CVEN Subdisciplines & Optional Focus Areas

Civil engineering is a broad field, and the CVEN curriculum is intentionally broad as a result, giving you fundamental knowledge in all five subdisciplines.  You may choose to tailor your degree and focus in one or more subdisciplines through your selection of proficiency and elective courses.

   Important to know: All CVEN students must complete one set of pre/co-requisites for CVEN 4899 Civil Engineering Senior Project Design, even if you don't want to follow an area of focus.

You are not required to officially declare or follow an area of focus.  However, many students are naturally drawn to one or more subdisciplines within civil engineering and want to tailor their studies accordingly.  Many employers expect some level of depth/expertise beyond just the fundamental and proficiency courses.  Even if you鈥檙e not fully committed to a single focus area, you may be able to narrow down your interests to two areas.

You may also want to consider your plans for graduate school.  If you plan to get a master鈥檚 degree, you will have the opportunity to specialize in greater depth later on.  If you plan to go directly into the workforce with your bachelor鈥檚 degree, however, your proficiencies and technical electives will have a greater impact on your job opportunities after graduation.  Consider what knowledge base employers will be looking for, and how you will set yourself apart from other applicants.

Your faculty mentor is an excellent resource to talk about your interests and possible career paths.  They can help you identify the best proficiency and elective courses based on what employers in the field are likely to expect from a civil engineering graduate.  They can also help you sort through your options and prioritize courses if you鈥檙e interested in multiple subdisciplines.  General recommendations for each focus area are also provided below.

Recommended course plans - proficiency and elective courses for each focus area

Recommended Proficiencies

  • CVEN 3256 Construction Equipment & Methods
  • CVEN 4555 Reinforced Concrete Design
  • CVEN 3718 Geotechnical Engineering 2

Technical Electives - Strongly Recommended

  • AREN 4506 Pre-Construction Estimating & Scheduling
  • AREN 4606 Construction Project Execution & Control

Technical Electives - Recommended

  • AREN 4315 Design of Masonry Structures
  • CVEN 3602 Transportation Systems
  • CVEN 4147 Civil Engineering Systems
  • CVEN 4333 Engineering Hydrology
  • CVEN 4545 Steel Design
  • CVEN 4565 Design of Wood Structures
  • CVEN 4728 Foundation Engineering
  • CEM graduate courses (with instructor consent)

Technical/Free Electives - Other good options

  • AREN 2050 Building Materials & Systems (counts as Free Elective or Basic Engineering Elective only)
  • AREN 3010 Energy Efficient Buildings
  • AREN 3540 Illumination 1
  • AREN 4110 HVAC System Design
  • AREN 4830 Computer Simulation of Building Systems
  • CVEN 5565 Life-Cycle Engineering of Civil Infrastructure Systems
  • EMEN 4100 Engineering Economics

Recommended Proficiencies

  • CVEN 3424 Water & Wastewater Treatment
  • CVEN 4333 Engineering Hydrology
  • CVEN 3718 Geotechnical Engineering 2

Technical Electives - Strongly recommended

  • CVEN 4404 Water Chemistry
  • CVEN 4484 Introduction to Environmental Microbiology

Technical Electives - Recommended

  • CVEN 3434 Introduction to Applied Ecology
  • CVEN 4434 Environmental Engineering Design
  • CVEN 4464 Environmental Engineering Processes
  • CVEN 4474 Hazardous & Industrial Waste Management
  • CVEN 4554 Fundamentals of Air Quality Management
  • CVEN 4594 Water Reuse and Reclamation
  • CVEN 4969 Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries
  • EVEN 4100 Environmental Sampling and Analysis

Recommended Proficiencies

  • CVEN 3718 Geotechnical Engineering 2
  • CVEN 4333 Engineering Hydrology
  • CVEN 4555 Reinforced Concrete Design

Technical Electives - Strongly recommended

  • CVEN 4728 Foundation Engineering
  • CVEN 5708 Soil Mechanics

Technical Electives - Recommended

  • CVEN 4161 Mechanics of Materials 2
  • CVEN 4511 Introduction to Finite Element Analysis
  • CVEN 5537 Numerical Methods in Civil Engineering
  • CVEN 5798 Soil Dynamics 

Recommended Proficiencies

  • CVEN 4545 Steel Design or CVEN 4555 Reinforced Concrete Design
  • CVEN 3256 Construction Equipment & Methods
  • CVEN 3718 Geotechnical Engineering 2

Technical Electives - Strongly recommended

  • CVEN 4161 Mechanics of Materials 2
  • CVEN 4545 or 4555, whichever not taken as proficiency

Technical Electives - Recommended

  • Primarily design鈥恛riented careers:
    • AREN 4315 Design of Masonry Structures
    • CVEN 4525 Matrix Structural Analysis
    • CVEN 4535 Construction Materials
    • CVEN 4565 Design of Wood Structures
    • CVEN 4728 Foundation Engineering
  • Primarily theoretical鈥恛riented careers and graduate school preparation:
    • CVEN 4511 Intro to Finite Element Analysis
    • CVEN 4525 Matrix Structural Analysis
    • CVEN 5111 Structural Dynamics
    • CVEN 5131 Continuum Mechanics and Elasticity

Recommended Proficiencies

  • CVEN 4333 Engineering Hydrology
  • CVEN 3424 Water and Wastewater Treatment
  • One of the following:
    • CVEN 3718 Geotechnical Engineering 2
    • CVEN 4545 Steel Design
    • CVEN 4555 Reinforced Concrete Design

Technical Electives - Strongly recommended

  • CVEN 4133 Nonpoint Source Pollution
  • CVEN 4303 Analysis of Urban Water Systems
  • CVEN 4353 Groundwater Engineering
  • CVEN 4383 Applied Groundwater Modeling
  • CVEN 5363 Modeling of Hydrologic Systems

Technical Electives - Recommended

  • CVEN 4404 Water Chemistry
  • CVEN 3434 Introduction to Applied Ecology
  • ATOC 3600 Principles of Climate
  • GEOG 4321 Snow Hydrology
  • GEOG 4501 Water Resources and Water Management of the Western United States