Academics

Master of Science Degree

EEE offers a master of science in Earth resources engineering (M.S.-E.R.E.) degree, designed for engineers and scientists who plan to pursue, or are already engaged in, environmental management/development careers. The focus of the program is the environmentally sound mining and processing of primary materials (minerals, energy, and water) and the recycling or proper disposal of used materials. The program also includes technologies for assessment and remediation of past damage to the environment. Students can choose a pace that allows them to to complete the MS.-E.R.E. requirements while being employed.

M.S.-E.R.E. graduates are specially qualified to work for engineering, financial, and operating companies engaged in mineral processing ventures, the environmental industry, environmental groups of in all industries, and for city, state, and federal agencies responsible for the environment and energy/resource conservation. At the present time, the U.S. environmental industry comprises nearly 30,000 big and small businesses with total revenues over $150 billion. Sustainable development and environmental quality has become a top priority of industry and government in the U.S. and many other nations.

The M.S.-E.R.E. requires a minimum of 30 credits (10 courses) beyond a bachelor's degree, preferably in a science or engineering discipline. Up to 48 credits may be required to allow for make-up undergraduate courses. Also required is original research culminating in a M.S. thesis, worth up to 6 credits of the 30 credit total. Students typically enroll in two semesters of graduate-level interdisciplinary coursework in the fall and spring terms and complete the M.S. thesis in the summer term.

Students interested in eventually earning a doctoral degree can apply as an M.S./Ph.D. candidate, in which they complete a M.S.-E.R.E. before pursuing either a Ph.D. or Eng.Sc. degree, without having to reapply. EEE doctoral candidates must already hold a master's degree in a related engineering or science discipline.

There are four optional concentrations within the M.S.-E.R.E. program. In each concentration there are a number of required specific core courses and electives. Students are encouraged to choose a concentration that matches their specific interests and career plans. A general program is also permissible, providing a broad background in environmental engineering and Earth resources covering water resources, pollution prevention, energy, resource economics, recycling, reclamation, and health. Courses for a general M.S.-E.R.E. program must be selected in close consultation with the graduate program director, Professor Marco Castaldi.


Water Resources and Climate Risks


Climate-induced risk is a significant component of decision making for the planning, design and operation of water resource systems, and related sectors such as energy, health, agriculture, ecological resources, and natural hazards control. Climatic uncertainties can be broadly classified into two areas: (1) those related to anthropogenic climate change and (2) those related to seasonal-to-century-scale natural variations. The climate change issues impact the design of physical, social, and financial infrastructure systems to support the sectors listed above. The climate variability and predictability issues impact systems operation, and hence design. The goal of the M.S. concentration in Water Resources and Climate Risksis to provide (1) a capacity for understanding and quantifying the projections for climate change and variability in the context of decisions for water resources and related sectors of impact; and (2) skills for integrated risk assessment and management for operations and design, as well as for regional policy analysis and management. Specific areas of interest include:

 

Audience

The M.S. concentration in Water Resources and Climate Risksis aimed at professionals working in or interested in careers in the application of quantitative risk management methods in any of the sectors listed above. The program is particularly appropriate for engineers and planners who are interested in continuing education in climate and risk management with an interest in water resources. Employment opportunities are anticipated with engineering consultants; federal, state, and local resource management, environmental regulation, hazard management, and disease control agencies; the insurance and financial risk management industry; and international development and aid agencies. A complementary degree (master of arts in climate and society) is available through Columbia University for students who are more directly interested in social or planning aspects of climate impacts, and are not quantitatively oriented.

Water Resources and Climate Risks Coursework

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Sustainable Energy


Energy and economic well being are tightly coupled. Fossil fuel resources are still plentiful, but access to energy is limited by environmental and economic constraints. A future world population of ten billion people trying to approach the standard of living of the developed nations cannot rely on today’s energy technologies and infrastructures without severe environmental impacts. Concerns over climate change and changes in ocean chemistry require reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, but most alternatives to conventional fossil fuels, including nuclear energy, are too expensive to fill the gap. Yet access to clean, cheap energy is critical for providing mineral resources, water, food, housing and transportation.

Building and shaping the energy infrastructure of the 21st century is one of the central tasks for modern engineering. The purpose of the Sustainable Energy concentration is to expose students to modern energy technologies and infrastructures and to the associated environmental, health, and resource limitations. Emphasis will be on energy generation and use-technologies that aim to overcome the limits to growth that are experienced today.

Concentration-specific classes will sketch out the availability of resources, their geographic distribution, the economic and environmental cost of resource extraction, and avenues for increasing energy utilization efficiency, such as cogeneration, district heating and distributed generation of energy. Classes will discuss technologies for efficiency improvement in the generation and consumption sector, energy recovery from solid wastes, alternatives to fossil fuels including solar and wind energy, nuclear fission and fusion, and technologies for addressing the environmental concerns over the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Classes on climate change, air quality and health impacts focus on the consequences of energy use. Policy and its interactions with environmental sciences and energy engineering will be another aspect of the concentration. Additional specialization may consider region-specific energy development.

