Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability Program
The program in Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability (EWES) is a cross-cutting program focused on providing and supporting sustainable solutions for the exploration, production, delivery and use of energy, and their intersection with water and the natural and built environment.
Degrees Offered
- B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering (primary or secondary) (Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability)
- M.S. Degree in Civil Engineering or Environmental Engineering (Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability)
- College of Engineering EaSE Certificate
- Ph.D. Degree in Civil Engineering or Environmental Engineering (Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability)
Learn about:
- EWES Undergraduate Specialization
- EWES MS/PhD Program (includes information on course requirements)
Learn More About the EWES Program
The cross-cutting nature of the EWES program serves as bridge to other programs addressing energy, water and sustainability issues within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, across The Grainger College of Engineering, and to other academic units on campus. A flexible graduate degree curriculum leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees has been designed to accommodate students with backgrounds in various sub-disciplines within civil and environmental engineering as well as other engineering disciplines. The graduate program has also been designed so that students meeting the degree requirements of the EWES program will have also completed the requirements of Grainger College's graduate option program certificate in Energy and Sustainability Engineering (EaSE).
Some areas that the EWES program addresses include:
- Sustainable energy production: renewable electricity sources (geothermal, hydropower, wind), bioenergy, environmental hydrodynamics
Faculty: Baser, Cusick, Garcia, Guest, Lombardo, Makhnenko, Parker, Stillwell - Sustainable energy exploration: subsurface fracturing and mechanics, carbon dioxide sequestration
Faculty: Baser, Elbanna, Espinosa-Marzal, Garg, Makhnenko, Valocchi - Sustainable buildings: building information modeling, end uses of water and energy
Faculty: El-Gohary, Stillwell - Sustainable transportation systems: electrified mobility, public transit, interdependencies between transportation and energy systems
Faculty: Kontou, Ouyang - Sustainable waste management: value-added reuse of water-to-energy byproducts, landfill design, waste diversion and recycling
Faculty: Garg, Makhnenko, Stark - Water-energy-food/agriculture systems analysis: water footprinting, virtual water, water impacts of energy systems, water impacts of food/agriculture systems, embedded resources accounting
Faculty: Cai, Guest, Konar, Kumar, Matthews, Stillwell - Resource recovery systems: water, energy, and nutrient recovery from wastewater
Faculty: Cusick, Guest - Earth systems modeling and change: global climate change, land-water-atmosphere-climate interactions
Faculty: Horowitz, Kumar, Zhao - Emissions impacts: emissions sources and human health effects, atmospheric chemistry interactions with climate
Faculty: Horowitz, Tessum, Verma
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Areas of Study and Research
Construction Engineering Management
Construction engineers manage and direct construction operations. They analyze the labor, materials, and equipment for each job to determine the proper quantity of each and ensure availability at the appropriate time and place.
Civil engineers are often responsible for specifying, designing and manufacturing the materials with which they build their structures. Studies in construction materials are intended to make structural, transportation and foundation engineers aware of the fundamental properties of the materials they use.
Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability
Interdisciplinary program
The program in Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability (EWES) is a cross-cutting program focused on providing and supporting sustainable solutions for the exploration, production, delivery and use of energy, and their intersection with water and the natural and built environment. The program focuses on integrating scientific principles, engineered processes, and systems analyses to address diverse challenges related to society's growing energy needs and their nexus with water and the environment.
Environmental Engineering and Science
Environmental engineers help solve problems of air, land and water contamination. They design, construct and operate systems that purify water for drinking, industrial use and recreation. They develop and implement air-purification devices and protocols for solid and hazardous waste management.
Geotechnical engineers use soil, rock and geosynthetics as engineering materials. They design earth- and rock-filled dams, tunnels, landfills and foundations for structures of all types.
Societal Risk and Hazard Mitigation
Interdisciplinary program
The Societal Risk Management (SRHM) program is a cross-disciplinary program that focuses on the development of a secure and safe society. The program concentrates on risk determination, risk evaluation and risk management for natural and human-made hazards, and disaster response and recovery.
Structural engineers design economical structures that resist forces induced by wind, earthquakes, blasts and heavy traffic. The tools of the structural engineer include physical testing, mathematical modeling and computer simulation.
Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems
Interdisciplinary program
The interdisciplinary program Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems (SRIS) addresses emerging approaches to infrastructure systems focusing on resiliency and sustainability of inter-connected infrastructure, for example, structural, geotechnical, and water interactions in urban environments. The program aims to prepare new generations of civil engineers who are ready to address pressing societal issues while developing needed infrastructure.
Transportation engineers design, build, operate and maintain all types of facilities for railroads, automobiles, airplanes and ships. They deal with such problems as moving millions of people in and out of cities at rush hour and moving carloads of wheat from the fields of Kansas to the port of New Orleans.
Water Resources Engineering and Science
Water resource engineers help solve complex water challenges, including providing society with safe and reliable water supplies, managing impacts of floods and drought, and enhancing environmental quality. They plan, design, manage and operate surface water and groundwater systems that are sustainable and adaptable to changing climate and human activity.