Newmark Laboratory

Environmental Engineering and Science

Graduate Programs
 

The Environmental Engineering and Science graduate program within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering leads to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering or Environmental Science in Civil Engineering (See Degree Requirements for information on which degree you are eligible for). Students may specialize in one of several specialty areas, including air quality engineering and science, aquatic biology/ecology, environmental chemistry, environmental systems analysis, hazardous waste management, water quality microbiology, and water quality process engineering. The program is sufficiently flexible to accommodate a wide variety of interests and backgrounds. Cooperation with other departments and programs of the university encourages the development of a coordinated approach to the solution of complex environmental problems. Each speciality area is built on required core courses and appropriate advanced and elective courses, chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor, to meet graduation requirements. Core courses are listed below, followed by discussions of the specialty areas and their course requirements, listed by specialty area.

CORE COURSES

Each of the specialty areas in Environmental Engineering and Science requires a subset of the core courses listed here. For details, see the sections on the specialty areas below.

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AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

For details about each specialization area, click on its name, or simply scroll down to browse through all of the areas.

The sections below provide detailed information about each of the seven specialization areas in Environmental Engineering and Science.

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AIR QUALITY ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE

This area concentrates on the fundamental mechanisms that control the chemistry and physics of air quality and contaminant emissions. Consideration is given to gas and particle phases and their interactions in atmospheric, industrial, and laboratory systems. Students with strong engineering, chemistry, physics, and math backgrounds are suited for this specialty. Employment opportunities for graduates with MS degrees include those in industrial air quality control and process groups, environmental consulting firms, and governmental agencies. Ph.D. students can find employment in these areas as well as in research and academic institutions.

  1. Required Courses

    Note: Students entering this option without CEE 446 (or its equivalent) will be required to complete it during their graduate studies.

  2. Elective Courses

    Aerosol and atmospheric science, air quality process engineering, and atmospheric chemistry are important facets of air quality studies. Thus example electives listed below are divided into these areas, with an additional fourth area of related engineering science courses. This breakdown is for convenience only. Students should select appropriate electives from any of these groups in accordance with research and career objectives and in consultation with their advisor. Students may also select courses not listed below in consultation with their advisors.

     Note: Air Quality Engineering and Science students often find more flexibility in the job market when they have supplemented their studies with courses from other environmental options. Courses such as CEE 449, CEE 437 and CEE 443 are therefore highly recommended.

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AQUATIC BIOLOGY/ECOLOGY

This specialty area provides advanced study in assessing, monitoring, and managing aquatic ecosystems to students with backgrounds in biology, ecology, or the environmental sciences. Students should have completed course work in analytical and organic chemistry, calculus, and ecology. Students pursuing a Master’s of Environmental Science have the option of selecting a treatment process or management emphasis in advanced courses. Students pursuing a PhD select course work supporting their research from engineering or an interdepartmental concentration in environmental resources management. Graduates typically find employment in state or federal agencies or other governmental positions and are qualified for a variety of positions with consulting organizations.
  1. Required Courses

    • Required Core Courses (All Options):
    • Required Advanced Courses for Management Option
      • CEE 598 SE Biology of Stressed Ecosystems
      • and either CEE 534 Surface Water Quality Modeling
        or CEE 535 Environmental Systems, II

    • Required Advanced Courses for Process Option
      • CEE 537 Water Quality Control Proc, I
      • CEE 538 Water Quality Control Proc, II


  2. Typical Elective Courses

    • Electives in the Management Option
      • ENVS 431 Environmental Toxic Substances
      • GEOG 468 Biological Modeling
      • LA 550 Environmental Impact Assessment
      • NRES 429 Aquatic Ecosystem Conservation
      • VB 596 Interdisciplinary Tox Sem

    • Electives in the Process Option
      • CEE 440 Solid and Hazardous Waste
      • ENVS 431 Environmental Toxic Substances
      • or electives from the Microbiology Option of the Water Quality Microbiology Program.
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ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY

This program is designed to provide advanced study to students interested in the chemical mechanisms that govern important natural and engineered environmental processes. Emphasis is placed on establishing molecular-level mechanisms that control the environmental fate of organic and inorganic contaminants. This specialty is well suited for students that possess strong backgrounds in chemistry and engineering. Students elect either the option in atmospheric and air pollution chemistry or the option in water and interfacial chemistry. Career opportunities for graduates include teaching, research, and management of environmental chemistry issues in industry, consulting organizations, and government.

