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Civil and Environmental Engineering
| Stat | Undergrad | Masters | Ph.D. |
| Male | 166 | 60 | 38 |
| Female | 61 | 13 | 6 |
What is a Civil/Environmental Engineer?
Evidence of Civil Engineers is found in the bridges, roads, and aqueducts of Ancient Rome and other civilizations. It was not until Napoleon of France that Civil Engineering would become its own discipline. The very name Engineer came from the Latin words for engine and ingenious, ingenerare, which meant "to create."
The name Engineer was applied to military engineers which were individuals who would design military engines, such as catapults, towers, and short term bridges. The civilian counterpart to the military engineer was logically called the civil engineer. These used the technology of the time to benefit the civilian population.
Around the 1800s the Civil Engineering practice really started to pick up, with its birth in the United States starting with the Erie Canal in New York. Today Civil Engineers are involved in a variety of projects, from construction to public works, and transportation.
Environmental Engineers began in the United States around the 1830's. As the cities became larger and the water systems of the cities became more and more taxed, Environmental Engineers were called on to design water supply systems. Once the industrial revolution picked up in the U.S. water began to be contaminated due to industries releasing their wastes into the local waterways. This gave Environmental Engineers a chance to implement wastewater treatment into many cities.
By the end of World War II, air pollution was reaching critical levels, so once again Environmental Engineers were called upon to fix the problem. Since 1955, Environmental Engineers have been formally organized with certification programs to ensure that all Environmental Engineers can deal with water supply, air pollution, and wastewater treatment problems.
Both Civil
and Environmental Engineering disciplines are closely related since they both
work on civilian projects. Both fields offer great opportunities and varied
career paths.
What does the USF Civil/Environmental Engineering Department have to offer?
The University of South Florida besides offering basic instruction in the areas relating to civil engineering, has many research opportunities. To see a few of these research projects continue reading below.
Or visit their website at http://ce.eng.usf.edu/
Nanofiltration
Membrane Treatment for Removal of Algal Toxins
and Taste and Odor Causing Chemicals from Drinking Water
Producing
drinking water that is safe and aesthetically pleasing is an increasingly complex
challenge to engineers and water utilities throughout Florida and the United
States. Researchers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
are evaluating the effectiveness of nanofiltration membrane treatment to remove
undesirable chemicals from potable water sources. Target chemicals for removal
are microcystins, geosmin, 3-methylisoborneol, and natural organic matter. Microcystins
are hepatotoxins of public health concern, and are produced by cyanobacteria
(blue green algae) that are commonly found in surface waters in Florida. The
World Health Organization has established a health-based guideline of 1.0 microgram
per liter of total microcystins in water that is used for human potable consumption.
Geosmin and 3-methylisoborneol are also algal exudates, and cause undesirable
tastes and odors in drinking water. Natural organic matter is a ubiquitous product
of the natural carbon cycle and is of concern because of suspected health effects
of the disinfection by products that are formed when water is chlorinated. In
addition, there are a host of new low molecular weight chemical compounds of
public health concern that have recently appeared on the potable water radar
screen, such as endocrine disrupting chemicals and pharmaceutically active compounds.
Nanofiltration treatment has the potential to remove all of these chemical constituents
to varying degrees, but exact performance is influenced by the chemistry and
structure of the membranes and the composition of the water matrix.
Anand
Mody, a graduate student in the USF Environmental Engineering and Water
Resources Program, is working under the direction of Dr. Daniel Smith to evaluate
the capability of nanofiltration to remove the target chemicals. 
A
bench-scale testing unit is used in which different membranes are inserted and
exposed to pressurized test water (Figure 1). As a part of his graduate research,
Anand is evaluating the pressure, water flux, and solute rejection characteristics
of nanofiltration membranes under different permeate recoveries, and is applying
a modified linear diffusion model of solute rejection to interpret these interrelationships.
Although not hydraulically similar to a full-scale membrane plant, Anand’s
bench-scale test unit is producing important data that will assist in identifying
the optimal treatment process for this water.
The current experiments are evaluating nanofiltration for post-treatment of a Florida surface water that has already received treatment by conventional processes. The research indicates that several membranes are capable of producing a permeate water that well meets the water quality treatment objectives for all target chemical parameters, and that nanofiltration is a promising technology for treatment of this water source. If nanofiltration post-treatment is adopted at this water plant, it will be the largest application of this technology in the United States.
StatNamic Testing
Professor Gray Mullins; Ed Garbin; David Folk.
The University of South Florida is one of the leading institutions worldwide in StatNamic research. Developed through a joint effort by Berminghammer Foundation Equipment and TNO Building and Construction Research, Statnamic foundation testing has rapidly become an accepted method for determining the load-displacement characteristics of shallow and deep foundations. Professor Gray Mullins' research is aimed at developing additional applications for Statnamic testing. In conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), USF owns a 4 MN Statnamic device which utilizes a hydraulic catching mechanism. This is the largest such device currently available. Larger Statnamic models use a gravel catching system.
Pressure Grouting of Drilled Shaft Tips
Professor Gray Mullins; Steve Dapp.
The effect
of pressure-grouting drilled shaft tips on bearing capacity is not yet clear.
Through funding from the Florida Department of Transportation, Dr. Mullins is
leading a comprehensive research program which involves small and full-scale
testing as well as numerical modeling to study the influence of post-grouting
on pile capacity.
Soil Improvement Using Vibroflotation
Professor Alaa Ashmawy; Professor Gray Mullins; Ed Garbin; Nestor Sotelo.
The University of South Florida is participating in a joint study with Hawyard Baker, Inc., to improve settlement predictions of stone columns constructed in loose sand and silt deposits. Actual settlements are obtained from field mesurements and compared with the predicted values. Currently, the research is focused on developing an improved design procedure for randomly-spaced stone columns.
Site Characterization Using Geostatistics and GIS
Professor Alaa Ashmawy; Guy Rabens; Sekhar Kafle.
Database management of geotechnical
data represents a challenge due to the large amount of data to be stored and
the three dimensional nature of the soil profile. This becomes particularly
important when fast retrieval of the data is required for spatial analysis in
a GIS environment. Dr. Ashmawy's research, funded by the Florida Department
of Tranportation, is focused on improving the DBMS and spatial analysis module
connectivity through a combination of efficient data storage and advanced geostatistical
analysis. The GIS system, consisting of the DBMS and spatial analysis modules
is tested against field data collected in West Central Florida.
Long-term Behavior of Geosynthetics and GCL's
Professor Alaa Ashmawy; Professor Manjriker Gunaratne; Darwish Elhajji; Aideé Cira; Nestor Sotelo.
Environmental and mechanical degradation of geosynthetics is a major concern in structures subjected to harsh thermal, chemical, and mechanical fatigue conditions. Examples of such structures include MSE walls and landfill liners. Through support from several sources (Florida Department of Transportation, CDM, Geosynthetics manufacturers) Dr. Ashmawy is studying several aspect relating to the long term behavior of geosynthetics. Two major studies are currently focused on the response of the clay component of Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GCL's) to inorganic leachate, and creep of geogrids in MSE structures. The latter project is part of a collaborative research with Florida Atlantic University's Center for Marine Structures and Geotechnique.
Corrosion Research
Includes a variety of projects sponsored by Florida Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration specilizing on methods of detecting and lowering probability of rust.
For more information please visit: http://ce.eng.usf.edu/research_labs/corrosion/summary.html