PhD Civil Engineering
University of Connecticut College of Engineering Graduate Programs
Key Information
Campus location
Storrs, USA
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
4 - 5 years
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
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Application deadline
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Earliest start date
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Introduction
Doctoral study provides the highest level of formal preparation before entering the engineering profession. It is both competitive and challenging and offers special opportunities for learning, research and application. Together with their professors and mentors, doctoral students comprise a true community of scholars. The student's advisory committee, which is responsible for overseeing the student's final achievement, is an integral part of such a community.
Doctoral study is normally completed in three to five years, depending on individual circumstances. In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School as outlined in the Graduate School Catalog, each student must meet the minimum requirements of the program as well as complete and successfully defend a dissertation.
You can earn a PhD in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Applied Mechanics, Structural Engineering, or Transportation and Urban Engineering.
Applied Mechanics
Students pursuing a PhD in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Applied Mechanics will increase their knowledge by pursuing in-depth research along with faculty. The Structural Engineering and Applied Mechanics (STAM) group performs multi-disciplinary research in the areas of structural engineering, advanced design, and structural vibrations. The faculty has expertise in both structural engineering, involving the design of buildings, bridges and other structures, and applied mechanics, which forms the basis of all structural analysis and design. Faculty research areas include computational fracture, damage mechanics, and theoretical structural mechanics.
Structural Engineering
Students pursuing a PhD in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Structural Engineering will increase the breadth and depth of their understanding of the subject matter through in-depth research and advanced coursework in concrete or steel structures. Students will benefit from access to our Structures Laboratory, a high-bay facility whose in-house crane, actuator, and shake-table provide the capacity to conduct full-scale experiments on structural components. Faculty hold expertise in areas including multihazard resilient design, structural health monitoring, smart structures, and structural simulation techniques.
Transportation and Urban Engineering
Educational and research activities in Transportation and Urban Engineering focus on the planning, design and operation of transportation systems. Faculty research interests span a variety of areas of expertise, including transportation safety, highway crash prediction, geographic information science, sustainable transportation, urban design, and regional planning. The Transportation Systems Laboratory is currently used for teaching graduate courses, senior design collaborative space, research activities and partnering with academic and industry partners.The transportation research group works in conjunction with the Connecticut Transportation Institute.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
For the 2022/2023 academic year (9-months), Ph.D. students will enjoy stipends of $25,792.65 to $30,174.11, depending on experience, as well as full medical benefits offered at discounted rates. Additional 3-month summer appointments are typically subject to the continued availability of funds, departmental needs and satisfactory progress in the degree program.
In order for an applicant to be considered for one of the following fellowships, the applicant must select that they wish to be considered in SLATE. Recipients of these fellowships will be the most academically promising members of the entering class of graduate students at the University of Connecticut. The criteria used to select recipients include the following:
- Evidence of scholarly or creative achievement highlighted by the department or program in their nomination and evidence that the department or program provides the environment necessary for success in the areas of interest highlighted by the applicant.
- Evidence of any prior scholarly or creative achievement by the nominee, e.g., publications, presentations, exhibits, performances.
- Evidence that the nominee has been successful at previous academic institutions, e.g., letters of recommendation.
- Quantitative evidence of academic accomplishment, e.g., undergraduate grade point average, GMAT (when available).
The Jorgensen Fellowship (JF) is available to outstanding young scholars applying to doctoral programs. The award consists of a service-free fellowship providing a $20,000 annual stipend for five years.
In addition, to be eligible for either the fellowships below, applicants must demonstrate a commitment to enhancing diversity in higher education and/or a commitment to enhancing diversity in their field of study.
- The Harriott Fellowship (HF) is available to outstanding young scholars applying to doctoral programs. The award consists of a service-free fellowship providing a $20,000 annual stipend for five years.
- The Crandall Fellowship (CF) is available to outstanding young scholars applying to master’s programs. The award consists of a service-free fellowship providing a $20,000 annual stipend for two years (MFA is for three years).
For HF and CF fellowships students must submit a diversity statement through the SLATE application system. Students can demonstrate a commitment to enhancing diversity in higher education through participation in organizations or activities that (a) directly relate to increasing access to higher education and retention in higher education of individuals, regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, gender, nationality, cultural background, religion, or beliefs or (b) that help to ensure that individuals are welcomed and included in higher education environments regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, gender, nationality, cultural background, religion, or beliefs. Such organization and activities might include participation/affiliation with TRIO programs, cultural/affinity organizations/centers, volunteer experiences, and college or university committees focused on these goals. Students provide evidence of this commitment through research and educational experience reflected on their CV/resume (articles, presentations, internship, and research experience), in their personal statement, or in letters of recommendations.
