Engineering PhD: Civil Engineering

PhD

A PhD degree requires completion of 66 graduate credits beyond the bachelor’s degree. Some students pursue their PhD after completing a master’s degree, and others choose to earn a PhD instead of a master’s degree. Please see the academic catalog for specific requirements.

Many students earn Teaching Assistantships (TAs), Research Assistantships (RAs) or Fellowships during their graduate study which helps to fund their education while also building leadership skills. Assistantships decisions are made by the academic departments only after an applicant has been accepted to the program.

Earning a PhD in can provide you with a wide range of professional or academic opportunities that may include leadership roles in academia, government service, or high-level industrial research.

More Information

Contact the College of Engineering & Applied Science Graduate Programs Office.

We’re a top tier R1 research university and our students have the opportunity to work with civil and environmental engineering faculty engaged in cutting-edge research in areas such as:

• Application of nanomaterials in construction and on surfaces
• Industrial waste product utilization in structural materials
• Design with polymer composite materials and structures
• Water quality and sensing for contamination
• New structural designs and methods
• Flexible pavement design
• Hydrodynamic modeling and fluid mechanics
• Smart mobility technologies, smart traffic lights, intelligent transportation systems, big data analytics, urban computing and cloud computing

Research is integral to our work at UWM and to the experience of students pursuing graduate degrees. Our college has a wide range of faculty-led labs that perform cutting edge research. Please see the Faculty tab to the right for the specific research interests and labs of each civil and environmental engineering faculty member. For a full list of our college’s research labs, centers and institutes, click here.

Faculty

Blackowski, Sarah

• Assistant Professor of Engineering Education, Civil & Environmental Engineering

• blackows@uwm.edu
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 1107

Dressel, Andrew

• Scientist II, Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Lab Manager, Bicycle and Motorcycle Engineering Research Laboratory, EMS W301

• adressel@uwm.edu
• 414-229-5357
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E261

Elhajjar, Rani

• Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Department Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• elhajjar@uwm.edu
• 414-229-3647
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 1225

Graettinger, Andrew

• Associate Dean for Research, Engineering & Applied Science Office of the Dean

• andrewjg@uwm.edu
• 414-229-7389
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 580

Helwany, Sam

• Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• helwany@uwm.edu
• 414-229-4131
• Engineering and Mathematical Sciences W236AA

Li, Jin

• Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• li@uwm.edu
• 414-229-6891
• Engineering and Mathematical Sciences E321

Liao, Qian

• Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• liao@uwm.edu
• 414-229-4228
• Engineering and Mathematical Sciences E363

Qin, Xiao

• Lawrence E. Sivak '71 Professorship
• Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Director, Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT)
• Founder and Director, Safe and Smart Traffic Lab

• qinx@uwm.edu
• 414-251-8866
• Northwest Quadrant 4414B

Rahman, Adeeb

• Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• adeeb@uwm.edu
• 414-229-2860
• Engineering and Mathematical Sciences 315

Shi, Xiaowei (Tom)

• Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Founder and Director, Automated, Connected & Electric Mobility Systems Lab

• tomshi@uwm.edu
• Northwest Quadrant 4420

Sobolev, Konstantin

• Lawrence E. Sivak '71 Faculty Fellowship
• Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• sobolev@uwm.edu
• 414-229-3198
• Engineering and Mathematical Sciences 1255

Tabatabai, Habib

• Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Director, Structural Engineering Lab

• ht@uwm.edu
• 414-229-5166
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E332

Titi, Hani

• Lawrence E. Sivak Faculty Fellowship
• Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• hanititi@uwm.edu
• 414-229-6893
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences 1139

Wang, Yin

• Lawrence E. Sivak '71 Professorship
• Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• wang292@uwm.edu
• 414-251-6446
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E371G

Zhao, Jian

• Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• jzhao@uwm.edu
• 414-229-2330
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences W330A

Advising

Crary, Therese

• Advisor, Graduate Programs
• Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Health Informatics

• crary@uwm.edu
• 414-229-7267
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E379

Packard, Robert

• Advisor, Graduate Programs
• Civil/Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering

• rpackard@uwm.edu
• 414-251-8543
• Engineering & Mathematical Sciences E379

UWM is proud to be one of only two R1 research universities in Wisconsin. We’re also a top externally funded institution with robust opportunities for teaching and research assistantships. Partners that support our important research include:

• A O Smith Corporation
• AECOM
• ATSP Innovations
• Badger Meter
• Bloom Company
• Caterpillar Inc.
• Electric Power Research Institute
• Federal Highway Administration
• Gannett Fleming Inc.
• Hyundai Motor Company
• Iowa Department of Transportation
• Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
• Milwaukee Riverkeeper
• National Academies
• National Institute of Aerospace
• National Science Foundation
• National Space Grant Foundation
• Space & Naval Warfare Systems & Command
• USDA Forest Products Laboratory
• UWM Foundation
• Veolia Water Milwaukee
• Village of Shorewood
• WE Energies
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation