2025-2026 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Civil and environmental engineers design, construct, operate, maintain, and responsibly deconstruct the infrastructure that underpins society. Our work ensures access to clean water and safe indoor and outdoor air, and we play a critical role in managing the nation’s land and water resources.
Infrastructure encompasses a wide range of systems and structures, including buildings, industrial facilities, bridges, airports, highways, dams, flood control and coastal protection systems, stormwater management, and land development. Other examples essential public health infrastructure includes drinking water supply systems and wastewater treatment facilities.
We apply our expertise beyond the built environment to natural systems. We address pollution in water bodies like the Chesapeake Bay, enhance resilience to natural and human-made hazards, protect coastal zones, and work to mitigate and control air pollution.
The Charles Edward Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers an undergraduate program that facilitates the development of critical analytical abilities and the necessary fundamental knowledge and skills for entry into the civil engineering profession or graduate studies. This body of knowledge includes the basic principles of science and mathematics and their application to solving human problems. Civil engineering activities interact in many ways with the natural and social environments within which they take place. Accordingly, the civil engineering program strives to create an awareness of the ecological, social, economic, and political context of engineering and attempts to prepare the civil engineer for the necessary interactions with other professions and the public. An effort to instill an understanding of the role of the civil engineer in satisfying societal needs is an integral part of the civil engineering program.
Failure of a civil engineering system can result in loss of life. The Civil Engineering Code of Ethics requires that "Civil Engineers conduct themselves with integrity and professionalism, and above all else protect and advance the health, safety, and welfare of the public through the practice of Civil Engineering." This statement serves as a guiding principle for how our department approaches the professional preparation of its students for a career in this industry.
The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE) degree program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Civil and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
The Program Educational Objectives of the Civil Engineering undergraduate program are that, within a few years of program completion, alumni should:
Upon completion of the undergraduate program curriculum in Civil Engineering, students will attain the following outcomes:
The first and second years provide the mathematics, engineering mechanics, and basic science training that serves as the foundation of upper-division courses. During these first two years, students also gain a common technical background in the major. Selection of upper-division courses begins during the second semester of the sophomore year.
The civil engineering profession is broad and is composed of the following sub-disciplines: Construction Engineering and Management, Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Land Development, Materials Engineering, Structural Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and Water Resources Engineering. These sub-disciplines are organized into "Program Areas" organized around faculty with specific expertise in that sub-discipline and that teach and maintain undergraduate and graduate courses particular to that area. The undergraduate program provides unique flexibility for students to select coursework across the sub-disciples to produce graduates that are broadly trained but also provides depth within an individual student's area of interest. Further specialization in a particular sub-discipline is available through graduate study. The Civil Engineering program offers two majors: the Civil Engineering Major and the Environmental Engineering Major.
Students are progressively exposed to civil engineering design through the curriculum, culminating in a focused design course experience. The projects assigned in design courses are open-ended, incorporate appropriate engineering standards, and require the application of knowledge from earlier courses in the curriculum. Projects not only apply technical knowledge to design appropriate physical facilities, but also include consideration of non-technical constraints that confront real-world projects. These additional considerations include such interdisciplinary issues as economics, environmental impact, and sustainability. Accordingly, teamwork and good professional communication skills are a significant part of each design project course experience.
Classroom instruction in the civil engineering program is reinforced by instructional laboratories in the major areas of civil engineering practice. These laboratory experiences provide training in collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting data.
The department participates in the Cooperative Education and Internship Program in which qualified students may take a semester away from their education to gain valuable professional work experience. The department encourages all students to participate in professional work opportunities prior to graduation.
The contact person for undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering majors within the Civil Engineering program is Lauren Varboncoeur, CEE Academic Advisor at (540) 231-0981 or e-mail: lvarboncoeur@vt.edu.
Students earning the Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering possess the technical skills required to enter practice as civil or environmental engineers in a wide range of organizations. Some students choose to pursue graduate education, leading to the M.Eng., M.S., or Ph.D. in civil engineering. Graduate degree programs are available in all Program Areas. Refer to the Graduate Catalog for more information.
Admission to a degree program is competitive, with departmental restrictions established each year by the college. Entry into a degree-granting department requires that a student complete all first year required courses and maintain a competitive GPA. Applicants who begin their first year in the College of Engineering and earn a minimum 3.0 overall are guaranteed first choice of major. More information is available through the Engineering Education Department: https://eng.vt.edu/academics/undergraduate-students/resources-support/change-of-major.html.
The graduation requirements in effect during the academic year of admission to Virginia Tech apply. Requirements for graduation are listed for the Civil Engineering Major and the Environmental Engineering Major. Students must satisfactorily complete all requirements and university obligations for degree completion. The university reserves the right to modify requirements in a degree program.
Head and Professor: M.A. Widdowson
Associate Head and Nick Prillaman Professor: P.J. Vikesland
Associate Head and Reynolds Metals Professor: S.W. Case
Associate Head and Professor: C.L. Roberts-Wollmann
Charles E. Via, Jr. Professor: R.L. Leon and J. C. Little
Charles P. Lunsford Professor: M.A. Edwards and L.C. Marr
David H. Burrows Professor: M.J. Garvin
Dan Pletta Professor: G.W. Flintsch
Montague-Betts Professor: M.R. Eatherton
Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professor: H.A. Rakha
University Distinguished Professor: M.A. Edwards, L.C. Marr, and A.J. Pruden
Vecellio Professor of Construction Engineering: D. Ford
W. Thomas Rice Professor: A.J. Pruden
Professors: M.M. Abbas, A.M. Dietrich, D.L. Gallagher, S.B. Grant, R.A. Green, E.T. Hester, J.L. Irish, W.R. Knocke, A. Rodriguez-Marek, S.K. Sinha, K. Strom, and A.A. Trani
Associate Professors: S. Abdelaziz, H. Foroutan, K.L. Hancock, S. Hotle, G. Isaacman-VanWertz, E. Jacques, F. Jazizadeh Karimi, I.A. Koutromanos, L. Marston, E.W. Shealy, and A. Yerro-Colom
Assistant Professors: M. Arul Jayachandran, A.S. Brand, M.S. Hasnine, J. Liao, D. Muñoz, F. Paige, A. Phillips, M.A. Rippy, R. Sarlo, S. Saksena, and J. Vantassel
Professors of Practice: J.E. Dove and B.J. Katz
Associate Professors of Practice: R.P. Scardina, C.M. White, and K.D. Young
Assistant Professors of Practice: M. Biscotte and H. Casey
Research Assistant Professors: B. Castellanos and R. Hosseini
Undergraduate Program Writing Coordinator: C. Branscome
Emeritus Faculty: G.D. Boardman, T.L. Brandon, F.A. Charney, T.E. Cousins, W.E. Cox, J. de la Garza, D.R. Drew, J.M. Duncan, R.L. Dymond, W.S. Easterling, G.M. Filz, R.C. Hoehn, S.M. Holzer, J.M. Hughes, D.F. Kibler, T. Kuppusamy, M. Mauldon, J.K. Mitchell, T.M. Murray, J.T. Novak, R.H. Plaut, C.W. Randall, K.B. Rojiani, D. Teodorovic, M.C. Vorster, and R.E. Weyers
Academic Advisor: L. Varboncoeur
Director of External and Alumni Relations: C.E. Sakry
Alumni Relations Manager: K. Lattimer
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