Civil Engineering

BSE

You’ll have many hands-on opportunities to develop your skills and determine what type of career experience you would like after graduation, with opportunities to earn a significant paycheck in nearby internships and co-ops over summer breaks and even during the academic year.

Here are some of the businesses where our Civil Engineering students have had internships, co-ops or launched their careers:

• AECOM
• City of Milwaukee
• CSD Structural Engineers
• GRAEF
• HNTB
• Jacobs
• JP Cullen
• RA Smith
• WEC Energy Group
• Wisconsin DOT

In your senior year you’ll team up with other civil engineering students to complete a Capstone Project, sometimes known as a Senior Design Project, where you’ll apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to address a real-world need.

Senior Design integrates your entire educational experience and includes consideration for technical, legal, environmental, ethical, safety and economic factors. It’s the only course in which students’ work is juried by outside evaluators.

In past projects, student roles have included geotechnical, transportation, structural, water resources and leadership responsibilities as they worked collaboratively to solve the problem.

View senior design projects here.

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

ASCE at UWM is chapter of Wisconsin ASCE that presents students with the opportunity to participate in engineering related activities and competitions, and network with other engineering students and professionals.

Construction Leadership Council – Student Chapter (CLC)

CLC provides young professionals with an opportunity to observe and develop their skills with current industry leaders.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB@UWM)

The humanitarian work of EWB@UWM brings running water to impoverished villages in the Ixil Triangle of Guatemala and aims to improve the sustainable use of energy in Wisconsin.

Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

ITE is an international society of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobilty and safety needs.

Structural Engineering Society at UWM (SES-UWM)

SES-UWM expands the experience and knowledge of members in structural engineering-related fields through relevant events and technical workshops featuring notable speakers.

For full descriptions and contact information of all engineering and civil engineering related student organizations and clubs, click here.

Concrete and Construction Materials Lab

Students use this lab to test and determine properties of various types of cement.

Engineering Mechanics and Composites Research Lab

This lab is used to study the manufacturing, testing, characterization and nondestructive evaluation of polymer and non-polymer based composite materials.

Hydraulics Lab

Students use this lab to conduct experiments of groundwater flow theory and Darcy’s law, steady uniform open channel flow, non-uniform open channel flow, sediment transport, HEC-RAS river flow analysis, and stormwater management modeling.

Pavement Materials Lab

This lab uses the Triaxial test for resilient modulus determination of soils and aggregates, California Bearing Ratio, Micro-Deval abrasion test, and specific gravity and absorption of aggregates.

Soil Mechanics Instructional Lab

Students use this lab to perform various tests on soil to determine their physical, engineering, and mechanical properties. Apparatus and tools such as soil crushers and sample splitters are used to prepare soil specimens.

Structures & Mechanics Lab

This lab is used to perform load testing, as well as to test tension and compression, flexure, bend, fatigue and creep testing for reinforced concrete beams, steel and bolted connections.

Surveying Lab

Civil engineering students will use equipment and tools from this lab to measure distance and angles in order to perform a topographic survey,

Virtual Reality Infrastructure Lab

UWM is the first non-military user of this Euclideon hologram table in the U.S. It is unique in allowing multiple people to simultaneously view 3D digital objects from different perspectives without bulky headgear. Students are able to solve design problems here before the product shows up in a shop or in the field.

Water Quality Lab

Students will use this lab and its state-of-the-art equipment to perform various water quality tests including pH, turbidity, conductivity, and acidity.

UWM students have many additional resources available to them within the College of Engineering & Applied Science. From computer labs and tutoring resources to teaching labs and spaces to create or collaborate. Details here.

A benefit of attending a top tier R1 research university is the opportunity to work with faculty engaged in cutting-edge research and to participate in the Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program. The SURF program helps you to improve your professional preparation through research by closely working with our faculty to explore, discover, and transform ideas into reality.

SURF students also receive funding for their efforts: from 2012-2023 almost $1.5M was awarded to over 700 students from our college.

Graduate and undergraduate students also have the opportunity to participate in the annual Research Poster Competition & Experiential Learning Expo, providing them with excellent opportunities to share their work with judges from industry.

Directed by the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, the UWM Startup Challenge is an optional, co-curricular program that fosters our students’ innovative and entrepreneurial ideas. You can work alone or as part of a team as you gain the skills that come from entrepreneurial experience. More detail here.