Environmental engineering is a relatively young branch of the engineering profession. It has developed in response to the serious problems of environmental contamination caused by the waste products and activities of our modern society. Environmental engineers work in many different specialties-air pollution control, hazardous waste management, industrial hygiene, solid waste management, wastewater collection and treatment, and water resource development. The responsibilities of an environmental engineer can include activities such as research to develop new processes or new applications for existing processes; development of long-range community or facility plans to serve the public and protect the environment; design, construction, and maintenance of pollution control and waste treatment facilities; and the development and administration of regulations established by law to protect human health and the environment. To meet the threats posed by polluted air, water, and soil, the environmental engineer is being called on to design solutions that are workable and cost-effective for our society.
AREA OF EMPHASIS AT DELAWARE
The environmental engineering program is based on a strong foundation of scientific and engineering principles which prepare the student for fundamentally sound applications in the subsequent designoriented upper-level courses. The environmental engineering faculty, highly regarded in their profession as researchers and practitioners, bring their expertise into the classroom, thus assuring a state-of-the-art education. This includes, for example, quantitative aspects of environmental chemistry that will determine the regulatory approach to heavy metals in wastewaters, advanced oxidation processes for the remediation of contaminated groundwaters, and automation of control systems for the purification of drinking water. Research projects within the Department furnish topics for independent study coursework by eligible undergraduates. Recent subjects used by undergraduates as special course topics have included photoautotrophic pond design for waste treatment, economic analysis of biosolids thickening technologies, experimental evaluation of PCB bioremediation, and removal of cyanide from contaminated waters by oxidative treatment. This educational philosophy extends to the curriculum’s laboratory courses as well. Students are given laboratory exercises using traditional methods for pollutant analysis, but emphasizing the most current analytical techniques and instrumentation. An application-oriented approach is stressed in upperlevel courses, such as Air Pollution Control, Solid Waste Management, Hazardous Waste Management, and, as a capstone project, a two-semester Senior Design sequence. Furthermore, three concentrations have been established to allow students to focus their studies on either environmental facilities design and construction, pollution transport and control processes, or environmental biotechnology. Within each area of concentration, there is ample flexibility in the choice of technical electives to enable a student’s special environmental interest to become part of his or her course of study. Additional Keywords pre-law, prelaw, law
