Environmental Engineering

The environmental engineering program is well balanced, containing basic sciences, humanities and social sciences, engineering sciences, and environmental engineering that meet ABET curricular content criteria. The program requires advanced biological and chemical sciences, in addition to traditional engineering sciences. These courses are substantive and useful as a basis for environmental engineering practice. Areas of curricular concentration exceed ABET minimum requirements. Air pollution control engineering, water and wastewater engineering, and solid and hazardous waste engineering are covered in junior and senior level design courses.

From the New Mexico Tech 2007-09 Catalog:

Department Mission Statement

The main objective of this program is to produce well-balanced environmental engineers capable of entering the environmental engineering market as professionals, prepared to deal with current problems, and also having an ability to adapt to future environmental issues. The curricular content embodies the basic sciences, mathematics, humanities and social sciences, and engineering sciences common to most engineering disciplines. In addition, it draws heavily upon advanced physical, chemical, biological and engineering science concepts. An assortment of environmental engineering courses provides a strong background in the fundamentals of physical, chemical and biological processes and unit operations specific to the discipline. This approach, coupled with a program philosophy of logical analysis, critical thinking, rational design, and ethical practice, enables the environmental engineering graduate to address varied multi-media problems and develop integrated air-water-land approaches to problem solving. The program offers the graduate the environmental breadth and technological depth needed to interface with multi-disciplinary teams solving complex environmental problems. A common thread throughout the program is that environmental engineers must exercise ecological wisdom as they engineer for society with the appreciation and understanding that humans are an integral part of nature and must live harmoniously within the ecological and resource limits of the earth.

A secondary program objective is to prepare students for advanced education. A broad environmental engineering baccalaureate program has intrinsic value as a foundation for specialization in graduate school. Ancillary to this is the concept that a Bachelor of Science degree at New Mexico Tech in Environmental Engineering should not, in itself, be the final step in the educational staircase. In other words, our objective is also to provide the graduate with a foundation for continued professional growth and development and lifelong learning.

Undergraduate Engineering Design

The design experience is cultivated early on in the study of environmental engineering at New Mexico Tech. Appropriate elements of design are integrated throughout the curriculum beginning with Introduction to Engineering I (ES 110) and culminating in a major comprehensive design experience offered by Senior Design Thesis (ENVE 490). The grouping or linking of coursework in engineering topics and basic and applied sciences provide a base of knowledge consistent with achieving program objectives. This coursework has been carefully selected by faculty consensus to give the student an introductory-level exposure to the fundamentals in the following major focus areas of environmental engineering: water and wastewater, solid and hazardous waste, air quality and air pollution control. Environmental engineering coursework should, therefore, include such subjects as organic chemistry, microbiology, groundwater hydrology, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, and, perhaps, process instrumentation and control. The rationale for selection of specific classes is simple. The curriculum reflects an effort by the faculty to complement the major focus areas with appropriate engineering topics and relevant specialized sciences. A proficiency in these three areas of environmental engineering, augmented by professional experience, will produce those skills necessary to conceive, plan, design and implement actions required for the protection of human health and welfare and for the preservation and enhancement of our environment.

Program Educational Objectives

The Environmental Engineering Program has established a set of educational objectives to maintain and improve the quality of its
undergraduate program:

  1. To produce well-balanced environmental engineers capable of entering the environmental engineering market as professionals that are prepared to manage current problems, and are able to adapt to changing technologies and regulations. Target employers include environmental regulatory agencies, industrial companies, and government research laboratories.
  2. To prepare students in the general areas of logical analysis, critical thinking, rational design, and ethical engineering practice to enable environmental engineering students to address a wide variety of environmental engineering problems.
  3. To prepare students for advanced education in fields such as environmental engineering, environmental health, chemical engineering, and hydrology, and to prepare students for professional licensure.