Audience

This concentration is aimed at engineers with a minimum background of a B.S. degree in an engineering or equivalent science discipline. Candidates with technical strengths in physics, chemistry, chemical, electrical, or mechanical engineering are preferred. The objective is to gain a better understanding of present-day energy infrastructures, their strength and weaknesses and to scope out future technology developments for a world with seemingly insatiable demands for energy. The master's degree aims at preparing a new generation of engineering professionals who will be involved with the rebuilding of a world energy infrastructure that today is stretched nearly beyond the limits of its capacity.

The program aims at young engineers and active professionals who see their future in the large and international energy development markets. Since the challenges are global in nature, this program addresses energy infrastructure engineering for all types of economies. Problems facing the industrialized countries, the emerging economies and the poor countries of the world differ substantially, and a one-size-fits-all solution is unlikely to work.

Expected employment opportunities are in extractive industries and energy processing companies, such as oil companies, the mining industry, power producers, and equipment builders. Employment is also likely to be found in environmental consulting companies, with NGOs interested in environmental and energy issues, as well as local, national, and international government agencies. In short, the program aims to educate technology experts for all stakeholders in the development of the energy backbone of society.

Sustainable Energy Coursework

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Integrated Waste Management


Humanity generates nearly 2 billion tons of municipal solid wastes (MSW) annually. Traditionally, these wastes have been discarded in landfills that have a finite lifetime and then must be replaced by converting more greenfields to landfills. This method is not sustainable because it wastes land and valuable resources. Also, it is a major source of greenhouse gases and of various several contaminants of air and water. In addition to MSW, the U.S. alone generates billions of tons of industrial and extraction wastes. Also, the by-product of water purification is a sludge or cake that must be disposed of in some way. The IWM concentration prepares engineers to deal with the major problem of waste generation by exposing them to environmentally better means for dealing with wastes: waste reduction, recycling, composting, and waste-to-energy via combustion, anaerobic digestion, or gasification. Students are exposed not only to the technical aspects of integrated waste management, but also to the associated economic, policy, and urban planning issues.

Since the initiation of the Earth and environmental engineering program in 1996, there have been several graduate research projects and theses that exemplify the engineering problems that will be encompassed in this concentration:

 

Audience

The M.S. concentration in Integrated Waste Managementis aimed at professionals already working or interested in industry, government or education careers in what has become the most costly sector of urban management. Past graduates have been engaged by engineering firms (e.g., Malcolm Pirnie, Hydroqual), government agencies in the U.S. and abroad (e.g., USACE, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Juniper Consultants, National Commission on Energy Policy, NYCED) or have continued with higher studies.

Integrated Waste Management Coursework

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Environmental Health Engineering


The purpose of this concentration is to train professionals who can address both the public health and engineering aspects of environmental problems. The identification and evaluation of environmental problems frequently revolve around the risks to human health, whereas the development of remediation or prevention strategies frequently involves engineering approaches. Currently, these two critical steps in addressing environmental problems are handled by two separate groups of professionals, public-health practitioners, or engineers, who usually have very little understanding of the role of the other profession in this process. The goal is to train those specialists collaboratively, through a partnership between EEE and the Department of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS), in the Mailman School of Public Health. Students in this concentration will be required to take at least 15 credits from EEE and at least 9 credits from EHS, and the thesis will generally be coadvised by faculty from both departments.

Government reports have consistently demonstrated a national need for more environmental specialists, including environmental health professionals and environmental engineers (U.S. DOL, 1980; U.S. EPA, 1985; U.S. DHHS, 1988; U.S. DHHS, 1991), and these shortages are likely to be exacerbated “due to eligible retirements over the next five years” (ASPH, 2000) . Moreover, due to the increasing complexities of environmental issues, these reports have called for “the cross-training of other . . . professionals in the fundamentals of environmental health” (U.S. DHHS, 1988) with rationale similar to our proposed joint master’s program in public health and engineering. It has been noted that many of the nation’s environmental problems “can be traced to a shortage of goal-oriented, interdisciplinary trained environmental health science and protection practitioners” and that “other professionals . . . such as engineers
. . . are essential, but not usually trained in the basic public health sciences which have a health goal and orientation” (U.S. DHHS, 1991). In the New York metropolitan area, these needs are particularly critical because of the large concentration of environmentally hazardous sites. For example, 97 repositories of toxic waste have been designated by the U.S. EPA as priority sites for remediation in New Jersey and 69 have been designated in New York. Since the New York–New Jersey metropolitan area is the most heavily industrialized region of the US with the highest per capita concentration of chemical and petrochemical industries in the nation, future regional needs for environmental specialists are likely to remain high

Environmental Health Enginering Coursework

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