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Civil Engineering

Kerrie Schattler, 
Graduate Program Coordinator

The Department of Civil Engineering and Construction offers an MSCE degree program that prepares graduates for thriving engineering careers characterized by continued professional growth. Our graduates are given unique opportunities to acquire the talents and skills needed in a highly technical society facing serious uncertainties and challenges in the environment and infrastructure. Our program provides students with the broad scope necessary for a fruitful and successful career in the practice of civil engineering and construction management.

To meet the needs of industry and students, the department routinely acquires new laboratories and remodels current laboratories with sophisticated civil engineering equipment, software, and hardware. This provides a vivid example of the commitment to excellence and persistent drive that has become the hallmark of our department. The departmental goal is to provide an educational experience that is nationally and internationally recognized. Our students and faculty aspire to be leaders in their respective fields on and off campus.

Admission into the MSCE program requires a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering or construction.  Qualified graduates from other engineering or related fields may be admitted conditionally. The conditional status may be changed to unconditional only after all deficiencies are removed.  Students are not required to take the GRE general test for admission into the MSCE program. Details on admission requirements and categories of admission can be found in the Graduate School catalog under the Admissions section. 

MSCE Degree Requirements

After selecting core courses, the student may study in any one of three areas of emphasis: construction management, structural, or geo-environmental/water resources. The student has the opportunity of selecting a thesis or a non-thesis option. The thesis option requires 6 semester hours of CE 699 (Thesis). The non-thesis option requires a minimum of 6 semester hours in an emphasis area.

In addition to the requirements of the Graduate School, the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction has the following requirements:

  1. The MSCE program requires a minimum of 30 semester hours beyond the bachelor’s degree.
  2. All MSCE students are required to take CE 520 to meet the mathematics requirement and a minimum of 18 semester hours from the department.
  3. A program of study is required by the end of the first semester. The program of study may be changed by filing a request for amendment (i.e. Request to Change Program of Study form). This request must be filed with and approved by the graduate coordinator prior to registering for courses. Courses not on the approved program of study may not be counted towards the MSCE degree.
  4. Admission of undergraduate students into 500-level courses requires that the students have the necessary prerequisites and a minimum average of 2.75/4.0 overall GPA.
  5. Each student is required to pass a comprehensive examination during the last semester of his/her study. Students seeking the thesis option are required to make an oral defense of their thesis instead.

Exceptions to the departmental requirements listed above may be made with the approval of the department chair. Such exceptions are rare and will only be granted in cases where clear justification can be demonstrated.

Financial Support Graduate assistantships are available for qualified graduate students through the department and ongoing funded research projects. Currently, a substantial portion of our graduate students are being supported. The department has numerous endowed scholarships, and some of these funds provide fellowships to selected graduate students. Qualified students may also receive up to 100% tuition waiver from the University. Additionally, faculty and graduate students have received research grants from major companies, state agencies, the National Science Foundation, and other private and government sources.

Abundant opportunities exist to gain practical experience off campus either part time or full time during semester breaks and summers. For example, the Illinois Department of Transportation has hired many graduate students. Various industries have employed our graduates under a pollution prevention program sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.  

Internationalization and Our Global Explorer Program The Global Explorer program is designed to expand the professional capabilities, stimulate intellectual growth, and broaden the personal perspectives of all participants. Arrangements have been made with universities around the world to send our students either for short courses or for the entire academic year. Students with financial need have received financial support from the department that enables them to study abroad for equal or less than what it would cost them to study at Bradley University. This program enables students to meet the challenges of tomorrow and equips them with the needed skills to compete in an international marketplace.

Programs of Study The graduate program can be characterized by areas of emphasis: construction management, structures, and geo-environmental/water resources. New graduate elective courses developed in the department may be integrated into students’ programs of study related to transportation systems, green construction, multimedia, and GIS/GPS. Selected courses in other engineering departments, the college of business, and computer science are permissible. The program’s flexibility provides graduate students with a wide variety of means to prepare for their future careers.

