Department of Civil and Geomatics Engineering and Construction
M.S. in Civil Engineering
Dr. Jesus Larralde, Department Chair
Dr. William F. Wright, Graduate Program Coordinator
- "A Creative Profession" | Interdisciplinary Diversity | Need for Graduates | Resources and Support | Faculty | Quick Facts
"A Creative Profession"
Over the past decade, the needs of both the valley and the civil engineering profession have increased with regard to the problematic issues of seismic design, toxic waste treatment and control, upgrading of infrastructure, and modernization of land records systems. To meet these demands, civil engineering professionals are continually researching and implementing higher technological applications. "Engineering is both a learned and a creative profession," writes Dr. William L. Everitt. "It is also more than a learned profession--it is a learning profession, a calling whose practitioners must first become and then remain students throughout their active lives."
At California State University, Fresno, the faculty and students involved in the Master of Science degree program in Civil Engineering recognize the dynamic character of the engineering profession; its practice requires the implementation of change in the economic and social structure. Additionally, professionals must be creative and come forward constantly with new technology and services for the benefit of people. It is upon these ideals of creativity and implementation of change that the Master of Science degree program in Civil Engineering was founded.
Interdisciplinary Diversity
Engineering practice is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary in nature, as more non-technical and non-economic factors must be evaluated before plan approval and implementation. Because of this, the graduate faculty in civil engineering has nurtured three-way interaction among themselves, other graduate faculty in related disciplines, and the core of graduate students. This interaction has obvious benefits to all involved, particularly in the area of advanced equipment use in research technology. Laboratory class instruction and field research in civil, electrical, geomatics, and mechanical engineering have benefited greatly from a pooling of state-of-the-art resources in the Lyles College of Engineering and Computer Science, while the opportunity for high competence in individual specialty areas has been greatly enhanced.
This diversity of influence allows our graduates to better serve our community while making them very attractive to high-technology industry employers.
Need for Graduates
The San Joaquin Valley, at the dawn of the new millennium, is faced with significant problems of urban growth: land use, transportation, water procurement and distribution, and the degradation of the environment due to toxic materials from both urban and rural sources which are in the soil, water, and air.
The Environmental Fund, a private, non-profit agency based in Washington, D.C., has forecast population growths by the end of this century for the urban areas of Modesto, Bakersfield, Visalia-Tulare, and Fresno; the percentage growths, respectively, are 32.6%, 31.3%, 26.2%, and 25.7%. This same four-county region is also the most productive agricultural area of comparable size in the world, yet now it experiences overdrafting and contamination of surface water and groundwater supplies by selenium and other materials. Lastly, the infrastructure of the Valley's communities is being strained by rapidly increasing populations. If the San Joaquin Valley is to continue to prosper, social and engineering solutions must be found to address these current problematic issues. Such solutions require a great number of qualified civil engineers. Through the Master of Science degree program in Civil Engineering, our university has assumed a leadership role in the Valley's future by educating our graduate students in a program which is at the very forefront of knowledge.
Resources and Support
In addition to the fine general computing facilities operated by the campus Information Technology Services (ITS), the College of Engineering and Computer Science operates its own Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) labs. These facilities include state-of-the-art computer laboratories with more than 150 computer work-stations including IBM compatibles, SUN & SGI. The current facilities include several laboratories for materials testing, water quality and treatment, structures, GPS, Digital Mapping, GIS, and others.
"A Creative Profession" | Interdisciplinary Diversity | Need for Graduates | Resources and Support | Faculty | Quick Facts