The skills of environmental engineers are becoming increasingly important as we attempt to protect the fragile resources of our planet.
Environmental engineers translate physical, chemical and biological processes into systems to:
- destroy toxic substances
- remove pollutants from water
- reduce non-hazardous solid waste volumes
- eliminate contaminants from the air
- develop groundwater supplies
In this field, you might be called upon to:
- resolve problems of providing safe drinking water
- clean up sites contaminated with hazardous materials
- clean up and prevent air pollution
- treat wastewater
manage solid wastes
As a water resources engineer, you might be involved in the design, construction or maintenance of:
- hydroelectric power facilities
- canals
- dams
- pipelines
- pumping stations
- locks
- seaport facilities
Faculty in Environmental and Water Resources
Research
The active areas of environmental/water resource research include the following:
- biochemical/physicochemical treatment processes
- biological nutrient removal
- biological and chemical transformation of contaminants
- ceramic materials in water treatment
- emerging renewable energy
- environmental applications and impact of nanotechnology
- hazardous waste management
- membrane processes
- public policy
- storm water pollution control
- waste challenges facing small communities
- water quality
- water treatment process design and control
- wetlands mitigation
Environmental Laboratories
The environmental laboratories have capabilities for analysis of various chemicals in water and air as well as allows students to setup experiments which simulate actual treatment process units. Similarly, the water resources laboratories include both physical and computer modeling capabilities such as a hydrology table, software for Geographic Information Systems and several hydraulic computer modeling and optimization packages.
The physical laboratories are shared-use, 2,400 square foot, and houses gas chromatographs, a BET analyzer, and high pressure liquid chromatograph, and ion chromatograph, an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, and a UV-Vis spectrophotometer among others.