Architectural Engineering MSAE

Major: Architectural Engineering
Degree Awarded: Master of Science in Architectural Engineering (MSAE)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 45.0 (MSAE)
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 14.0401
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9041

About the Program

Architectural Engineering is inherently an interdisciplinary enterprise that is centered on the design, construction, and operation of the built environment. Architectural Engineering MS graduates may include students with expertise in one or more of the following sub-disciplines (usually housed in civil/environmental engineering and elsewhere in traditional disciplinary constructs or newly developing fields of focus or expertise):

  • Building energy efficiency and alternative energy
  • Indoor environmental quality

Our graduates are engineers and researchers trained in integrated building design and operation practices, who can work on interdisciplinary teams that are able to develop creative solutions combined with technological advances to produce functional, efficient, attractive and sustainable building infrastructure.

Additional Information

For more information, visit the MS in Architectural Engineering or Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering webpage.

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the MS Architectural Engineering must meet the following requirements:

  • A BS in Engineering OR
  • For students without an Engineering degree, the following courses, or their approved equivalents from other departments, will meet these requirements:
    • Introduction to Fluid FlowCIVE 320
    • Introduction to ThermodynamicsENGR 210
    • Heat TransferMEM 345 – for Building Energy students
    • General Chemistry IICHEM 102 – for Indoor Environmental Quality students


The application package will include:

  • undergraduate and graduate transcripts
  • three letters of recommendation from faculty or professionals who can evaluate the applicant’s promise as a graduate student
  • GRE scores (optional)
  • a written statement of career and educational goals

Competitive applicants will possess an undergraduate GPA of 3.30 or higher and GRE scores above the 60th percentile.

For more information, visit College of Engineering Graduate Admissions.

Degree Requirements 

The goal of the MS in Architectural Engineering (AE) is to produce graduates who have a solid understanding of the Architectural Engineering discipline as well as an understanding of the interrelationships between the major AE sub-disciplines. Graduates will have demonstrated the ability and capacity to apply that understanding and skill, and the curriculum and project requirements are designed to provide to the students and then ask them to demonstrate the ability to effectively engage in professional-level performance.

Required Courses
Core Courses for all AE students
AE 510Intelligent Buildings3.0
AE 544Building Envelope Systems3.0
AE 550Indoor Air Quality3.0
AE 551Building Energy Systems I *3.0
or AE 552 Building Energy Systems II
MEM 591Applied Engr Analy Methods I3.0
MEM 592Applied Engr Analy Methods II3.0
Graduate Technical Electives
Must complete at least 9.0 credits the list below:9.0
Building Energy Systems II *
Data Acquisition and Analytics in Built Environment
Airflow Simulation in Built Environment
Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics I
Transport Phenomena I
Fundamentals of Air Pollution Control
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
Chemical Kinetics in Environmental Engineering
Risk Assessment
Data-based Engineering Modeling
Chemistry of the Environment
Conduction Heat Transfer
Convection Heat Transfer
Foundations of Fluid Mechanics
Additional Electives **18.0
Total Credits45.0
*

If AE 552 is taken as a core required course, it cannot be taken as a technical elective. Conversely, if AE 552 is taken as a technical elective, it cannot be counted as a core required course.

**

The balance of the required 45.0 credits, a maximum of 18.0 credits, will be electives approved by the student’s advisor and the departmental graduate advisor in any of the following subjects: AE, CHE, CHEC, CHEM, CIVE, ENVE, ENSS, ENVP, ENVS, MATH, MEM (500-699).

Sample Plan of Study 

 Sample Plan of Study

First Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCredits
AE 5443.0AE 5103.0Graduate Technical Elective3.0
AE 5503.0AE 551 or 5523.0Additional Electives6.0
MEM 5913.0MEM 5923.0 
 9 9 9
Second Year
FallCreditsWinterCredits 
Graduate Technical Elective3.0Graduate Technical Elective3.0 
Additional Electives6.0Additional Electives6.0 
 9 9 
Total Credits 45

Undergraduate Course Prerequisites for students without an Engineering Degree:

The following courses, or their approved equivalents from other departments, will meet these requirements:

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty

Abieyuwa Aghayere, PhD (University of Alberta). Professor. Structural design - concrete, steel and wood; structural failure analysis; retrofitting of existing structures; new structural systems and materials; engineering education.
Ivan Bartoli, PhD (University of California, San Diego). Associate Professor. Non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring; dynamic identification, stress wave propagation modeling.
Shannon Capps, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology). Associate Professor. Atmospheric chemistry; data assimilation; advanced sensitivity analysis; inverse modeling.
S.C. Jonathan Cheng, PhD (West Virginia University). Associate Professor. Soil mechanics; geosynthetics; geotechnical engineering; probabilistic design; landfill containments; engineering education.
Yaghoob (Amir) Farnam, PhD (Purdue University). Associate Professor. Advanced and sustainable infrastructure materials; multifunctional, self-responsive and bioinspired construction materials; advanced multiscale manufacturing; characterization, and evaluation of construction materials; durability of cement-based materials.
Patricia Gallagher, PhD (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). Professor. Geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering; soil improvement; soil improvement; recycled materials in geotechnics.
Patrick Gurian, PhD (Carnegie-Mellon University). Professor. Risk analysis of environmental and infrastructure systems; novel adsorbent materials; environmental standard setting; Bayesian statistical modeling; community outreach and environmental health.
Charles N. Haas, PhD (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) Program Head for Environmental Engineering; L. D. Betz Professor of Environmental Engineering. Water treatment; risk assessment; bioterrorism; environmental modeling and statistics; microbiology; environmental health.
Simi Hoque, PhD (University of California - Berkeley) Program Head for Architectural Engineering. Professor. Computational methods to reduce building energy and environmental impacts, urban metabolism, thermal comfort, climate resilience.
Y. Grace Hsuan, PhD (Imperial College). Professor. Durability of polymeric construction materials; advanced construction materials; and performance of geosynthetics.
Joseph B. Hughes, PhD (University of Iowa). Distinguished University Professor. Biological processes and applications of nanotechnology in environmental systems.
L. James Lo, PhD (University of Texas at Austin). Associate Professor. Architectural fluid mechanics; building automation and autonomy; implementation of natural and hybrid ventilation in buildings; airflow distribution in buildings; large-scale air movement in an urban built environment; building and urban informatics; data-enhanced sensing and control for optimal building operation and management; novel data gathering methods for building/urban problem solving; interdisciplinary research on occupant behaviors in the built environment.
Franco Montalto, PhD (Cornell University). Professor. Effects of built infrastructure on societal water needs, ecohydrologic patterns and processes, ecological restoration, green design, and water interventions.
Mira S. Olson, PhD (University of Virginia). Associate Professor. Peace engineering; source water quality protection and management; contaminant and bacterial fate and transport; community engagement.
Miguel A. Pando, PhD (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). Associate Professor. Laboratory testing of geomaterials; geotechnical aspects of natural hazards; soil-structure-interaction; geotechnical engineering.
Matthew Reichenbach, PhD (University of Austin at Texas). Assistant Teaching Professor. Design and behavior of steel structures, bridge engineering, structural stability
Michael Ryan, PhD (Drexel University) Associate Department Head of Graduate Studies. Associate Teaching Professor. Microbial Source Tracking (MST); Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA); dynamic engineering systems modeling; molecular microbial biology; phylogenetics; metagenomics; bioinformatics; environmental statistics; engineering economics; microbiology; potable and wastewater quality; environmental management systems.
Christopher Sales, PhD (University of California, Berkeley). Associate Professor. Environmental microbiology and biotechnology; biodegradation of environmental contaminants; microbial processes for energy and resource recovery from waste; application of molecular biology, analytical chemistry and bioinformatic techniques to study environmental biological systems.
Robert Swan Teaching Professor. Geotechnical and geosynthetic engineering; soil/geosynthetic interaction and performance; laboratory and field geotechnical/geosynthetic testing.
Sharon Walker, PhD (Yale University) Dean, College of Engineering. Distinguished Professor. Water quality systems engineering
Michael Waring, PhD (University of Texas at Austin) Department Head, Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering. Associate Professor. Indoor air quality and building sustainability; indoor particulate matter fate and transport; indoor chemistry and particle formation; secondary impacts of control technologies and strategies.
Jin Wen, PhD (University of Iowa). Professor. Architectural engineering; Building Energy Efficiency; Intelligent Building; Net-zero Building; and Indoor Air Quality.
Aspasia Zerva, PhD (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign). Professor. Earthquake engineering; mechanics; seismology; structural reliability; system identification; advanced computational methods in structural analysis.

Emeritus Faculty

A. Emin Aktan, PhD (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign). Professor Emeritus. Health monitoring and management of large infrastructures with emphasis on health monitoring.
Eugenia Ellis, PhD, AIA (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). Professor Emerita. Natural and electrical light sources and effects on biological rhythms and health outcomes; ecological strategies for smart, sustainable buildings of the nexus of health, energy, and technology.
Ahmad Hamid, PhD (McMaster University). Professor Emeritus. Engineered masonry; seismic behavior, design and retrofit of masonry structures; development of new materials and building systems.
Harry G. Harris, PhD (Cornell University). Professor Emeritus. Structural models; dynamics of structures, plates and shells; industrialized building construction.
Joseph P. Martin, PhD (Colorado State University). Professor Emeritus. Geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering; hydrology; transportation; waste management.
James E. Mitchell, MArch (University of Pennsylvania). Professor Emeritus. Architectural engineering design; building systems; engineering education.
Joseph V. Mullin, PhD (Pennsylvania State University). Teaching Professor Emeritus. Structural engineering; failure analysis; experimental stress analysis; construction materials; marine structures.
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