Environmental Engineering - Bachelor of Science (BS)           1

ENVIRONMENTALENGINEERING - BACHELOR OFSCIENCE (BS)Environmental engineers play a vital role in maintaining the qualityof both public health and the natural environment. Environmentalengineering encompasses the scientific assessment and developmentof engineering solutions to environmental problems impacting thebiosphere, land, water, and air quality. Environmental issues affect almostall municipal, commercial, and industrial sectors, and are a centralconcern for the public, for all levels of government, and in internationalrelations. These issues include safe drinking water, wastewaterprocessing, solid and hazardous waste disposal, outdoor and indoor airpollution, human health and ecological risk management, prevention ofpollution through alternative product or process design, and renewableand sustainable energy sources.

To address these challenges, environmental engineers often encounterchallenging problems that must be solved in data-poor situations asmembers of multidisciplinary teams. Environmental problems requirecreative solutions blended with contributions from scientists, lawyers,business people, and the public. Good communication skills, as well astechnical proficiency, are essential for success in this arena. In addition,technology designed to address environmental problems is marketedglobally, opening up increasing opportunities for international work in theenvironmental engineering field.

MissionThe mission of the Environmental Engineering Program (http://www.colorado.edu/even) is to provide a multidisciplinary undergraduateenvironmental engineering education that emphasizes mastery ofprinciples and practices, inspires service for the global public good,endows a desire for lifelong learning, and prepares students for broad anddynamic career paths in environmental engineering.

FacultyThe faculty of the Environmental Engineering (EVEN) Program (http://www.colorado.edu/even/people) are drawn from the Departments of Civil,Environmental, and Architectural Engineering; Mechanical Engineering;Chemical and Biological Engineering; and Aerospace EngineeringSciences. The EVEN faculty, its Professional Advisory Board (representingprospective employers of its graduates), and EVEN alumni and currentstudents have contributed to the creation of the program's mission andthe educational objectives of the BS in environmental engineering degree.

Program Educational ObjectivesThe educational objective of the Environmental Engineering Bachelor ofScience Degree is to produce graduates who are capable of reaching thefollowing career goals three to five years after graduation:

1. Graduates will be employed in engineering, science, or otherprofessional careers

2. Graduates will pursue professional registration or other appropriatecertifications

3. Graduates will be engaged in continual learning by pursuingadvanced degrees or additional educational opportunities through

coursework, professional conferences and training, and/orparticipation in professional societies.

4. Graduates will be engaged in activities that provide benefits tocommunities, the environment, and/or public health

Student OutcomesThe outcomes that students are expected to have attained upongraduation with a bachelor of science degree in environmentalengineering are:

• an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineeringproblems by applying principles of engineering, science, andmathematics 

• an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions thatmeet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety,and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, andeconomic factors

• an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences• an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in

engineering situations and make informed judgments, which mustconsider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic,environmental, and societal contexts

• an ability to function effectively on a team whose members togetherprovide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment,establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives

• an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation,analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to drawconclusions

• an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, usingappropriate learning strategies

Concurrent Degree ProgramBS/MS in Environmental and Civil EngineeringA concurrent BS/MS degree program in environmental engineering(http://www.colorado.edu/even/current-students/5-year-bsms) isavailable. Students may apply to the program when they have completed75–110 credit hours toward the undergraduate EVEN degree. Onceaccepted into the program, students may be allowed to count 6 credithours taken at the graduate level for both the environmental engineeringBS and the civil engineering MS degrees, thus allowing them to obtainboth degrees in a five-year curriculum.

RequirementsThe BS degree in environmental engineering at the University ofColorado Boulder provides preparation for professional proficiency orgraduate training in environmental engineering in a four-year curriculum.The curriculum includes courses in engineering fundamentals andapplications, advanced mathematics, chemistry, physics, microbiologyand earth science, along with courses in the arts, humanities and socialsciences.

Courses specific to environmental engineering practice include waterchemistry, environmental microbiology, and air pollution control. Inaddition, environmental engineering requires hands-on laboratoryexperiences, up-to-date skills in the use of computers for modeling anddata analysis, and experience in the design of environmental engineeringsystems. Many of the required engineering courses in the bachelor ofscience curriculum are culled from civil, environmental, and architectural

2        Environmental Engineering - Bachelor of Science (BS)

engineering; chemical and biological engineering; and mechanicalengineering.

The curriculum also includes three technical electives, threeenvironmental engineering sequence courses, and two free electives.Technical elective courses include a broad range of science andengineering courses, and must include an earth sciences course.

The environmental engineering sequence courses are selectedby the student beginning in the junior year. The sequenceconsists of one environmental engineering design course andtwo environmental engineering technical elective (https://www.colorado.edu/even/sites/default/files/attached-files/list_b_environmental_engineering_technical_electives_2017-2018.pdf)courses.

Students in the program are also encouraged to participate in researchthrough independent study or senior thesis projects, the UndergraduateResearch Opportunities Program (UROP), or as undergraduate researchassistants in sponsored research programs. Students are required totake the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam when they are within 32credit hours of graduation.

