Environmental Engineering

About the Program

Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering (BSENE): 193.5 quarter credits

Environmental engineering is concerned with protecting human, animal, and plant populations from the effects of adverse environmental factors, including toxic chemicals and wastes, pathogenic bacteria, and global warming.

Environmental engineers try to minimize the effect of human activities on the physical and living environment so that we can all live more healthy and sustainable lives.This field builds on other branches of engineering, especially civil, chemical, and mechanical engineering. It also builds on information from many of the sciences, such as chemistry, physics, hydrology, geology, atmospheric science, and several specializations of biology (ecology, microbiology, and biochemistry). Students who elect to study environmental engineering will become familiar with many of these areas because maintaining and improving the environment requires that problems be evaluated and solutions found using a multidisciplinary approach.

Mission

The mission of the undergraduate environmental engineering program at Drexel University is to graduate outstanding engineers who can identify, evaluate and solve complex environmental problems, and who desire to continue their education on a lifelong basis.

Program Educational Objectives

Environmental engineering graduates will become professionals who analyze, design, construct, manage or operate facilities or systems to protect or enhance the environment of people and other living things, or advance knowledge of the field.

Student Outcomes

The department’s student outcomes reflect the skills and abilities that the curriculum is designed to provide to students by the time they graduate. These are:   

a)            an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering;

b)            an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data;

c)            an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability;

d)            an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams;

e)            an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems;

f)             an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility;

g)            an ability to communicate effectively;

h)            the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context;

i)             a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning;

j)             a knowledge of contemporary issues;

k)            an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for environmental engineering practice.

Additional Information

The Environmental Engineering program is accredited by the EAC Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org.

For more information about this major, visit the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department and the BS in Environmental Engineering page.

Degree Requirements

Writing-Intensive Course Requirements

In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Center. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

Sample Plan of Study 

5 YR UG Co-op Concentration

Co-op/Career Opportunities

Environmental Engineers pursue careers with many different industries, such as chemical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing, in groundwater and hazardous waste remediation, in water or wastewater treatment, in air pollution abatement and control, and in mining. Some also join environmental consulting firms which serve several engineering areas. In addition, some students go to graduate school. The breadth of an environmental engineering education prepares the student to follow many career paths.

Co-op Experiences

Past co-op employers of Environmental Engineering majors have included:

• Exelon, Philadelphia, PA
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Philadelphia, PA
• Philadelphia Water Department, Philadelphia, PA
• Sun Co., Philadelphia, PA
• Aqua America, Bryn Mawr, PA
• Fairmount Park Commission, Philadelphia, PA
• Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA
• Weston Solutions, West Chaster, PA

Dual/Accelerated Degree

The Accelerated Program of the College of Engineering provides opportunities for highly-talented and strongly-motivated students to progress toward their educational goals essentially at their own pace. Through advanced placement, credit by examination, flexibility of scheduling, and independent study, the program makes it possible to complete the undergraduate curriculum and initiate graduate study in less than the five years required by the standard curriculum.

Bachelor’s/Master’s Dual Degree Program

Drexel offers a combined MS/BS degree program for our top engineering students who want to obtain both degrees in the same time period as most students obtain a Bachelors degree.

For more information on this program visit the Department's BS /MS Dual Degree Program page.

Minor in Environmental Engineering

The Environmental Engineering minor focuses on pollution control and is primarily designed to broaden the professional capabilities of engineering students. For example, chemical and mechanical engineers working in process and manufacturing plants will be provided with a better understanding of the natural context of their facilities, better equipped to perform fate and risk analyses, and better able to apply the appropriate technology to control air and water discharges.

While this minor is designed to provide technical knowledge and skills to other engineers, with the appropriate prerequisites students from disciplines other than engineering can also complete this minor.

The minor consists of five required core courses and nine additional credits taken from a list of options.

Prerequisites

The common engineering core curriculum prerequisites are required of all students in the College of Engineering. Students from other colleges will need the appropriate background in physics, mathematics and thermodynamics.

Facilities

The Department is well equipped with state-of-the-art facilities:

• The department computer labs are in operation: a computer-assisted design (CAD) and computerized instructional lab; and a graduate-level lab (advanced undergraduates can become involved in graduate-level work).
• External labs are used for surveying, building diagnostics, and surface and ground-water measurements.
• A $4.5-million instruction and research lab renovation was funded by the National Science Foundation, alumni, and corporations.

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty

Interdepartmental Faculty

Emeritus Faculty