Environmental engineers utilize engineering principles and physical, chemical, and biological sciences to devise effective solutions for current and emerging environmental problems related to human activities. Environmental engineers protect and improve societal health through air pollution prevention and control; safe drinking water production and supply; sustainable treatment of wastewater and solid wastes; and remediation of contaminated sites, along with many other local and global environmental issues.
The Environmental Engineering (EnvE) program at Rutgers gives students a broad and multi-disciplinary education in the fundamentals of environmental engineering as well as proactive learning opportunities to utilize classroom learning in applications and design. The program is administered jointly by the School of Engineering (SoE) and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). Students interested in studying EnvE enter the program through admission to SoE (or transfer to SoE if admitted to another school at Rutgers) in order to complete the common first year engineering curriculum.
This curriculum provides a broad and multi-disciplinary education in the fundamentals of environmental engineering as well as proactive learning opportunities to utilize classroom learning in applications and design. A wide range of courses address the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context offers a wide range of courses to help students understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.
In order to successfully complete the program, students must actively engage in collecting, analyzing and interpreting data and must demonstrate methodological and computer skills. Students also graduate with the ability to effectively communicate complex issues both orally and in writing.
Students have the opportunity to conduct research alongside faculty members using local waterways and other sites for gathering data for analysis. Internships offer real world experience. Students have interned at New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, among others.
Environmental engineers solve problems related to a wide variety of environmental issues largely encompassing initiatives to protect human health and the environment by providing clean water and air, designing sustainable infrastructure, enabling recycling and waste disposal, providing services to accomplish remediation of contaminated sites, and solving many other environmental problems plaguing today's natural environment.
Environmental engineers can look forward to excellent career opportunities following graduation. Numerous consulting firms that specialize in solving environmental problems exist in the Northeast, around the nation, and the world.
With an environmental engineering degree, you could choose many career paths:
Students take basic engineering courses and physical, chemical, and biological sciences in the freshman and sophomore years. In the junior and senior years, the fundamentals are applied for multidsciplinary problem solving in various environmental fields.