The Department Head's Message
Greetings and welcome to the Florida
Tech Department of Civil Engineering's Web site. The links on this
Web site are intended to present you with general information on our mission, objectives, faculty, undergraduate
and graduate programs, research activities, industry
contacts and scholarships available
to you only in this department.
Provide state-of-the-art education in
a learning, caring and nurturing environment to allow students to develop
and to become productive members of society, thereby continuing with
the time-honored duty of protecting the public,s health, safety, and
welfare.
Basically, Our mission is to develop students who become productive members
of society. The program emphasizes communication skills, new tools and skills
for professional practice and lifelong learning. We strive to ensure that our
graduates understand professional ethics and the value of service to their
profession. Our goal is to train them so that, after completing their degrees,
they are highly sought by the industry, and graduate schools, if they wish
to pursue further studies. We have been successful in our mission. In the past
several years, close to one hundred percent of our students received job offers
or enrolled in graduate schools within three months of graduation.
Being a small department (approximately
80-90 undergraduate students and 20-25 graduate students), we are able
to educate our students in a caring and nurturing environment in which
all faculty members know all students by their first names.
Prospective students may be interested
in knowing more about how a civil engineer spends a typical day, and
may also want to know what our alumni have to say about their educational
experience at Florida Tech. If that is the case, I suggest you read letters from
two of our alumni who are also members of the department's Civil Engineering
Advisory Committee (CEAC).
The CEAC consists
of 19 members and is involved in reviewing the department's strategic
plan. It also takes part in the outcome assessment process of the academic
program, ensuring that the department is meeting the lofty goals it
has set for itself. Many of the CEAC members are Florida Tech alumni
who work in nationally reputed civil engineering and construction companies.
The CEAC also helps fulfill another department goal: bringing our students
in close contact with the civil engineering industry. We accomplish
this in several ways: 1) by inviting speakers from the industry to
take part in all civil engineering courses, 2) by taking our students,
especially the freshmen, on as many field trips as possible, and 3)
by strongly urging our students to seek summer internships and/or co-op
experience while at school. We actively help our students obtain
internships. We do this because our statistics tell us that nearly
all our students who do an internship with a company get a job offer
from that company before they graduate. The department is continuously
building close relationships with the civil engineering and construction
industries. In the past year, we have formed a Construction
Industry Advisory Board (CIAB), consisting of more than 25 members.
The industry is excited to partner with Florida Tech because they are
aware of the high quality of students we produce.
All of our faculty members are registered
professional engineers and bring extensive practical experience to
the classroom. All of them are also accomplished researchers and
are involved in exciting research projects. As a result, even undergraduate
students have many opportunities to participate in challenging,
multidisciplinary collaborative research projects. All of our faculty
members teach both graduate and undergraduate courses.
We strongly encourage our students to
take part in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) sponsored regional
and national competitions. These competitions provide a great opportunity
to develop communication, management and team building skills outside
the classroom environment. Nearly fifty percent of our students take
an active part in these competitions and always put up a good show. Florida
Tech Concrete Canoe Team
Because of a strong demand, the starting
salaries for civil engineers are steadily going up. A recent study
showed that civil engineers with four years of experience are making
approximately the same salary as electrical engineers and 17 percent
more than mechanical engineers. The salaries are even higher for those
who are registered Professional Engineers.
Any student thinking about enrolling
in our department is invited to visit our campus. I or another faculty
member will be happy to give you and your parents a tour of the campus
and of our facilities at any time.
Please browse our Web site and feel
free to contact me with any questions
or additional information that you may desire. We appreciate your interest,
and look forward to your involvement with us.
