this by:

• contributing influential publications dealing both with specialized topics and with the interfaces of science, engineering and policy;
• providing leadership on commissions, boards and committees that review public and professional policies and that set the agenda for action by the profession and public bodies;
• working with complex technological, environmental and social systems and finding solutions to challenging engineering problems as they arise at the local, national and international levels.

CEE Education at Pratt

Recognizing the special profile and interests of its undergraduate students, as well as their diverse career goals, CEE faculty members are committed to offering a top quality program in civil engineering, while encouraging its students to take advantage of the unique academic opportunities offered at Duke University. Typically, a large number of CEE undergraduate students have interests that go beyond traditional civil engineering. The record of graduating classes over the past decade shows that about a third of CEE graduates opt to enter the job market in engineering practices directly after graduation. About another third of the graduates choose to continue to study towards an advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.). The remainder typically pursues careers in such areas as law, medicine, the financial sector, and architecture. Thus, together with a rigorous education in the fundamentals of civil engineering, our students receive a holistic educational experience where the humanities and the physical and social sciences form the foundation for critical thinking, for ethics, and for skills that allow them to enjoy the benefits of a liberal education. Our graduates are educated to assume leadership roles in their chosen careers as well as to recognize their professional and personal obligations to the broader society and culture.

As is the case in other top private research universities, the CEE Graduate Program reflects the departmental strategic initiatives and the research interests of its faculty. Three main tracks in which the CEE faculty members have collectively achieved an international reputation are available in the program:

• (1) Materials, Structures and Geosystems;
• (2) Hydrology and Fluid Dynamics; and
• (3) Chemical and Biological Processes.

Graduate students have to master general skills and a number of required core courses and elective courses that provide them with the fundamental and specialized background necessary for them to qualify for an advanced degree in civil engineering.

The CEE has also developed a Civil and Environmental “concentration area” in the Masters of Engineering Management Program , aimed specifically at enhancing education of civil engineers beyond an undergraduate degree, who do not desire pursuing an advanced degree oriented towards research.