Program Overview

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Engineering MS: Civil Engineering

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee offers a Master's program in Civil Engineering, which enables students to customize their degree to their specific objectives and interests. This program is designed to enhance career credentials and demonstrate readiness for leadership roles or further study.

Program Overview

The Master's program in Civil Engineering is a one-year option that accepts students with undergraduate degrees in civil engineering and other fields within engineering. This allows students to pivot their career in this field, which has faster-than-average anticipated growth of 6% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. No GRE is required if the student's bachelor's degree is from an ABET-accredited program.

Program Type and Format

• The program type is a Master's degree.
• The program format is on-campus.

Program Details

The program enables students to customize their degree to their specific objectives and interests. Students can enhance their career credentials and demonstrate readiness for leadership roles or further study. The one-year options, including providing credit for graduate internships, help students fast-track their degree.

Accelerated Graduate Degree Program

UWM's Accelerated Graduate Degree Program (Integrated BS-MS) enables UWM students to take six graduate credits while completing their bachelor's degree. This work can be used to satisfy six credits of both their bachelor's and master's degree programs, at the undergraduate tuition rate, saving time and money.

Earn Credit for Graduate Internships

The CIV ENG 921 Graduate Internships course provides students with a hands-on learning experience within a professional engineering environment. The internship experience aims to enhance technical skills, critical thinking abilities, and professional development, preparing students for a successful career. Students can also earn an hourly salary in a full-time or part-time capacity, providing financial support.

Internship Overview

• 6 credits maximum (3 credits maximum per semester).
• To receive three credits, students are required to work a minimum of 150 hours (50 hours per credit).
• Can only be taken as a non-thesis graduate student.
• Students must have completed at least six graduate-level credits before enrolling in the CIV ENG 921 Graduate Internship course.
• The internship will be coordinated between the department, the student, and the company. Students may not register for the course directly.
• To gain admission to the CIV ENG 921 Graduate Internship course, students must have already obtained an internship and must be registered for this course during the semester in which the internship takes place.

Time Frame and Costs

The estimated time frame and costs for the program are as follows:

• Prior to enrolling in the internship course: Complete two graduate-level UWM courses (6 credits) or transfer 6 credits of graduate work, with an estimated cost of $5,193.17.
• Internship Semester 1: 9 engineering credits, 1 graduate seminar credit, 3 graduate internship credits (13 credits total), with an estimated cost of $6,832.77.
• Internship Semester 2: 9 engineering credits, 3 graduate internship credits (12 credits total), with an estimated cost of $6,832.77.
• Total estimated cost for the one-year program: $18,858.71, with a potential internship salary of $15,000, resulting in a potential cost of $3,858.71.

Supported by Industry Leaders

The program is supported by industry leaders, including:

• Bloom Companies, LLC
• CSD Structural Engineers
• Giles Engineering Associates, Inc.
• GRAEF
• Ruekert-Mielke
• WisDOT
• YA Engineering Services

Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Board

The Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Board consists of industry professionals, including:

• Clayton Cloutier, IAC Chair, Associate, CSD Structural Engineers
• Tim Anheuser, Vice President, Kapur & Associates
• John Corbin, Transportation Automation Program Manager, US Federal government
• Terry Giles, Owner, Giles Engineering Associates, Inc.
• Roberto Gutierriez, South East Region Director, Wisconsin Department of Transportation
• Richard Klein, Principal, Stantec
• Kyle Loest, Director of Project Management, Findorff
• Kevin Muhs, City Engineer, City of Milwaukee
• Nick Passint, President - Mixer Systems, Inc.
• Laura Powers, Senior Materials Scientist, Petrographer, YA
• Steve Rech, Steve Rech, PE, SE, GRAEF
• Mathew Tharaniyil, President, Bloom Companies, LLC
• Steven Wurster, Chief Operating Officer, Ruekert & Mielke, Inc.
• Julie Zimdars, Senior Managing Engineer, Ramboll

Thesis Option

The thesis option is a 30-credit program that provides students with the opportunity to conduct original research under the guidance of a faculty advisor. The thesis option is not compatible with the Graduate Internship Course.

Research Assistantships / Teaching Assistantships

Most students choose to incorporate Teaching Assistantships (TAs) or Research Assistantships (RAs) during their graduate study, which helps to fund their education while also building leadership skills. Assistantship decisions are made by the academic departments only after an applicant has been accepted into the program.

Research Areas

The college has a wide range of faculty-led labs that perform cutting-edge research in areas including:

• Application of nanomaterials in construction and on surfaces
• Industrial waste product utilization in structural materials
• Design with polymer composite materials and structures
• Water quality and sensing for contamination
• New structural designs and methods
• Flexible pavement design
• Hydrodynamic modeling and fluid mechanics
• Smart mobility technologies, smart traffic lights, intelligent transportation systems, big data analytics, urban computing, and cloud computing

Faculty

The faculty members in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department have diverse research interests and expertise, including:

• Blackowski, Sarah, Assistant Professor of Engineering Education
• Dressel, Andrew, Scientist II
• Elhajjar, Rani, Professor and Department Chair
• Graettinger, Andrew, Associate Dean for Research
• Helwany, Sam, Professor
• Li, Jin, Professor
• Liao, Qian, Professor
• Ma, Xiaoli, Associate Professor
• Qin, Xiao, Professor and Director of the Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation
• Rahman, Adeeb, Associate Professor
• Shi, Xiaowei (Tom), Assistant Professor
• Sobolev, Konstantin, Professor
• Tabatabai, Habib, Professor and Director of the Structural Engineering Lab
• Titi, Hani, Professor
• Wang, Yin, Professor
• Zhao, Jian, Professor

Advising

The college provides academic advising for graduate students, including:

• Crary, Therese, Advisor for Graduate Programs
• Packard, Robert, Advisor for Graduate Programs

Accreditation

The program is accredited by the U.S. Higher Learning Commission (HLC).