IEF Option

The Infrastructure, Environmental, and Fluids (IEF) Engineering option of the EAS-PhD focuses on the research and design of infrastructure and systems in marine, coastal, and littoral environments. According to the United Nations, approximately 40% of the global population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast. Developing sustainable and resilient infrastructure for these communities will be critical in the face of global climate change. In this inter-disciplinary track students will be able to study and research marine engineering, environmental resource engineering, ocean and environmental science, fluid mechanics, geotechnical engineering, infrastructure, and systems engineering.

Core courses requirements

The following core courses of the IEF provide the mathematical, design and mechanics background for the track:

  • Advanced Mathematical Methods (EAS 501, MNE 501, or PHY 622)
  • Probabilistic Methods and Risk Analysis (CEN 5##)
  • Advanced Fluid or Structural Mechanics (MNE 504 or CEN 530)

In addition to core courses, at least five major courses (15 credits) and two minor courses (6 credits) are required.  Four courses (12 credits) must be graduate-level engineering courses.

Elective Major Course Requirements

Elective major courses provide students the opportunity to obtain depth in focus areas such as Marine Science (MAR), Mechanical Engineering (MNE), and Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEN). Students must take five courses (15 credits) from within MAR, CEN, and MNE.

Elective Minor Course

Elective minor courses provide the students the opportunity to round their education and gain inter-disciplinary skills. Students must take two courses (six credits) in one or more of the following programs: Biology, Chemistry, Decision & Information Sciences, Bioengineering, Data Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or other programs approved by the faculty advisor.

A sample curriculum plan for the MEIS option is shown as follows.

 

Core Course Number

Course Title

Credit Hours

EAS 501

Advanced Mathematical Methods

3

CEN 607*

Probabilistic Modeling

3

MNE 504 or CEN 530†

Advanced Mechanics of Fluids or Structural Mechanics

3

EAS 600

Dissertation Proposal Preparation

3

EAS 601/701

Doctoral Dissertation Research

30

EAS 602

Research Ethics

1

EAS 700

Doctoral Seminar

2

 

Subtotal:

45

Elective Courses (Total courses required = 7)

Four (4) courses must be graduate-level engineering courses

MAR/CEN/MNE

5 x Graduate Electives Courses (Major)

15

CoE‡/BIO/CHM

2 x Graduate Electives Courses (Minor)

6

 

Subtotal

21

 

Total:

66

*This is a new course that would be created for the track

†This is currently taught as a 530 course and will be added to the catalog

‡Excluding CEN and MNE

Example Technical Elective Courses (6 credits must be completed at UMassD):

Course Number

Course Title

Credit Hours

Example CEN Graduate Courses

CEN 505

Finite Element Analysis

3

CEN 552

Advanced Soil Mechanics

3

CEN 556

Waves and Tides

3

CEN 558

Open Channel Flow

3

CEN 530†

Marine Geotechnics

3

CEN 573

Environmental Water Chemistry

3

CEN 564

Hazardous Waste Management

3

CEN 582

Pavement Design

3

Example MAR Courses

MAR 510

Intro Chem Oceanography

3

MAR 515

Geological Oceanography

3

MAR 524

Marine Ecosystem Modeling

3

MAR 555

Intro Phys Oceanography

3

MAR 565

Pollutant Transport in the Environment

3

MAR 660

Coastal Phys Oceanography

3

MAR 562

Satellite Oceanography

3

MAR 738

Coastal Zone Management

3

 Example MNE Graduate Courses

MNE 504

Advanced Mechanics of Fluids

3

MNE 524

Energy Conversion System

3

MNE 534

Advanced Vibrations

3

MNE 521

Classical Thermodynamics

3

MNE 522

Fundamentals of Fluid-Structure Interaction

3

MNE 552

Computational Fluid Mech

3

MNE 557

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

3

MNE 565

Economic Analysis of Engineering Projects

3

†This is currently taught as a 530 course and will be added to the catalog