Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Department:
Civil Engineering
Transcript Designation:
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Program Advisor(s):
Academic Questions: e-mail advisor@cvn.columbia.edu
Administrative Questions: e-mail cvn@cvn.columbia.edu
Program Description:
The Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics offers graduate programs leading to the
degree of Master of Science (M.S.) This program is flexible and may involve concentrations in structures,
construction engineering, reliability and random processes, soil mechanics, fluid mechanics, hydrogeology,
continuum mechanics, finite element methods, computational mechanics, experimental mechanics, acoustics, vibrations
and dynamics, earthquake engineering, or any combination thereof, such as fluid-structure interaction. The Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) is required for admission to the department.
Civil Engineering:
By selecting technical electives, students may focus on one of several areas of concentration or prepare for future endeavors such as architecture. Some typical concentrations are:
· Structural analysis and design: applications to steel and concrete buildings, bridges, and other structures
· Geotechnical engineering: soil mechanics, engineering geology, and foundation engineering
· Construction engineering and management: capital facility planning and financing, strategic management,
managing engineering and construction processes, construction industry law, construction techniques, managing
civil infrastructure systems, civil engineering and construction entrepreneurship
· Environmental engineering and water resources: transport of water-borne substances, hydrology, sediment transport, hydrogeology, and geoenvironmental design of containment systems
Engineering Mechanics:
Programs in engineering mechanics offer comprehensive training in the principles of applied mathematics and
continuum mechanics and in the application of these principles to the solution of engineering problems. The
emphasis is on basic principles, enabling students to choose from among a wide range of technical areas. Students
may work on problems in such disciplines as systems analysis, acoustics, and stress analysis, and in fields as
diverse as transportation, environmental, structural, nuclear, and aerospace engineering.
Program areas include:
· Continuum mechanics: solid and fluid mechanics, theories of elastic and inelastic behavior, and damage mechanics
· Vibration: nonlinear and random vibration; dynamics of continuous media, of structures and rigid bodies, and of combined systems,
such as fluid-structure interaction; active, passive, and hybrid control systems for structures under seismic loading; dynamic soil-structure
interaction effects on the seismic response of structures
· Random processes and reliability: problems in design against failure under earthquake, wind, and wave loadings;
noise, and turbulent flows; analysis of structures with random properties
· Fluid mechanics: turbulent flows, two-phase flows, fluid-structure interaction, fluid-soil interaction,
flow in porous media, computational methods for flow and transport processes, and flow and transport in
fractured rock under mechanical loading
· Computational mechanics: finite element and boundary element techniques, symbolic computation, and bioengineering applications
Admission Requirements:
Degree required for admission: Students admitted to the program must possess an undergraduate degree in
civil engineering or a related field from an accredited academic institution. Applicants should have a strong
undergraduate record to be competitive for admission.
GPA required: Minimum of 3.0
GRE requirements: General test required (more information about the GRE’s can be accessed here).
Other application requirements: Two recommendation letters, transcripts, resume, and a personal-professional
statement are required. TOEFL test scores are required of all students who received their bachelor's degree in
a country where English is not the official and spoken language. All application requirements in the Graduate
Application must be completed as specified in the application.
Breadth requirement: None
Degree Requirements:
Students must complete all core courses (described below) and selected electives (described below) for a
total of 30 graduate points of academic work with an academic average of 2.5 or better. Up to 6 credit hours
(points) of acceptable graduate-level academic work from an accredited academic institution earned prior to
enrolling at Columbia may be transferred as elective credit, subject to advisor approval.
Core Courses:
The core courses provide a student with a solid foundation in the fundamentals of Civil Engineering.
The core courses contribute 18 points (students must choose six courses from the twelve listed below) of
graduate credit toward the degree.
CIEN E4021: Elastic and Plastic Analysis of Structures (3 points)
CIEN E4111: Uncertainty & Risk in Infrastructure Systems (3 points)
CIEN E4129: Managing Engineering & Construction Processes (3 points)
CIEN E4332: Finite Element Analysis I (3 points)
CIEN E4132: Prevention & Resolution of Construction Disputes (3 points)
CIEN E4242: Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering (3 points)
CIEN E6246: Advanced Soil Mechanics (3 points)
ENME E4215: Theory of Vibrations (3 points)
ENME E4114: Mechanics of Fracture & Fatigue (3 points)
ENME E4202: Advanced Mechanics (3 points)
ENME E4113: Advanced Mechanics of Solids (3 points)
MECE E6313: Advanced Heat Transfer (3 points)
Elective Courses:
A student must select elective four courses from those listed below for a total of 12 points of graduate credit.
Students may select courses not listed with the approval of a program advisor. These courses allow the student
to pick subjects from a variety of areas to complement the core program. These electives enable students to
explore theories and concepts from the fields of industrial engineering and operations research. Applied
Mathematics & management.
Quantitative Electives
IEOR E4003 Industrial Economics (3 points)
IEOR E4004 Intro to Operations Research: Deterministic Models (3 points)
IEOR E4007 Optimization: Models and Methods (3 points)
IEOR E4106 Intro to Operations research: Stochastic Models (3 points)
SIEO W4606 Elementary Stochastic Processes (3 points)
APMA E4001: Principles of Applied Mathematics (3 points)
APMA E4101: Introduction to Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (3 points)
APMA E4200: Partial Differential Equations (3 points)
Management Electives:
IEME E4310 Technology & Strategic Issues in Manufacturing Enterprises (3 points)
IEOR E4000 Production Management (3 points)
IEOR E4405 Production Scheduling (3 points)
IEOR E4418: Logistics and Transportation Management (3 points)
IEOR E4998 Managing Technological Innovation (3 points)
IEOR E4412: Quality Control and Management (3 points)
IEOR E4210: Supply Chain Management (3 points)
Transfer of credit: Up to 6 credit hours (points) of acceptable graduate-level academic work from an
accredited academic institution earned prior to enrolling at Columbia may be transferred to Columbia, subject to
the CVN program advisor's approval. The Transfer Credit request form can be accessed via this
link. Please note
that students must request the transfer of credit upon acceptance into the MS program, that credit will only be
considered for transfer if the grades earned were at least 3.0 on the 4.0 scale, and that an official college
transcript and copy of the class syllabus and/or course description from the school's bulletin must accompany the
"Transfer of Credit Request" form.
Scholastic average required for graduation: 2.5
Time Limit: All degree requirements must be completed within 5 years of the beginning of the first
course credited toward the degree. This includes courses taken in the non-degree program.
If you have any additional questions, please contact CVN at info@cvn.columbia.edu or at (212)-854-6447
Please note: The program is subject to changes and alterations at the discretion of Columbia University