  1. Construction Management The construction industry is the largest industry in the United States. Its impact is felt in every area of civil engineering, both nationally and internationally. This fast-growing area provides courses that enhance the education of students by examining the most recent trends and methods in the management of the construction process. Opportunities are provided through coursework dealing with advanced cost estimating, contract administration, productivity analysis, total quality management (TQM), cutting-edge software dealing with design/build processes and multimedia presentations, and many other areas that affect the profession.
  2. Structural Engineering The graduate structural engineering program offers a wide variety of courses that provide a strong theoretical and applied background suitable for both practice and research. The structural engineering group has five faculty members with a diverse academic background. The group employs experimental, numerical, and analytical techniques in their research activities. The research interests within the group include: behavior and design of reinforced concrete, structural durability, analysis and design of bridges, finite element analysis, computational mechanics, structural stability, and seismic analysis and design of structures.

    Students are given the opportunity to utilize a spectrum of computer facilities, including networked personal computers and workstations. These computers are equipped with the state-of-the-art structural engineering and finite elements software packages. The well-equipped concrete laboratory provides state-of- the-art research tools, data acquisition systems, a large number of transducers and LVDT’s, and compression testing machine.
  3. Geo-Environmental Engineering This program option meets the growing need for professionals who are well educated in the science and engineering of treatment processes and pollutant transport and impact on the environment. The program also addresses the need for more informed decision-making with respect to environmental risks and impacts. Graduates from this program are employed by governmental agencies, by consulting companies that specialize in environmental engineering and environmental planning, and by industrial manufacturing companies in pollution prevention or environmental control rules. Funded research from Caterpillar Inc. and from regional and national environmental agencies provides an opportunity for graduate students to participate in the research of hazardous waste treatment, biological wastewater treatment, physiochemical treatment, and management models of environmental policies and systems.

Facilities 

The Department has major laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment in: multimedia, geotechnical, concrete, asphalt, environmental, surveying, structural, microcomputers, construction, and fluids. Our students have 24-hour access to a spectrum of computer facilities, including networked personal computers and workstations. These computers are equipped with cutting edge software packages in structural, geotechnical, transportation, environmental, and construction management in addition to AutoCAD, MicroStation, and Revit. The CEC laboratories include needed instrumentation for education and research. For example, the concrete laboratory includes data acquisition systems, compression testing machines, transducers, and LVDTs. The environmental laboratory includes a gas chromatograph with purge trap, atomic absorption spectrophotometers, and FTIR. The asphalt laboratory is being updated to include Superpave testing equipment. These laboratories are well equipped to meet the educational needs of students and research objectives of graduate students and faculty.

Career Services Graduate students have numerous opportunities to develop through professional activities such as the student chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Associated General Contractor (AGC) and the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA). These organizations sponsor noted speakers on a variety of topics and provide a forum for interaction between students and industry. In addition, graduate students may become involved with community service projects such as the Bridge Pal program, habitat for humanity, building pocket parks and playgrounds, Illinois River Sweep and others to strengthen their leadership abilities.

The departmental advisory board is composed of successful civil engineers and construction leaders. Advisory board members are very active as speakers and outside professional contacts for our students. The university-wide job fair has attracted many companies interested in hiring civil engineers and construction managers.  The departmental director for job placement also helps our students with their search for employment.

Faculty Qualifications The faculty are renowned worldwide and have published more textbooks (25) than any other civil engineering or construction department of similar size in the United States. These textbooks are used at a large number of highly regarded institutions. CEC faculty members have received numerous awards for teaching excellence and scholarship. Faculty have also conducted research for national, state, and local sponsors that have benefited our students.

This is the official catalog for the 2020-2021 academic year. This catalog serves as a contract between a student and Bradley University. Should changes in a program of study become necessary prior to the next academic year every effort will be made to keep students advised of any such changes via the Dean of the College or Chair of the Department concerned, the Registrar's Office, u.Achieve degree audit system, and the Schedule of Classes. It is the responsibility of each student to be aware of the current program and graduation requirements for particular degree programs.