Curriculum
General Courses
CE 5010. Civil Engineering Graduate Seminar
Zero credits. Presentations and discussions contributed by staff, students and outside speakers. Required every semester for all full-time students in the Structures and Applied Mechanics Area of Concentration in the Civil Engineering Field of Study.
CE 5020. Independent Graduate Study in Civil Engineering
1-6 credits. Prerequisite: Instructor consent. May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.
Special problems in civil engineering as arranged by the student with a supervisory instructor of his or her choice.
CE 5090. Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering
1-3 credits. Prerequisite: Instructor consent. May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.
Classroom or laboratory courses as announced for each semester. For independent, study see CE 5020.
Structures and Applied Mechanics
Students pursuing MS or PhD degrees in Structural Engineering or Applied Mechanics need to adhere to the following course guidelines:
- Structural Engineering and Applied Mechanics M.S. and Ph.D. Course Guidelines
CE5090-003 Structural health monitoring and sensors
3 credits. Lecture and Lab. Sensor theory and technology, data acquisition, digital signal processing, damage detection algorithm, life time analysis and decision making. Laboratory experiments will be used on application of taught concepts.
CE 5122. Advanced Mechanics of Materials
3 credits. Stress and strain, combined stress, and theories of failure. Torsion of non-circular sections. Shear center, unsymmetrical bending, curved flexural members, and beams on elastic foundations. Energy methods. Plane theory of elasticity, plate bending, and pressurized cylinders.
CE 5128. Elastic Stability
3 credits. Buckling of elastic and inelastic columns; lateral buckling of beams; buckling of plates, rings and tubes; stability of frames.
CE 5150. Structural Vibrations
3 credits. Vibrating systems; application to design; discrete and continuous systems, free and forced vibrations; response to periodic and non-periodic loads; analytical and numerical techniques; earthquake loading;response spectra.
CE 5151. Experimental Structural Dynamics
3 credits. Characteristics of random data; vibration test hardware; data acquisition and analysis; and experimental modal analysis and system identification. Laboratory experiments will be used to enhance understanding of taught concepts.
CE 5163. Fracture Mechanics
3 credits. Focuses on fundamental concepts and applications of fracture mechanics. Topics include linear elastic fracture mechanics, elastic plastic fracture mechanics, computational fracture mechanics, fracture mechanisms in metals and non-metals, fracture testing, dynamic and time-dependent fracture, fatigue crack growth, interfacial fracture, fracture in advanced materials, and engineering applications.
CE 5164. Finite Element Methods in Applied Mechanics I
3 credits. Lecture. (Also offered as ME 5520.) Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 5162.
Formulation of finite elements methods for linear static analysis. Development of two and three dimensional continuum elements, axisymmetric elements, plate and shell elements, and heat transfer elements. Evaluation of basic modeling principles including convergence and element distortion. Applications using commercial finite element programs.
CE 5166. Finite Element Methods in Applied Mechanics II
3 credits. Lecture. (Also offered as ME 5521.)
Formulation of finite elements methods for modal and transient analysis. Development of implicit and explicit transient algorithms. Stability and accuracy analysis. Formulation of finite element methods for material and geometric nonlinearities. Development of nonlinear solution algorithms. Applications using commercial finite element code.
CE 5380. Bridge Structures
3 credits. Lecture. Common types of bridges; AASHTO bridge loads; design of composite plate girders; fatigue; design of bridge substructure; design project.
CE 5610. Advanced Reinforced Concrete Structures
3 credits. Lecture. Behavior and design of reinforced concrete for flexure, shear, torsion, bond, and axial loads; two way slabs; beam-column joints; general flexure theory; seismic considerations; review of design specifications.
CE 5620. Advanced Steel Structures
3 credits. Lecture. Metal plasticity; plastic hinging and plastic analysis of beams; bolted and welded connections; seismic lateral load resisting systems; prequalified moment-resisting connections; blast design considerations for steel structures, term project.
