Welcome to Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering is the field of engineering concerned with the planning, design, construction, and management of projects. Throughout the course of human history, Civil Engineering in its various incarnations played a pivotal role in shaping human societies and conditioning their progress. In fact, our discipline is the continuation and technical incarnation of one of the most ancient human skills, that of building and shaping the world around us.

Since the earliest recorded history and up to the present day, great monuments and magnificent civil engineering projects mark the march of civilization. The heritage is vast, spanning from the Pyramids of Egypt, the Pantheon in Greece, the Near Eastern dams and irrigation systems, and the Roman aqueducts and roads, to the impressive structures of modern times, including the Eiffel Tower, the Suez Canal, and today's artistic skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building and Dubai’s Borj El-Arab to name but a few. Such feats have been achieved through reason, creativity, perseverance, leadership and management of resources.

Even though Civil Engineering is an old discipline, it is by no means stagnant or outdated. The world of Civil Engineering today is a vibrant forward-looking and constantly evolving world. The profession has changed as the challenges thrown at it have increased in complexity. Today’s civil engineers have to build higher, stronger, inexpensive, in more challenging conditions, while meeting more stringent criteria of safety against natural hazards and environmental concerns. They have to provide better quality of life, for more people, under more restrictive conditions than ever before. Civil engineers are at the helm of projects that provide housing, clean water, and energy to a more and more demanding world.

The above examples clearly show that the field of Civil Engineering is broad. It encompasses several specific disciplines, the diversity of which offers a wide choice of careers. Hydraulic Engineering applies fluid mechanics to the design of hydraulic structures and water resources systems. Geotechnical Engineering applies soil and rock mechanics to the design of foundations and retaining structures. Environmental Engineering aims at minimizing negative impacts of both humans on environment and of the environment on humans. Structural Engineering is the science and art of designing and constructing buildings, bridges, and frameworks so that they can safely resist the forces to which they may be subjected. The world's airports, highways, rails, and mass transit systems are all the fruits of Transportation Engineering.

In addition to the above areas, the horizon of Civil Engineering is now broadening to encompass new fields such as bioengineering, intelligent infrastructures and smart systems, life-cycle design, real-time monitoring and rehabilitation, and space structures. Civil engineers are amongst the first users and developers of technology, whether it is computer applications, remote sensing, information technology, or smart materials, buildings, and highways.