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MSU's Civil Engineering Program Continues Growth and Evolution

Posted on: Monday, 18 July 2005, 03:01 CDT

STARKVILLE - The civil engineering program at Mississippi State University (MSU) continues to orow and evolve to fit changing needs of this engineering discipline. It is still the largest of the state's three programs, now that Jackson State University has joined MSU and Ole Miss by graduating its first engineering class.

"I think our program is successful partly because it has continued to have handson emphasis," said Dr. Kirk Schulz, dean of MSU's Bagley College of Engineering. "Also, a lot of our students work in the cooperative program and all our faculty do research projects."

The school has the second-largest co-op education program in the Southeast. "That's part of the culture here, and because of that our graduates can hit the ground running," he said.

Civil engineering is one of the engineering school's oldest programs. "We're very proud of it," the dean said. "When I meet with groups in the state, our civil engineering graduates are well represented in every construction firm and the department of transportation."

The civil engineering program has 234 students this year. The head of the program, Dr. Thomas D. White, says that's a steady increase over the last few years. He attributes that increase to a continued demand in the job market.

"Even with a downturn in the economy, the demand for civil engineers was strong and continues to be," he said. "It's more than for other engineering disciplines. Our graduates enjoy more than one ,job offer throughout the region."

The majority of MSU's civil engineering students come from Mississippi and stay in the state to work. Other students come from Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana and Florida.

The program's curriculum is changing by adding more laboratories to give students more hands-on experience. "Some students learn better that way," he said. "It's good to have them exposed to both types of learning."

White said the labs are a significant addition, representing an investment in excess of $1 million in equipment. A $357,000 contract was let for a new testing system in the materials and structures laboratory, Included is equipment for testing for the Mississippi Department of Transportation and for the new DDX destroyer being designed by Northrop Grumman.

Other new lab equipment will integrate major software packages that are widely used in consstruction design into the curriculum. "We want students to be used to it from the time they're freshman to the senior level," he said.

The program is also in the process of adding an option in construction engineering and management and is advertising for faculty. White says the program needs at least three courses in this field, and he wants to have enough to offer some elective courses.

Construction management is an area of engineering and construction that is being utilized on projects in Mississippi and it's growing," he said. "People are learning what their roles are."

This option is being added to the four already available within the civil engineering program. Those include environmental and water resources, transportation, structural and geotechnical. The school is required to have these areas of study as part of its accreditation. Students are required to select nine hours in at least three areas.

"Our indications are that the job market will continue to be strong for civil engineers," White said. "A lot of engineers are reaching retirement age and an improving economy and more investment in infrastructure - a lot of it in transportation - will increase the demand in this job market."

He said civil engineering is not going away as long as civilization keeps wearing out bridges, highways, water systems and other infrastructure. "Civil engineers plan, design and construct for society's quality of life," he added.

Schulz said, "Engineers like to improve the things that are out there, things we take for granted as we go through the day.

"They're interested in making the world a better place."

White said civil engineering goes back to Roman times with most of it stemming from military applications. At some point, it was defined as "civil" or for the public. Historically, the imprint of civil engineering is on all civilizations. The program director feels that remains true today, and that civil engineering is the basis for much of the current quality of life as well as the state's and the nation's economic vitality.

Schulz and White agree that civil engineering students have an excellent background in math and science along with an interest in building things. These students also tend to not be desk job people, preferring to spend some of their time outside.

Copyright Mississippi Business Journal Jun 13, 2005

Source: Mississippi Business Journal, The

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