Environmental Engineering Curriculum What is Environmental Engineering?
Environmental Engineering at SFU
An Overview of the Major:
The Environmental Engineering curriculum at Saint Francis University prepares the student for a challenging and rewarding career through five major curricular means;
- a vibrant General Education program, a keystone of Saint Francis University
- a robust foundation in mathematics and the basic sciences
- a well founded core of engineering course work with a Renewable Energy emphasis
- a specific sequence of specialized environmental laboratory work
- a significant Environmental Engineering Design capstone
One of the newest additions to Saint Francis’ quality educational programs is a major in Environmental Engineering with a Renewable Energies Concentration. Environmental engineers work to protect and manage our air, water, and energy resources. They measure, quantify and analyze the environmental changes that inevitably result from human endeavors. They design strategies to remediate problems, minimize impacts, and measurably improve environmental quality. Environmental engineers focus on developing devices, techniques and solutions that can effectively address a variety of real-world environmental problems. The Environmental Engineering profession is expected to be the fastest growing engineering profession for many years to come. The burgeoning need for energy from traditional (fossil fuels) as well as non-tradition methods (renewable energy) will only intensify the need for environmental engineers.
A unique focus of Saint Francis University’s program is a strong emphasis on Renewable Energy, including opportunities in Wind Energy Engineering with internships and real-world research projects with the University's award-winning Renewable Energy Center. Engineering design is emphasized in each engineering course. Most of the upper level courses in Environmental Engineering will include a design project. Additionally, theoretical concepts are reinforced in laboratories. The culmination of the students' design experience is a capstone design course in which students draw upon various aspects of their previous engineering science and design knowledge to address a meaningful real life design problem. Students will also gain practical experience by completing a renewable energies internship.
As you can see, the environmental engineering major is an exciting program of study.
The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports in their 2006 Occupational Outlook Handbook that Environmental engineers should have favorable job opportunities. Employment of environmental engineers is expected to increase much faster than the average for all occupations through 2014. More environmental engineers will be needed to comply with environmental regulations and to develop methods of cleaning up existing hazards. A shift in emphasis toward preventing problems rather than controlling those that already exist, as well as increasing public health concerns, also will spur demand for environmental engineers. |
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