Civil Engineering at City College Prof. Beth Wittig
Presentation outline 2 A little about me What do Civil Engineers do? What do I do and why? What coursework is required for CE at CCNY? Active CE student clubs on campus?
A little about me 3 BE from UCLA PhD from Univ of Texas Post-doc at Carnegie Mellon University Field engineer for 5 years setting up and running air quality monitoring networks in CA, TX, and PA Regulatory policy analyst for 1 year reviewed proposed regulations at the USEPA in DC All in chem eng, but my electives were mostly in environ eng Associate professor and chair of Civil Engineering at CCNY I handle student issues: scheduling, registration, advisement, exceptions
What is Civil 4 Engineering? Provide infrastructure within 3 specializations l Structures: Design of bridges, tunnels, buildings l Transportation: Travel demand planning, design of roadways and highways l Environment: Drinking water and wastewater treatment, air pollution control, solid waste management, hazardous waste management Structures Transportation Environment
What do I do? 5 I don t do traditional environmental engineering, but my research requires knowledge of it I do research to reduce air pollution (AP) levels indoors and outdoors, to protect environmental & public health I do this because
Air pollutants are 6 responsible for Climate change Stratospheric ozone depletion Smog and poor visibility Ecosystem acidification Degradation of materials and structures Destruction of crops.
Exposure to air pollution can cause illness & death NYC, 1953 7 Location Date Pollutants # of deaths # of illnesses Meuse Valley, BG Dec 1-5, 1930 SO 2 63 100s Donora, PA (rural) Poza Rica, Mexico Oct 26-31, 1948 PM & SO 2 from industrial mills 20 (+1000s of animals) 7,000 Nov 24, 1950 H 2 S 22 320 London, England Dec 5-9, 1952 PM & SO 2 from coal burning 4,000 1000s New York, NY Nov 24-30, 1966 PM and SO 2 168 unknown Bhopal India Dec 1984 methyl isocyanate 2500 unknown
The air is much cleaner now, but 8 NYC & NE US violate federal standard for PM 2.5 Also, NYC & US possess limited ability to protect against biochemical threat agents
Examples of my research 9 Develop instruments to measure pollutant levels in Teflon blank air Sample Use instruments to measure air pollutants Absorbance 3900 3400 2900 2400 1900 1400 900 400 Wavenumber (cm -1 )
Examples of my research 10 Improve understanding of how PM disperses in complex indoor spaces Refine models used to predict pollutant levels & estimate effectiveness of regulations
What goes into my research? 11 The atmosphere behaves like a chemical reactor with complex flow Transport & dispersion Kinetics & thermodynamics Civil Eng: knowledge of pollution sources Chem Eng: Kinetics, thermodynamics and transport / dispersion of air Mech Eng: Tools to visualize PM dispersion & transport Public health: Exposure estimation and risk analysis Physics: Particle motion Chemistry: Laboratory analysis of PM samples Field work: Instrument design and operation
Required CE Coursework 12 Core courses: All students take the core courses: l Includes courses in math, chemistry, physics, and CE courses in structural engineering, transportation, environmental engineering and data analysis Specialization courses: Students pick 1 specialization and take additional courses in it to develop expertise l Structures l Transportation l Environment l Common aka multidisciplinary
Core courses Special -ization courses * Math, physics, chemistry, engineering / engineering science, and liberal arts not shown CE 20900 Structural & site plans CE 23100 Structural mechanics CE 33200 Mechanics of deform bodies CE 34000 Structural analysis CE 34500 Soil mechanics CE 43500 Dynamics of CE systems CE 44100 Reinforced concrete CE 35000 Fluid mechanics CE 36500 Hydrology & hydraulics CE 37200 Environ impact assess CE 47400 Environ engineering I CE 32600 Transport n planning CE 32700 Transport n systems eng CE 26400 CE Data analysis CE 31600 CE Decision & system analysis CE 33500 13 Computational methods in CE CE 40100 Review of eng fundamentals CE 40500 CE management CE 50900 Senior Design Specialization Core (choose an option and take both courses in it) Structures Transportation Environmental CE 440: FEA of structures CE 520: Traffic Engineering CE 566: Eng Hydrology CE 442: Structural Design CE 540: Highways Eng CE 583/4: Air poll /SW Mgmt Multidisciplinary (take 4 courses total from the 6 listed here) Specialization Electives (take 2 more courses from same option) Structures Transportation CE 55000: Adv reinf concrete CE 54100: Highway & Airport Environmental CE 59000: Foundation eng CE 59000: Foundation eng CE 57100: WQ analysis CE 53000: Adv d strength CE 52500: Geo des facilities Chem 26100: Org chem ME 46100: Materials science CE 52600: Rail system design CE 51003: Indep Study CE 51003: Independent study CE 54500: Urban transportation ENGR 301: Remote CE 50500: Constrct Proj mgmt Sensing CE 51003: Independent Study ENGR 59901: GIS
What makes CE different from ESE 14 CE: learn environmental engineering and other topics l Take 8 env classes and 9 structures + trans classes ESE: learn earth science Most important difference is in your future career l There is a difference between an environ. engineer vs an earth scientist l As a CE, you can work as an environmental engineer, a structural engineer or a transportation engineer
15 Active CE student clubs at CCNY Concrete Canoe Steel Bridge Engineers Without Borders (not just CE) Provide several opportunities: l Great on resume because show passion, ethics, creativity and dedication (all) l Hands-on learning (all) l Service (EWB)
Students design, build, and race a canoe: l Must use a specific material in mix l Must be buoyant and able to withstand torsion l Must be streamlined CCNY has gone to Nationals several times in recent years 16
Students design, build, & compete scale model bridge l Must accommodate passenger vehicles and allow ships to pass under l Must use a specific design and tolerate 2,500 lb load l Must be assembled quickly CCNY has gone to Nationals several times in recent years 17
Students bid on, assess, design, and 18 implement a project to provide infrastructure to needy communities Typical projects: Potable water, sanitation, ventilation, energy, roadways, bridges, buildings CCNY chapter started in 2005 Completed 3 projects in Honduras & working on new one in Camaroon now
Example 19 Project Gravity fed water system for 350 people in a small village at the top of a mountain in Honduras Disinfection / storage tank (12 x 20 x 6 ; concrete; Chlorine drip) Spring (concrete dam & lid) Pipeline to community (0.5 PVC) 1 mile pipeline with valves (1.5 PVC/GI)
How to join student clubs àccny CE website à Select Info for students à Select the club you are interested in under student activities à Look up executive board & email club secretary 20
Final thoughts Get involved in 21 student clubs and research! After you have begun taking your major classes, you should consider getting more involved! l Research in a lab on campus: Prior experience is not always necessary and you may get paid. l An engineering student club: The projects are broad and so you can contribute even if you are not an expert on a topic. It looks great on your resume, you may get paid, and it offers hands on experiences for some of your coursework!
Questions?
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Students bid on, assess, design, and implement a project to provide infrastructure to needy communities Typical projects: Potable water, sanitation, ventilation, energy, roadways, bridges, buildings CCNY chapter started in 2005 Completed 3 projects in Honduras & working on new one in Camaroon now 24
Environmental monitoring - Surveying - Water quality - Water quantity 25
Design - Needs - Constraints - Technical analysis 26 Ex. Gravity fed water system for 350 people in Honduras Disinfection / storage tank (12 x 20 x 6 ; concrete; Chlorine drip) Spring (concrete dam & lid) Pipeline to community (0.5 PVC) 1 mile pipeline with valves (1.5 PVC/GI)
Construction - Little infrastructure - Possibly no line power 27