undergradstudents.degree requirements

The Pratt School of Engineering has a common first-year curriculum for all undergraduates. These courses lay the foundation for advanced engineering courses by establishing and reinforcing the principles of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Writing, and Computation. Core courses for the major start in the second year. Students with advanced placement in Math are advised to take Fluid Mechanics in the spring of the sophomore year, and Soil Mechanics in the Fall of the junior year.

One regular course has 2.5 lecture hours per week (3 x 50 min. or 2 x 75 min.). Laboratory courses have one two-hour laboratory or recitation time scheduled per week. Each semester has 13 weeks of class, half a week of reading period, and one week of final exams.

The Pratt School of Engineering is completing a comprehensive undergraduate curriculum review which has focused on the engineering mathematics sequence, the undergraduate physics courses, and the undergraduate computing courses. This curriculum review has resulted in new physics courses, developed in collaboration with engineering and physics, new math courses (Math 107 and Math 108), also developed in collaboration with engineering and mathematics, and a common first-year computing course emphasizing engineering problem solving with Matlab. The new physics courses will cover fewer topics as has been done in the past, and will emphasize basic concepts more extensively. The new math courses provide more depth into linear algebra ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations.

General Requirements

Students must complete 16 required general undergraduate courses and 16 department specific courses to earn a baccalaureate degree (minimum 34 semester courses). Sample CEE sequences are provided below. We have included course sequences for required courses in both the structures & mechanics and environmental engineering & water resources emphasis. (Note, the nominal scheduling with the proposed class-time schedule, shown below, allows for a student to complete courses in both tracks (both Structures & Mechanics and Environmental Engineering & Water Resources) and also do a semester abroad with no AP credits.)

All CEE students must take one Engineering Science elective from the following list:

• Electric Circuits (ECE-61L)
• Electrical Energy Systems (ECE-148L)
• Structure and Properties of Solids (ME-83L)
• Thermodynamics (ME-101L), or
• Classical Thermodynamics (BME-145)

All CEE students must take one additional CEE course at the 100 or 200 level. Courses at the 100 level meeting this requirement include, but are not limited to:

• Architectural Engineering (CE-161, CE-162)
• Transportation Engineering (CE-116)
• Advanced Solid Mechanics (CE-175)
• Independent Study (CE-197, CE-198)
• Pratt Research Fellow (CE-172, CE-173, CE-174)

Sample CEE Sequence - 1st & 2nd year

Note: Intro. Environmental Engineering (CE 24L), Intro. Structural Engineering (EGR 25L), and Engineering Communication (EGR 150) may be taken in the first or second year. CE 24L and EGR 25L may be replaced with upper-level CE courses in the Jr. or Sr. years, as approved by the DUS.

Sample CEE Sequence - 3rd & 4th year – Structures & Mechanics

Note: Statistics (Stat 113), Fluid Mechanics (CE 122L) and Soil Mechanics (CE 139L) are offered Spring and Fall. Fluid Mechanics is a pre-requisite for Soil Mechanics.

Sample CEE Sequence - 3rd & 4th year - Environmental Engineering & Water Resources

Note: Statistics (Stat 113), Fluid Mechanics (CE 122L) and Soil Mechanics (CE 139L) are offered Spring and Fall. Fluid Mechanics is a pre-requisite for Soil Mechanics.

Special Programs for CEE Undergraduates

• Certificate Program in Architectural Engineering The objective of this interdisciplinary program is to provide students with an understanding of the relationships between the design elements of buildings and construction processes. Requirements for the Architectural Engineering Certificate are: EGR 75L, CE 133L, CE 134, CE 161, CE 162, and ArtHistory 189.

• Independent Study Independent Study courses are usually taken in the Junior or Senior years. Students may register for 1/2 or 1 credit of independent study for one or two semesters. In an independent study course students work with a faculty advisor to focus on a special topic of the student's choosing by self-guided readings, developing and/or running computer simulations and/or laboratory experiments.

• Pratt Engineering Undergraduate Fellows Program The Pratt Engineering Undergraduate Fellows Program provides engineering undergraduates with an opportunity to do intensive research in their engineering major and receive course credit and paid summer research work. Pratt Engineering Undergraduate Fellows work on research projects under the direction of faculty advisers, committing an entire summer and one-fourth of the last three semesters of their undergraduate education to the Pratt Fellows Program. Course credit is given in the student's major, via linked independent studies for the three semester course sequence.

• International Honors Program The IHP is a certificate program consisting of six to eight semester courses, depending on the foreign language level proficiency of the student. Early planning and advising are essential to fulfilling all IHP requirements as part of the baccalaureate degree program. Specific program requirements and an application may be obtained by contacting Professor Miguel Medina.

• Study Abroad The CEE curriculum allows for any student to study abroad in the Junior Fall semester, with a little planning. Many popular institutions for study-abroad offer technical courses that are pre-approved for Duke-CEE requirements. Alternatively, students can re-arrange their course plan and take humanities electives when they are abroad. The sample curricula above may be easily modified for a study abroad semester (Jr. Fall) in which no engineering courses are taken abroad.
  • Move Fluid Mechanics (CE 122L) to Sophomore Spring to fit with the 'nominal' Sophomore schedule, CE 122L will need to be offered on Tu-Th mornings in Spring semesters.
  • Move Engineering Systems Optimization (EGR 115) to Senior Fall.
  • Structures & Mechanics: Move Matrix Structural Analysis (CE 131L) to Senior Fall
  • Environmental Engineering & Water Resources: Move Chem. Bio. for Environ. Engin. (CE 120L) to Senior Fall.
• Duke Environmental Alliance All CEE students are welcome and encouraged participate in the Duke Environmental Alliance, (EA).  EA is a very active student organization committed to promoting the implementation of sustainable practices at Duke University. By educating, organizing, and advocating, they strive to make Duke University a model campus for environmental stewardship.
• 5-Year Bachelors/Masters Degree Students may complete both a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering in five years. This is a great opportunity for students to broaden their undergraduate research experience or to advance their training. In addition to the benefit of completing the dual degree in five years, students pay only the undergraduate full time tuition rate for their graduate courses in the senior year.