CE 5640. Prestressed Concrete Structures
3 credits. Lecture. Analysis, design, and behavior of pretensioned and post-tensioned concrete; simple and continuous span structures; time dependent behavior; review of design specifications.
Transportation and Urban Engineering
CE 5030. Seminar in Transportation and Urban Engineering
0 credits. Seminar.
Extended discussions on presentations contributed by staff, students and outside speakers. Required every semester for all full-time students in the Transportation and Urban Engineering Area of Concentration in the Civil Engineering Field of Study.
CE 5570. Bituminous Materials
3 credits. Lecture. Properties, performance and design of bituminous materials for highway and airport paving; physical and chemical properties of binders; testing methods; specifications; production and construction.
CE 5710. Case Studies in Transportation Engineering
3 credits. Lecture. Prerequisite: Department consent. Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 4710.
Analysis of transportation case studies in transportation design, and transportation and land use planning. Application of transportation engineering and planning skills. Oral and written group reports, group discussions, individual papers.
CE 5720. Highway Engineering Design
3 credits. Lecture. Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 4720.
Urban street and highway design: vertical and horizontal alignment, cross-section elements, traffic barriers, interchanges and intersections, pedestrian and bike facilities, traffic calming, community and roadside elements
CE 5730. Transportation Planning
3 credits. Lecture. Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 4730.
Transportation economics, urban transportation planning process, local area traffic management, evaluation of transportation improvements, land use and transportation interaction.
CE 5740. Traffic Engineering Characteristics
3 credits. Lecture. Not open for credit to students who have passed CE 4740.
Relationships among traffic flow characteristics;microscopic and macroscopic representations of traffic flow; capacity of highways; traffic stream models; shock wave analysis; queueing analysis;traffic simulation.
CE 5750. Pavement Design
3 credits. Lecture. Analysis and design of flexible and rigid pavements; testing and characterization of paving materials.
CE 6740. Traffic Engineering Operations
3 credits. Lecture. Driver, pedestrian and vehicle operating characteristics. Traffic data collection. Accident and safety analysis. Highway capacity analysis. Traffic signs and markings. Traffic signal timing and operation. Traffic management.
Geomechanics, Geotechnology and Geoenvironmental Engineering
CE 3995. Geoenvironmental Engineering
3 credits. Lecture. Solid Waste Management. Design of Landfills, Clay Barrier and Waste Containment Systems. Soil exploration. Principles of soil remediation.
ENVE 5320. Environmental Quantitative Methods
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5320. This course and NRME 5605 may not both be taken for credit. Topics on natural resources and environmental data analysis: random variables and probability distributions, parameter estimation and Monte Carlo simulation, hypothesis testing, simple regression and curve fitting, wavelet analysis, factor analysis; formulation and classification of optimization problems with/without constraints, linear programming; models for time series; solution of ordinary differential equations with Laplace transforms and Euler integration; solution of partial differential equations with finite differences; basics of modeling.
ENVE 5330. Probabilistic Methods in Engineering Systems
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5330. Common probabilistic models used in engineering and physical science design, prediction, and operation problems; derived distributions, multivariate stochastic models, and estimation of model parameters; analysis of data, model building and hypothesis testing; uncertainty analysis.
ENVE 5821. Vadose Zone Hydrology
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5821. Theoretical and experimental elements of primary physical and hydrological properties of porous media and processes occurring in partially-saturated soils. Practical experience in measurement and interpretation of hydrological information and methods of analysis for vadose-zone related environmental problems.
ENVE 5830. Groundwater Flow Modeling
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 406. Basics of modeling with Finite Difference and Finite Element Methods. Modeling flow in saturated and unsaturated zones. Model calibration and validation. Parameter estimation. Treatment of heterogeneity. Basic geostatistics. Modeling surface-groundwater interactions. Application to field sites.
ENVE 5094. Seminar in Environmental Sciences and Engineering
0 credits. Seminar. Also offered as CE 5394. Extended discussions on presentations contributed by staff, students and outside speakers. A cer tificate of completion will be issued from the Environmental Engineering Program.
ENVE 5210. Environmental Engineering Chemistry – I
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5210. Quantitative variables governing chemical behavior in environmental systems. Thermodynamics and kinetics of acid/base coordination, precipitation/ dissolution, and redox reactions.