  1. Required Courses

    • Required Core Courses for Atmospheric and Air Pollution Chemistry Option:
      • CEE 442 Env Eng Principles, Physical
      • CEE 443 Env Eng Principles, Chemical
      • CEE 447 Atmospheric Chemistry

    • Required Core Courses for Water and Interfacial Chemistry Option: 
      • CEE 442 Env Eng Principles, Physical
      • CEE 443 Env Eng Principles, Chemical
      • CEE 444 Env Eng Principles, Biological

    • Required Advanced course for Water and Interfacial Chemistry Option:
  2. Elective Courses: In consultation with their academic advisors, students choosing the atmospheric and air pollution chemistry option should select at least two 500-level courses to complete their programs. Students choosing the water and interfacial chemistry option should select at least one 500-level course besides CEE 598EC to complete their program. Some courses have prerequisites other than the above core courses. Examples of elective courses that can be taken for study in this emphasis area are as follows:

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ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The environmental information technology (EIT) area of specialization combines fundamental principles of environmental engineering with information technology principles such as computer programming, software design, numerical simulation, optimization, artificial intelligence, information and decision support systems, and visualization. The student may orient the program in a number of different directions, depending on interests, career goals, and academic background. Career opportunities at the M.S. and Ph.D. level include environmental software development and/or applications in consulting firms and industry. At the Ph.D. level, additional opportunities exist in academia, government, and industry research laboratories.

  1. Required Courses

    • Core Courses:

      These courses provide fundamental background in the principles of environmental engineering, numerical methods, and computer programming and software development. While not required, students are strongly encouraged to take both CEE 442 and 444.


  2. Elective Courses: In consultation with their advisors, students will select at least 8 credit hours of information technology courses from the "Courses in IT" list at http://cee.uiuc.edu/research/it/ITCourses.htm. Students should select appropriate electives in accordance with research and career objectives to meet the normal EES degree requirements, including at least 8 hours of 500-level CEE courses. Some CEE courses with environmental emphasis that are typically taken by students in this specialization are listed below.

    Course Listings: For more detailed course descriptions, see the course listings elsewhere on this site or the University of Illinois course catalog.

    • Core Courses
    • Environmental Engineering Processes
    • Modeling of Environmental Engineering and Science Problems

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ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

Environmental systems analysis combines the principles of modeling, optimization, risk and reliability, decision making, and policy analysis with physical, chemical, and biological principles of environmental engineering. The student may orient the degree program in a number of different directions, depending on interests, career goals, and academic background. Normal entry requirements include elementary courses in systems analysis or operations research (e.g., CEE 201) and microeconomics (e.g., ECON 101). Career opportunities are in governmental agencies, environmental engineering consulting firms, higher education, or industry.

  1. Required Courses

  2. Elective Courses: In consultation with their academic advisors, students should select at least one 500-level course, in addition to CEE 535, and additional 400 and 500 level courses to complete their programs. Some 500-level courses have 400-level prerequisites other than the above core courses. Examples of elective courses that can be taken for study in a particular emphasis area are as follows:
     

    Example #1-Optimal Design of Engineered Systems for Environmental Protection Under this option, students learn how to apply principles of mathematical modeling and optimization to the design of, for example, groundwater remediation systems, water distribution systems, water and wastewater treatment systems, or air quality control systems. A student in this specialty area could choose among CEE 540, CEE 537, CEE 538, CEE 546, and CEE 545 to acquire advanced knowledge of environmental engineering processes, among CEE 445, CEE 557 and CEE 534, to learn environmental quality modeling, and among IE 410, IE 411, IE 510, IE 511, GE 531, CEE 536, and CEE 598 OS to acquire knowledge of advanced optimization and theoretical systems analysis techniques.

