Concern for the environment influences a wide range of public, private and engineering decisions. Environmental Engineering is widely recognized as a discipline at the graduate and professional level, and undergraduate training in environmental issues and processes can provide the preparation necessary to pursue this career path, or serve as a useful complement to a career in any of the traditional areas of engineering. Sustainability issues are now considered critical across engineering disciplines. Effective preparation requires broad knowledge and skills in the areas of environmental engineering, sustainability, and environmental policy.


Director
Jeanne VanBriesen


Faculty Advisors
The Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Program is a focus for faculty members from diverse engineering backgrounds. The faculty are actively engaged in teaching and conducting research in this field.  Current faculty advisors are:

Biomedical Engineering:  Robert Tilton
Chemical Engineering: Neil Donahue
Civil and Environmental Engineering:  Jeanne VanBriesen
Electrical and Computer Engineering: Marija Ilic
Engineering and Public Policy:  Mark Kieler and Edward Rubin
Mechanical Engineering:  Allen Robinson
Materials Science and Engineering:  Paul Salvador and Robert Heard

Course Requirements

The requirements include two core courses, three technical electives and two policy electives.

A1. Core Courses in Sustainability (12 units).
Select one set of two mini courses from:

19-622 (co-listed as 12-712)      Sustainability
19-623 (co-listed as 12-713)      Industrial Ecology
OR
19-614 (co-listed as 12-714)      Life Cycle Assessment
19-616 (co-listed as 12-715)      Case Studies in Sustainability

A2.  Core Courses in Environmental Engineering (9 units).
Select one NOT in your home major department from:

12-351      Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering

24-424 (co-listed as 19-424)      Energy and the Environment
12-651      Air Quality Engineering
24-425      Combustion and Air Pollution Control
12-702      Fundamentals of Water Quality Engineering
06-620      Global Atmospheric Chemistry: Fundamentals & Data Analysis Methods

B. Technical Electives in Environmental Engineering and Sustainability (27 units):

Select three from the following list:
03-121      Modern Biology 
09-106      Modern Chemistry II
09-510      Introduction to Green Chemistry
06-620      Global Atmospheric Chemistry
12-351      Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
12-651      Air Quality Engineering
12-702      Fundamentals of Water Quality Engineering (new course proposed by
                CEE for Fall 2008)
12-657      Water Resources Engineering
12-658      Hydraulic Structures Design
24-424      Energy and the Environment
24-425      Combustion and Air Pollution Control
19-622      Sustainability (6 units; must be combined with additional 3 units; also
                listed as 12-712)
19-623      Industrial Ecology (6 units; must be combined with additional 3 units;
                also listed as 12-713)
19-614      Life Cycle Assessment (6 units; must be combined with additional 3
                units; also listed as 12-714)
19-616      Case Studies in Sustainability (6 units; must be combined with
                additional 3 units; also listed as 12-715)
19-650      Climate and Energy: Science, Economics, and Public Policy
27-322      Processing of Metals (or 27-323 Powder Processing of Materials: but not
                both)
27-323      Powder Processing of Materials (or 27-322 Processing of Metals: but not
                both)
27-421      Processing Design (6 units; must be combined with three additional
                units)
27-367      Selection and Performance of Materials (6 units; must be combined with
                three additional units)
27-594      Electrochemical Processes in Materials
42-621      Biotechnology and Environmental Processes (also listed as 06-621)
48-315      Environment I: Climate and Energy
48-415      Advanced Building
48-596      LEED Building and Green Design Concepts
48-569      GIS/ CAFM (also listed as 90-784)
48-572      Zero Energy Housing

C. Policy Electives (18 units)

Select two from the following list of humanities/social science oriented courses:

12-608      Implications of Engineering in Global Society
19-448      Science, Technology and Ethics
19-626      Climate Science and Policy
48-567      Sustainable Design and Development
48-576      Mapping Urbanism
66-210      Science, Technology and the Environment
73-248      Environmental Economics
73-357      Regulation: Theory and Policy
73-358      Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources
73-359      Benefit-Cost Analysis
76-319      Environmental Rhetoric
79-111      Cultural Perspectives on the Environment     
79-244      Pittsburgh and the Transformation of Modern Urban America
79-263      From Soil to Oil:  Energy, Ecology, and Globalization
79-326      The Role of the Environment in the Collapse of Ancient Societies
79-336      Epidemic Disease and Public Health
79-343      Environmental Policy and Development in the Tropical World
79-345      American Environmental History:  Critical Issues
79-346      International Environmental Law and Policy (also listed as 88-352)
79-365      Climate Change, Energy Policy and Environmental Protection
79-398      Environmental History and Politics Since Silent Spring (also listed as
                88-346)
79-471      American Built Environment Since 1860
79-475      Perspectives on the City and the Environment (also 90-762)
79-211      Disaster!  Fires, Plagues, Hurricanes and Floods in American History
79-212      Disastrous Encounters:  Technology and the Environment in Global
                Historical Context
80-242      Conflict and Dispute Resolution
80-244      Environmental Management and Ethics
88-220      Policy Analysis I
88-221      Policy Analysis II
88-223      Decision Analysis and Decision Support Systems
80-340      Environmental Ethics and Decision Processes
99-522      Corporations and Environmental Responsibility
90-747      Cost-Benefit Analysis
90-758      Ethics and Public Policy in a Global Society
90-765      Cities, Technology and the Environment
90-789      Sustainable Community Development
90-798      Environmental Policy and Regulation
90-851      Environmental Policy
90-859      Environmental Conflict Resolution

NOTES:

1. The 48-xxx courses may not be acceptable as technical electives by some CIT engineering departments.  (At most one of these courses can be used as a Type B course and one as a Type C course.)
2. Course 12-351 Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering can be counted toward completion of the environmental engineering and sustainability course requirements for non-CEE students only.
3. Courses cannot be double-counted for lists A and B. 
4. Courses used to fulfill the basic science requirement for CIT cannot be double counted for list B requirements. Courses required within a student’s CIT major can be double counted for list B requirements.
5. Students may take up to two list B courses in their home department. One list B course must be from outside their home department. EPP double majors should NOT consider EPP their home department.
6. Other humanities and social science courses with similar or related content may be substituted for Type C courses with permission of the student’s departmental advisor and the Director.
7. A group of three environmental policy courses MAY be counted as fulfilling the H&SS depth requirement required of all CIT students.
8. A list of relevant courses for Type B and C in each semester is provided at the Environmental Engineering and Sustainabiliy Minor web site: Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Minor web site.