Environmental engineers have taken an increasingly important role in activities of the world in recent years, because of the problems related to air, land, and water contamination. Environmental engineers provide treatment facilities that render industrial and human wastes free from contaminants. They design, construct, and operate systems that purify water for drinking, industrial, and recreational uses. They also develop and implement air purification devices and models that describe the transport, transportation, and removal of contaminants in the atmosphere. Solid and hazardous waste management protocols are also developed and implemented by environmental engineers. Many environmental engineers develop plans and conduct research to solve problems related to our rapidly changing technological society and expanding human population.

At the undergraduate level at the University of Illinois, environmental engineering is a specialization area for students seeking a B.S. degree in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. For more information about the Department, its facilities, and the general requirements for this degree, see the Civil and Environmental Engineering web pages and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Handbook, which can be obtained from the Civil and Environmental Engineering office, 1104 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory. The following discussion and requirements are for guidance only --- the Handbook should be consulted for complete information.

The undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering program plan includes both Primary and Secondary areas of technical specialization.

Students whose principal interest is Environmental Engineering take this area as their area of primary specialization. Environmental Engineering is also available as a secondary area to students whose primary area is some other field in Civil Engineering.

The secondary area of specialization is composed of at least 6 hours of technical electives. The traditional secondary areas of specialization in Civil and Environmental Engineering, available to those with a primary area of Environmental Engineering, are:

• Construction Management
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Hydrosystems Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Risk and Reliability
• Structural Engineering
• Surveying and Photogrammetry
• Transportation Engineering

Several interesting secondary areas of specialization are available outside the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in addition to the traditional. These non-departmental secondary areas are:

• Atmospheric Sciences
• Chemistry
• Chemical Engineering
• Microbiology
• Toxicology.

The following is a brief outline of the principal requirements for a B.S. degree in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering with primary specialization in Environmental Engineering.

• Basic, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences: at least six hours from the approved list. Recommended (but not required) are courses from the following:
  • CHEM 121 Elem Quantitative Analysis
  • CHEM 232 Elementary Organic Chemistry I
  • GEOL 250 Geology for Engineers
  • MSE 401 Thermodynamics of Materials
  • MCB 300 Microbiology
  • ME 300 Thermodynamics
  • STAT 420 Methods of Applied Statistics

• Civil and Environmental Engineering Core Courses: at least five courses from the approved list (which includes one course from each area of Civil and Environmental Engineering).
  Required are
  • CEE 330 Environmental Engineering
  • CEE 350 Water Resources Engineering
  Recommended is
  • CEE 380 Geotechnical Engineering.

• Primary Technical Electives: at least 12 hours in the primary specialization.
  Required is one course from among
  • CEE 437 Water Quality Engineering
  • CEE 440 Solid and Hazardous Waste
  • CEE 446 Air Quality Engineering
  Recommended courses are
  • Any remaining courses of the three above
  • CEE 430 Ecological Quality Engineering
  • CEE 434 Environmental Systems, I
  • CEE 442 Env Eng Principles, Physical
  • CEE 443 Env Eng Principles, Chemical
  • CEE 444 Env Eng Principles, Biological
  • CEE 445 Air Quality Modeling
  • CEE 447 Atmospheric Chemistry
  • CEE 452 Hydraulic Analysis and Design
  • CEE 453 Urban Hydrology and Hydraulics
  • CEE 454 Groundwater

• Secondary Technical Electives: At least 6 hours from an approved list for the secondary area.