ENVE 5211. Environmental Engineering Chemistry – II
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5211. Environmental organic chemistry: ideal and regular solution thermodynamics; linear free energy relations; estimation of vapor pressure, solubility, and partitioning behavior, abiotic organic compound transformations; chemical fate modeling.
ENVE 5251. Environmental Physicochemical Processes
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5250. Reactor dynamics, applications of inter facial phenomena and surface chemistry, processes for separation and destruction of dissolved and particulate contaminants. Scholarly reviews.
ENVE 5252. Contaminant Source Remediation
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5252. Regulatory framework. Soil clean-up criteria. Treatment technologies: soil vapor extraction, solidification – stabilization, soil washing – chemical extraction, hydrolysis – dehalogenation, thermal processes, bioremediation. Risk analysis.
ENVE 5270. Advanced Environmental Engineering Laboratory
3 credits. Lecture/Laboratory. Analysis of water and waste water. Experimental laboratory and plant investigation of water, wastewater and industrial waste treatment processes.
ENVE 5310. Environmental Transport Phenomena
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5310. Movement and fate of chemicals: inter facial processes and exchange rates in environmental matrices.
ENVE 5311. Environmental Biochemical Processes
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5251. Major biochemical reactions; stoichiometric and kinetic description; suspended and attached growth modeling; engineered biotreatment systems for contaminant removal from aqueous, gaseous, and solid streams; process design.
ENVE 5320. Environmental Quantitative Methods
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5320. This course and NRME 5605 may not both be taken for credit. Topics on natural resources and environmental data analysis: random variables and probability distributions, parameter estimation and Monte Carlo simulation, hypothesis testing, simple regression and curve fitting, wavelet analysis, factor analysis; formulation and classification of optimization problems with/without constraints, linear programming; models for time series; solution of ordinary differential equations with Laplace transforms and Euler integration; solution of partial differential equations with finite differences; basics of modeling.
ENVE 5330. Probabilistic Methods in Engineering Systems
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5330. Common probabilistic models used in engineering and physical science design, prediction, and operation problems; derived distributions, multivariate stochastic models, and estimation of model parameters; analysis of data, model building and hypothesis testing; uncertainty analysis.
ENVE 5340. Environmental Systems Modeling
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5340. Modeling pollutants in natural surface waters. Advective, dispersive, and advective-dispersive systems. Modeling water quality, toxic organic and heavy metals pollution.
ENVE 5810. Hydrometeorology
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5810. Global dynamics of aquatic distribution and circulation. Hydrologic cycle, atmospheric circulation, precipitation, interception, storage, infiltration, overland flow, distributed hydrologic modeling, and stream routing.
ENVE 5811. Hydroclimatology
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5811. This course focuses on the physical principles underlying the spatial and temporal variability of hydrological processes. Topics include atmospheric physics and dynamics controlling the water/energy budgets; global water cycle, its dynamics, and causes of variability/changes; occurrence of drought and flood; climate teleconnections and their hydrological application; hydrological impact of global changes; quantitative methods in hydroclimatic analysis.
ENVE 5812. Ecohydrology
3 units. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5812. This course focuses on the interactions between ecological processes and the water cycle, emphasizing the hydrological mechanisms underlying various terrestrial ecological patterns and the ecological properties controlling the hydrologic and climatic regimes. Topics include conceptual understanding of hydrological cycle over vegetated land, quantifying and modeling flux exchanges in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere continuum, case studies on the hydrological impact of land use land cover changes, ecosystem response to environmental changes, and vegetation-climate feedback at the regional and global scales.
ENVE 5821. Vadose Zone Hydrology
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 5821. Theoretical and experimental elements of primary physical and hydrological properties of porous media and processes occurring in partially-saturated soils. Practical experience in measurement and interpretation of hydrological information and methods of analysis for vadose-zone related environmental problems.
ENVE 5830. Groundwater Flow Modeling
3 credits. Lecture. Also offered as CE 406. Basics of modeling with Finite Difference and Finite Element Methods. Modeling flow in saturated and unsaturated zones. Model calibration and validation. Parameter estimation. Treatment of heterogeneity. Basic geostatistics. Modeling surface-groundwater interactions. Application to field sites.
CE 6830. The Flood Problem
3 credits. Lecture. Flood hazards. Preventing or alleviating damages. Flood frequency analysis. Effect of land-use/landcover and soil moisture on flooding. Remote sensing in flood prediction. Flood and dam-break modeling. Multiple purpose projects