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
Villanova Engineers Awarded Major Research Instrumentation Grant by National Science Foundation
The three-year, $1.4 million grant will fund the installation and upkeep of a unidirectional sediment-feed tilting flume. The device will serve a wide scope of hydrology research projects and experiments for Villanova researchers as well as national and international partners in academia, water utilities and engineering firms.
Oct 2023
Dr. Rob Traver Receives 2 Awards for Contributions to Water Resources Engineering
The professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering was honored with the 2023 Outstanding Research & Innovation Award from the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers and the 2023 Philadelphia Civil Engineer of the Year Award from the Philadelphia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
May 2023
Villanova Engineering Launches Center for Human-Environmental Systems
Directed by Associate Professor Wenqing “Vicky” Xu, PhD, of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the center will address environmental concerns through biomimicry, finding solutions by exploring how nature itself would solve these problems.
Mar 2022