Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering

CEIE Distinguished Lecture Series
2007 – 2008 Academic Year

Future of Civil Engineering Education:
Various Perspectives

Sponsors:

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering,
The Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering
Civil Engineering Institute

Coordinator:
Tomasz Arciszewski, Professor, CEIE Dept.

Overview

Civil engineering is undergoing rapid changes driven by the computing revolution, globalization, ever growing environmental requirements, scientific advances in fields such as biotechnology, materials science, nanotechnology, etc.  All these changes require students to learn much more than in the past to be adequately prepared to meet professional challenges.  At the same time, there is a strong national trend to reduce the credit hours required for a B.S. degree.  Today, the USA average is only 120 to 125 credit hours, down from 135 credit hours only 20 years ago.  Therefore, there is a serious contradiction between a strong need to teach more and the reduced teaching time.  For this reason, significant discussion is needed on how to resolve the contradiction.

Our series of lectures offers various perspectives of civil engineering education presented by civil engineering leaders from both industry and academia from the United States and Europe.  The lectures are intended for practicing engineers, educators, and engineering students.  

11:00 a.m., Friday, September  21, 2007, Johnson Center, Room F

James O’Brien, P.E., ASCE Managing Director for Professional and Educational Activities

E-Learning in Civil Engineering

 

11:00 a.m., Friday, October 19, 2007, Robinson A246

“European Practice,” Martin Ebner, Ph.D., IT Center for Teaching Technologies and Civil Engineering Department, Graz Technical University, Austria

“US Practice,” Sivand Lakmazaheri, Ph.D., President, Educative Technologies, Inc., Fairfax, VA

International Perspectives

11:00 a.m., Friday, November 30, 2007, Johnson Center, Room D

“ASCE Global Perspective,” Michael Sanio, P.E., ASCE Managing Director for Global Projects

“A European Perspective: EuroMaster in Construction IT,” Danijl Reboij, Professor, University of Maribor, Slovenia

“Civil Engineering Education in Iraq Today and Tomorrow,” Mohamad Ali, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Civil Engineering Department, Technical University of Basra, Iraq, Visiting Scholar, CEIE Department, George Mason University

Computing and Education

(Rescheduled from snow day on February 22)

11:00 - 12:00 PM., Friday, May 2, 2008, Johnson Center, Gold Room

“Body of Knowledge (BOK) II Committee Report and Education,” Jeff Russell, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Civil Engineering Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison