University of Mississippi

What is Civil Engineering?

Civil Engineering is a multidisciplinary profession involving:

  • Structure engineers design high-rise office buildings, factories, hospitals, high tech laboratories, bridges, aircrafts, offshore drilling rigs, transmission towers, nuclear power plants, and other structures.
  • Materials science investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties.
  • Hydraulic engineering is one of the earliest branch of civil engineering.
  • Transportation engineering deals with transport of goods and people on land, by air, and by water.
  • Geotechnical engineering involves the foundation of a structure, which is often hidden from sight, but no less important than the structure itself.
  • Environmental engineering is the field that examines the impacts of human activities on the environment and develops technologies to fight pollution.