Welcome to New Mexico Tech's Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.The New Mexico Tech Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering offers a B.S. degree in civil engineering (with areas of specialization in structural, geotechnical, or water resources) and B.S. and M.S. degrees in environmental engineering. The department also offers minors in both civil and environmental engineering. Both programs are designed to give students a strong foundation in engineering and science and strive to produce well-balanced graduates ready to enter the civil engineering and environmental engineering industries or continue on with graduate studies. |
News & Events
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Philip Heid was given the ASCE - New Mexico Section's award for a New Mexico Tech junior in Civil Engineering. |
Two CE Students Recognized by ASCE
April 19, 2007 – Two members of the ASCE bridge-building team, Philip Heid, a civil engineering junior, and Justin Roybal, a graduating senior in civil engineering, were honored by the New Mexico Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers at the group's annual Spring Meeting.
Philip was selected to receive the Doc Harrington Award for the Outstanding NM Tech Civil Engineering Junior for the Spring 2007 semester. His award includes a $400 scholarship.
Justin's award was for the Outstanding NM Tech Civil Engineering Senior for the Spring 2007 semester. The NM Section will also pay his first year of dues for national membership of ASCE.
The recipients of these awards are chosen by the faculty of the Civil Engineering Department at each of NMT, New Mexico State University, and the University of New Mexico each semester. The CE students are presented with the awards at the Spring and Fall Meetings of the New Mexico Section.
The Spring Meeting was held April 18-20, 2007 at the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque. Tracy Baker, a junior, and Heather McDaniel, a graduating senior, were the NMT students recognized at the Fall Meeting last semester.
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The 2006-2007 ASCE at NMT Student Steel Bridge Team. From left to right: Kim Coleman, Justin Roybal, Ramon Gallegos, Dr. Claudia Wilson (the team's faculty advisor), Bryan Mitchell. Tess McCarty-Glenn, and Philip Heid. |
ASCE Student Chapter Visits Boulder to Compete in Steel Bridge Competition
April 16, 2007 – The 2006-2007 Student Steel Bridge Competition team of the New Mexico Tech Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) traveled to Boulder, Colo. last month to compete in the Rocky Mountain Regional Student Conference of the 2007 Student Steel Bridge Competition, sponsored by the ASCE and the American Institute of Steel Construction.
Pictured at the competition are New Mexico Tech team members (from left to right): Kim Coleman; Justin Roybal; Ramon Gallegos; Dr. Claudia Wilson (faculty advisor); Bryan Mitchell; Tess McCarty-Glenn; and Philip Heid. (Photo and caption provided by Justin Roybal, treasurer of the ASCE Student Chapter at New Mexico Tech)
The New Mexico Tech team's bridge took 21 minutes and 36 seconds to assemble, and passed both loading tests (vertical and lateral loading). The Tech-built bridge placed 6th out of 12 bridges entered.
In addition to New Mexico Tech's entry, collegiate teams from Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota also competed. Four of the competing bridges failed under the required loading of 2,250 lbs.
[NMT: Student Steel Bridge Competition ]
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At a recent luncheon in Albuquerque sponsored by the New Mexico Society of Professional Engineers, NMT students (from left) Tom Dotson, Tracy Baker, Nathan Goulding, Victoria Aston, Jonathan Berg, and Jesse Piotrowicz. |
Tracy Baker, CE Senior, named runner-up 2007 Engineering Student of the Year
By George Zamora
March 27, 2007
"Tracy Baker, a graduate of Incarnate Word High School in San Antonio, Texas, is now a Tech senior majoring in civil engineering.
"Baker is the daughter of Larry and Becky Baker, also of San Antonio.
"Baker’s recent engineering work at the university includes managing a New Mexico Department of Transportation project in which she and four other Tech students are currently inspecting the paved landing surfaces at 48 regional airports throughout New Mexico. The ongoing research project entails coordinating inspection visits at each airport, preparing AutoCAD diagrams of airport facilities, collecting site data, and then inputting the data in order to compile a complete database.
"In addition, Baker currently serves as co-editor of Miners' Ink New Mexico Tech’s literary magazine, and also volunteers her writing and editing skills at the Tech Writing Center. She is a member of the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers at the university."
[Excerpted from NMT: NM Tech's Top Engineering Students for 2007 Are Named]
Tech engineer doesn't feel the earth moving under her feet
By Argen Duncan, El Defensor Chieftain Reporter
March 10, 2007
A New Mexico Tech engineer is writing computer programs that work with a solution of oil and iron particles to keep tall buildings from collapsing during earthquakes.
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Claudia Wilson is developing computer programs that work with the magnetic solution in cylinder-shaped dampers to control the movement of buildings during earthquakes.
Tall buildings have more problems than houses in those situations.
The technology already exists, but Wilson is writing and testing better programs, which determine how much damping to apply to shaking structures.
"And it seems to be working very well," Wilson said.
Next, she plans to use a 3-foot-square "shake table" to test how the computer programs work with model buildings.
"I'm waiting on my shake table to get here," Wilson said.
Wilson plans to start with small steel structures and miniature dampers, but she doesn't know the exact dimensions or appearance of the models. She would like to work with both graduate and undergraduate students.
If her tests go well, Wilson plans to move to larger models, which she can test at several centers.
To work, dampers respond to the computer program, decreasing movement that would bring the building to a bad position or allowing movement that would return it to its original stance.
"It's not making it more flexible, and it's not making it stronger either," Wilson said.
To decrease movement, the program would increase the magnetic field around one area of the cylinder. The iron particles in the solution then form chains, making the fluid stiffer.
It becomes more difficult for the fluid to go through a small passage from one side of the cylinder to the other.
Wilson changes the magnetic field by altering the electrical current in wires wrapped around the passage area.
Wilson needs little current for the change because of the small amount of fluid involved. The dampers could run on a small generator or batteries.
Wilson's computer programs determine how stiff to make the fluid. Sensors measure ground movement and building displacement, and send information to the computer.
During the earthquake, the ground movement and building displacement happen quickly.
"So what I need to do is have the damper reacting just as fast," Wilson said.
The equipment must respond quickly throughout the earthquake, she said.
Other researchers are studying the best number and placement of dampers. Wilson said the devices seemed more effective in the lower part of buildings.
The dampers weigh about 20 tons each, and typically buildings need more than one.
"It would be too expensive, way too expensive, to build a building that's earthquake-proof," Wilson said.
The task would probably be impossible because builders can't predict earthquakes or know from what direction they will come, she continued.
Instead, Wilson said, architects design buildings to perform a certain way.
For small earthquakes, the most common kind, the building should suffer damage only aesthetic aspects, not the structure.
Medium earthquakes should cause little structural damage, only cracking windows or such. In large earthquakes, people should expect damage that may make the building unusable, but the structure shouldn't collapse.
"People are going to have time to evacuate," she said.
Wilson said dampers like the ones she works with are operating in Japan and seem to work well. However, Wilson said, the devices must go through much more testing before use in the United States.
[El Defensor Chieftain: Tech engineer doesn't feel the earth moving under her feet]
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Cramer Award winner William Shuter is second from left, as a member of the 2005-2006 bridge-building team. Left to right: Trevor Self, William Shuter, Bryan Mitchell, Dr. Claudia Wilson, Katheryn Stapleton, Johsua Fleming, Clifton Lee. |
William Shuter, Cramer Award 2006
By Shawna Carter
Commencement 2006
William Shuter was named recipient of New Mexico Tech’s Cramer Award, for male engineering student with the highest scholastic achievement at commencement ceremonies on May 13. Shuter earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering, with highest honors from the university, having a grade point average above 3.75.
Shuter, the son of Brian and Marian Shuter of Angel Fire, was a 2002 graduate of Cimarron High School.
Shuter was one of the first three graduates of New Mexico Tech’s newly reestablished Civil Engineering Department. He was a founding member and president of the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), a key member of an award-winning bridge-building team that participated in ASCE’s annual bridge-building contest, and a teaching assistant for two lab courses taught at New Mexico Tech.
In addition to his on-campus work, Shuter has worked as a carpenter for Sierra Bonita Builders during the summer of 2004 and a sales associate and clerk for Raton Builders’ Supply during the summers of 2000-2004.
In his spare time, Shuter enjoys skiing and snow boarding with the New Mexico Tech Board and Ski club.
“New Mexico Tech is a great place, but the four years here were tough!” he states.
[NMT: William Shuter, Cramer Award 2006]