Sample Four-Year Plan of StudyCourse Title Credit

Hours

Year One

Fall Semester

APPM 1350 Calculus1 forEngineers

4

CHEM 1221 EngineeringGeneralChemistryLab

1

CHEN 1211 GeneralChemistryforEngineers

4

EVEN 1000 IntroductiontoEnvironmentalEngineering3

1

First-Year Engineering Projects course 3

Humanities and social science elective 4 3

  CreditHours

16

Spring Semester

APPM 1360 Calculus2 forEngineers

4

CHEN 1310 IntroductiontoEngineeringComputing

3

PHYS 1110 GeneralPhysics 1

4

Humanities and social science elective 4 3

Technical elective 1 3

  CreditHours

17

Year Two

Fall Semester

APPM 2350 Calculus3 forEngineers

4

PHYS 1120 GeneralPhysics 2

4

PHYS 1140 ExperimentalPhysics 1

1

Select one of the following in Statics: 3

CVEN 2121 AnalyticalMechanics1

 

GEEN 2851 Statics forEngineers

 

MCEN 2023 Statics andStructures

 

Humanities and social science elective 4 3

  CreditHours

15

Spring Semester

APPM 2360 IntroductiontoDifferentialEquationswith LinearAlgebra

4

CVEN 3414 FundamentalsofEnvironmentalEngineering

3

Select one of the following in Fluids Mechanics: 3

CHEN 3200 ChemicalEngineeringFluidMechanics(Selectone of thefollowingin FluidsMechanics:)

 

CVEN 3313 TheoreticalFluidMechanics

 

GEEN 3853 FluidMechanicsforEngineers

 

MCEN 3021 FluidMechanics

 

Humanities and social science elective 4 3

Free Elective 3

  CreditHours

16

Year Three

Fall Semester

EVEN 4404 WaterChemistry 3

3

EVEN 4414 WaterChemistryLaboratory3

1

EVEN 3350 3

Select one of the following in Engineering Economics: 3

CVEN 3246 IntroductiontoConstruction

 

Environmental Engineering - Bachelor of Science (BS)           3

CVEN 4147 CivilEngineeringSystems

 

EMEN 4100 EngineeringEconomics

 

BUSM 3002 BusinessandFinancialAnalytics(only forstudentsearning abusinessminor)

 

Select one of the following in Thermodynamics: 3

AREN 2110 Thermodynamics  

MCEN 3012 Thermodynamics  

CHEN 3320 ChemicalEngineeringThermodynamics

 

GEEN 3852 ThermodynamicsforEngineers

 

College-approved writing course 5 3

  CreditHours

16

Spring Semester

EVEN 4424 EnvironmentalOrganicChemistry 3

3

EVEN 4484 IntroductiontoEnvironmentalMicrobiology3

3

CHEN 3210or MCEN 3022

ChemicalEngineeringHeatTransfer

or HeatTransfer

3

Select one of the following in Probability and Statistics: 3

APPM 4570 StatisticalMethods

 

CHEN 3010 AppliedDataAnalysis

 

CVEN 3227 Probability,StatisticsandDecision

 

Environmental engineering design/technical elective I 2 3

  CreditHours

15

Year Four

Fall Semester

EVEN 4464 EnvironmentalEngineeringProcesses3

3

Humanities and social science elective 4 3

Air or earth science laboratory or field course 3

Environmental engineering design/technical elective II 2 3

Select one of the following: 3

Technical elective II 1  

Senior Thesis 6  

Environmental engineering design/technical elective III 2  

Free elective 2

  CreditHours

17

Spring Semester

CVEN 4333 EngineeringHydrology 3

3

CVEN 4434 EnvironmentalEngineeringDesign 3

4

MCEN 4131 AirPollutionControlEngineering3

3

Select one of the following: 3

Environmental engineering design/technical elective III 2  

Technical Elective II 1  

Select one of the following: 3

Technical elective III 1  

Senior Thesis 6  

  CreditHours

16

  Total CreditHours

128

1 A total of 9 credit hours of technical electives is required. Threetechnical elective credit hours may be lower-division (1000–2000-level). Three technical elective credit hours must be in the earthsciences, either lower or upper division. Remaining technical electivecredit hours must be upper division in engineering, mathematicsor sciences. Independent study (EVEN 4840) or senior thesis(EVEN 4980 and EVEN 4990) may be completed as technicalelectives for up to 6 credits hours.

2 A nine-credit-hour (three-course) sequence in environmentalengineering – one environmental engineering design course and twoenvironmental engineering technical electives.

3 Only offered in the semester shown (not including summer offerings).4 Students may choose courses from the list of college-approved

humanities and social sciences (HSS) electives (http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/academics/policies/hss).

5 Students may choose a course from the list of college-approvedwriting courses (http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/academics/policies/hss).

6 A senior thesis can be completed on a single research topic, withfaculty approval and direction, and can apply toward technicalelective requirements.