DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is a dynamic scholarly community of undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.
Our professors excel in both the classroom and laboratory in specialties including:
- Environmental Engineering
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Structural Engineering
- Transportation Engineering
- Water Resources Engineering
- Construction Management
All Civil Engineering students are prepared to play vital roles in enhancing quality of life while protecting the environment and improving sustainability.
At a Glance
- 19 Full-time faculty members
- 242 Civil Engineering undergraduates (40% female)
- 47 Master’s students (Civil Engineering)
- 34 Master’s students (Water Resources and Environmental Engineering)
- 19 PhD students
The size of our department allows for a variety of hands-on research opportunities and the ability for focused faculty mentorship.
OUR RESEARCH
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is closely associated with:
Center for Human-Environmental Systems (CHES)
CHES reaches across disciplines, bringing in faculty members from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the Charles Widger School of Law, in addition to the College of Engineering (COE), to advance technologies and solutions that mimic natural processes and promote restorative impacts upon the Earth’s interconnected systems.
Villanova’s Center for Resilient Water Systems (VCRWS)
VCRWS is home to the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership (VUSP) and several of the nation’s leading experts in the field of stormwater control management and green infrastructure.
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Students at all levels are encouraged to pursue research in the areas of water resources and stormwater management, as well opportunities in:
- Water Quality/Wastewater Treatment
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Transportation Systems
- Structural Engineering
Among its facilities, the department boasts the impressive Richard K. Faris ’69 CE, ’70 MSCE Structural Engineering Teaching and Research Laboratory for testing of full-scale and component size infrastructure elements, and the new Transportation Simulation Laboratory that is part of the Advanced Simulation complex that is shared with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
DEPARTMENT NEWS
Chenfeng Xiong, PhD, Virginia Smith, PhD, and Peleg Kremer, PhD, with support from Bridget Wadzuk, PhD, have been awarded $750,000 of a $2 million research grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a project designed to reduce the vulnerability of underserved communities to the social and environmental impacts of urban flooding events.
Villanova Engineering Students Tackle Water and Sanitation Challenges in Uganda
Led by Assistant Professor Kelly Good, PhD, PE, Associate Professor Virginia Smith, PhD, and Professor Rob Traver, PhD, PE, the group met with residents and visited project sites in pursuit of developing a solar-powered well pump system to expand residents’ water access and designing safer latrines for students at a local school.
Dr. Bridget Wadzuk Receives 2024 Outstanding Faculty Research Award
The professor of Civil Engineering and director of Sustainable Engineering was recognized for her work in water resources engineering and green stormwater infrastructure, most notably her research on the evapotranspiration process from green roofs and bioretention.