    Example #2- Management and Planning of Environmental Systems and Policy Analysis Under this option, students learn how to apply principles of mathematical modeling and optimization to the analysis of regulatory programs for environmental quality maintenance. A student in this specialty area might choose Econ 516 and Law 616 to learn principles of environmental economics and environmental law, and among IE 410, IE 411, IE 510, IE 511, GE 531, CEE 536, and CEE 598OS to acquire knowledge of advanced optimization techniques.

    Example #3-Industrial Ecology/Pollution Prevention Under this option, students learn how to make design decisions about products and manufacturing processes which help prevent pollution. The goal is to identify the optimal combination of waste treatment and prevention, making tradeoffs between environmental impact, product quality, and manufacturing cost.

    A student in this specialty area could choose among CEE 540, CEE 537, CEE 538, CEE 546, and CEE 545 to acquire advanced knowledge of environmental engineering processes, among CEE 445, CEE 557 and CEE 534, to learn environmental quality modeling, and among IE 410, IE 411, IE 510, IE 511, GE 531, CEE 536, and CEE 598OS to acquire knowledge of advanced optimization techniques. The student may also add courses in manufacturing processes (e.g., ME 450) as appropriate to his or her background and interests.

    Mixed Emphasis Areas. It is also possible for students to choose elective courses from more than one emphasis area. The combination of courses, selected in consultation with the student’s advisor, should be chosen to support the student’s particular academic career goals and background.

    Course Listings: The titles of the elective courses cited above are listed here and are categorized by subject area. For more detailed descriptions, see the course listings elsewhere in this brochure.

    • Operations Research/Systems
      • CEE 536: Multiattribute Utility Analysis
      • GE 531: Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning
      • IE 410: Stochastic Proc and App
      • IE 411: Optimization of Large Lin Sys
      • IE 510: Applied Nonlinear Programming
      • IE 511: Integer Programming

    • Environmental Engineering Processes
    • Transport
    • Economics and Policy
    • Manufacturing Processes
      • ME 450: Modeling in Materials Proc
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HAZARDOUS WASTE AND SUBSURFACE SCIENCE

This program is designed to educate students about the source, regulation, transport, fate, effects, control, and remediation of hazardous or unwanted chemicals in the environment. The fundamentals of chemistry, physics (e.g., transport), microbiology, process and system design, and system management are emphasized. Graduate students may be able to participate in ongoing research as part of the program. MS graduates are prepared to work for consulting firms, industry, and governmental agencies or to continue study for the PhD degree.

  1. Required Courses:
    • Required Core Courses:
    • Required Advanced Courses: Students should select at least two 500-level elective courses consistent with career objectives and in consultation with an advisor. Some 500-level courses have 400-level prerequisites that students may need to take. Examples of courses that can be selected for study in a particular emphasis follow:

  2. Elective Courses: The following list contains examples only. Courses not listed may also be selected in consultation with an advisor.

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WATER QUALITY MICROBIOLOGY

This area concentrates on the fundamental chemical and microbiological mechanisms found in unit operations employed in water quality control and in natural systems, such as soil, groundwater, and surface water. Undergraduates with strong backgrounds in chemistry, mircobiology, and biochemistry are best suited for this specialty. Graduates typically find employment in research laboratories, industrial environmental control groups, consulting firms, and governmental regulatory agencies. Electives are chosen to strengthen the basic science area.

  1. Required Courses:

  2. Elective Courses: Courses shown are typical only. Courses not listed may also be taken as electives.

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WATER QUALITY PROCESS ENGINEERING

This specialty area concentrates on the fundamentals, design, and operation of biological, chemical, and physical unit processes for the treatment of water and wastewater. Applications of water and wastewater treatment come from the municipal, industrial, and hazardous waste sectors. Because of the emphasis on design and operations in this specialty, the student in this specialty area needs a background in hydraulics. These graduates are especially well suited to work for consulting engineering firms designing water quality control processes. Employment opportunities also are available in the operation of water treatment and wastewater treatment systems, in various governmental agencies, and in process research and development.

  1. Required Courses

  2. Elective Courses: Courses shown are typical only. Other courses may also be taken as electives.

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