Department of Civil Engineering

The Department of Civil Engineering provides an exciting mix of research and teaching. Our teaching staff makes significant contributions to the field of civil engineering in research, teaching and knowledge transfer.

Civil engineering was originally defined simply to distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering but it actually represents so much more. Without civil engineers we wouldn’t have a constant supply of clean water, roads or trains to get to work in the morning, or sustainable energy to help us save our planet.

Civil Engineering is concerned with the control of the environment for the benefit of humankind. Civil engineering is the oldest professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like bridges, roads, canals, dams, and buildings. If you live in a house or an apartment, work in an office building; use the transportation system, energy, water or other utilities you are touched by a civil engineer's creativity. Civil engineers provide modern society with vital infrastructure and lifeline systems such as cities, roads, buildings, bridges, railroads, water systems, etc. In addition, they protect society from extreme forces of nature such as high winds, earthquakes and floods.

Civil Engineering has traditionally used imagination, judgment, reasoning and experience to apply science, technology, mathematics and practical experience to develop that which was once only a concept. WEC Civil Engineering ties these foundations to a diverse program - one that uses knowledge from a variety of engineering disciplines to work on the complex technical challenges faced by society in the 21st century.

We teach both the fundamental principles and practical applications. Considerable emphasis is placed upon practical work, in the form of laboratory classes, physical and computational modelling exercises, project work, surveying fieldwork, design projects and site visits.