Majors at the University of Connecticut

Civil Engineering

Have you ever wondered who is responsible for the Parthenon in Greece, the Pyramids of Egypt, or the Great Wall of China? Or think of more modern marvels and wonder who makes buildings such as the World Trade Center in New York, or the Millennium Tower in Japan, or structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, or even the Hoover Damn. These incredible pieces of work display the talents of civil engineers.

Civil Engineers concentrate their work on the design and construction of public works like roads, highways, water systems, buildings, and bridges. They are responsible for the basic infrastructure of our society. To become an engineer you need at least a bachelor’s degree and a broad background in mathematics and sciences. There are different specializations within civil engineering including environmental and water resources, structures and applied engineering, and transportation systems. As an engineering student one can specialize in a particular field of interest and become an engineer who works within that desired field. Whatever one decides to specialize in, one must first complete basic requirements for the school of engineering.

Academic Department

• UConn's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

Nature of Work

The nature of work for a civil engineer depends on what area of civil engineering they go into. For instance, an engineer can help design and build towering skyscrapers, or they can instead concentrate their efforts in making sure the water that people consume is safe and clean. Engineers can work on job sites or they can work in firms with flexible hours.

Sample Job Titles

Potential Employers

Some potential employers of civil engineers might be the Federal Highway Administration, State Departments of Transportation, private firms, construction companies, power companies, departments of public works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, water companies, railroad companies, and consulting firms.

Useful Skills

Some useful skills are problem-solving abilities, liking to work with both your hands and your mind, interpersonal skills, and computer skills including various design programs such as CAD and CAE.

Getting Experience

There are many opportunities to gain experience within the field of civil engineering. The ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) student chapter holds a career fair every year. This is an excellent chance to find an internship, a coop, or even a full time job. Gaining experience through a coop or internship is a great way to learn about a field of particular interest, and it looks great on your resume. Attending the career fair that the ASCE holds exposes you to the different possibilities that are present in the field of civil engineering. Attending the career fair will also allow you to meet some company members, and will let you learn more about the companies themselves, and perhaps help you decide which company you would be interested in working for. Many civil engineering firms attend career services' career fairs and recruit on campus, so their visibility and accessibility is rather high for graduating students.

Employment Opportunities

There is a wide choice of employment opportunities for civil engineers. Airports often hire civil engineers to help design and maintain the runways and work on airfield design where they work designing pavement, lights, and hangars. One can also concentrate on landscape engineering where one can design parking, terminals, and roadways. If going into transportation, then positions such as highway engineering, transportation planning, traffic engineering, and structural engineering are available to civil engineers. Land planning, environmental and zoning regulations, ecological science, and civil/site design and surveying are also jobs available to a civil engineer if one goes into a land development position. Another opportunity for a civil engineer is to work for a company that designs and build bridges. There are many different types of jobs for civil engineers with many opportunities to excel in your field.

Internet Links