Civil and Environmental Engineering

B.S., Civil Engineering

It's hard to cross the river without a bridge

Breathe in, breathe out, and feel good about it. Drive across the Connecticut River and don't wonder if the bridge will hold. Accelerate safely through the highway's perfect curves. Don't question if a building's foundation was planned with a rainy season in mind.

Don't worry about it, because a civil engineer has done all the questioning for you.

Civil engineering is a people-serving profession. Civil engineers design our roads and buildings, ensure that our water and air is clean, and plan our towns and recreation areas. As the world's population grows and environmental concerns continue to rise, the demand for civil and environmental engineers will become greater than ever.

A world of opportunity

Civil engineering graduates typically work with the technologies of structures design and implementation, structural mechanics and analysis, soil testing, water and wastewater treatment, transportation design and safety, and environmental remediation. In addition to jobs in industry, graduates find positions in government, management, sales, and consulting. Still others are giving back to the profession by teaching undergraduates at colleges and universities both in the United States and around the world.

What you'll study

Our philosophy is to graduate well-rounded and complete civil and environmental engineers. You will gain fundamental technical knowledge in subjects such as measurements, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, hydraulics, transportation planning, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, and environmental engineering. Through electives, students can concentrate on one or more of these areas in their senior year. Because you will directly serve people as a civil and environmental engineer, the course work emphasizes verbal and written communication skills.

www.ecs.umass.edu/cee

Alumnus Profile

Jon Dietrich

Civil and Environmental Engineering, BS '69, MS '74
Associate, Senior Transportation Engineer
Fuss & O'Neill

The next time you're sitting at a stoplight, or gliding down a bike path or walking across an intersection, you might think about Jon Dietrich. Because at all of those venues, Jon Dietrich is thinking about you.

Well, maybe not you specifically. But as a transportation engineer, it's Jon Dietrich's job to consider how people move through the world, and what effect that motion has on the environment.

For nearly three decades, Dietrich has designed and analyzed thoroughfares of all sorts, from woodland paths and crosswalks to highways and intersections. Most recently, he and his firm have worked on a number of environmentally friendly projects such as a plan to turn a dyke along the Connecticut River into a two-level pathway, with pedestrian access at the crest and a bikeway at the base.

Unlike many engineers, Dietrich did not arrive at his major by way of math and science. "Those things were actually not my forte'," says Dietrich. "I was more interested in tinkering and mechanics." He transferred to UMass in the late 60s, after two years at Berkshire Community College, which was, he says, "a great starting place."

Dietrich and his colleagues at Fuss & O'Neill are impressed with the quality of College of Engineering students. In fact, of the firm's 29 current employees in the West Springfield office, seven are UMass Amherst alums. "We're always pleased to interview UMass graduates," he says. "They're always good students who stack up to anybody."

Dietrich says that engineers tend to be a "practical, creative, down-to-earth lot," a description he himself typifies. "Engineers are doers," he says. "With enough time and ingenuity, we can solve anything." Including, in Dietrich's case, improving the mobility of all manner of movers - walkers and bikers, runners and drivers - and getting them safely and efficiently from Point A to Point B.

"I was never really a 'big-school' kind of guy," Jon Dietrich recalls. "But here was this small, kind of intimate department on the edge of campus. It wasn't remote at all, but it had this great homey feeling. I was so impressed with the faculty, and I still am. I just liked the people around me."

Student Profile

Kristin Cisowski

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Salem, N.H.

Marc Sylvander

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Chicopee, Mass.

What do student-athletes Kristin Cisowski and Marc Sylvander have in common? They both seem to be "in a race against time," as Kristin puts it.

Consider a typical schedule for either award-winner. Up before sunrise, they get in a morning run before going to practice, then class, then another class, then another class sometimes as well, finishing it all off with a second practice and a night-time study group, only to start it over again the next morning.

Marc and Kristin site the closeness of their athletic, academic, and social lives as essential to their ability to combine all three. In Kristin's case, the Talent Advancement Program (TAP) has made social life and academic life come together perfectly. TAP offers those in a particular major the opportunity to live and study together. "When you're in TAP you often end up forming a study group with your friends, and you stick with them throughout your time at UMass. My friends are like my all-purpose support family."

Marc feels the same about his own TAP experience. In addition, his professors are supportive, helping him find ways to do his work outside of class if his track meet schedule sometimes conflicts.

Both Kristin and Marc are definitely doing something right, breaking athletic records while also achieving great things in their academic lives. Marc recently set the Atlantic-10 400m outdoor record and also won an A-10 conference student athlete award, while Kristin is the first woman in UMass history to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships twice in her career.

"Whether I'm on the field or in the class, I'm always trying to do my best," Marc says. "And I'm pushing against myself rather than an opponent," Kristin adds.