Graduate Academic Subdiscipline
Hydraulic Engineering and Environmental Fluid Mechanics
Overview
The Hydraulic Engineering and Environmental Fluid Mechanics subdiscipline encompasses the broad fields of hydraulic engineering, stream restoration, river mechanics, fluid and wind mechanics, and fluid dynamics.
Hydraulic Engineering
The study of hydraulic engineering, stream restoration, and river mechanics includes topics related to fluvial systems, hydraulic systems and infrastructure, river engineering, fluid mechanics, environmental hydraulics, and restoration of aquatic systems. Graduate studies in Hydraulic Engineering typically encompasses issues such as:
- Experimental fluid mechanics & physical modeling
- Sediment transport, erosion & scour studies
- Channel stability of streams & rivers
- Computational fluid dynamics
- Applied fluvial geomorphology
- Land use impacts on fluvial systems
- Stream and watershed restoration
- Physical-ecological linkages in fluvial systems
- Hydraulic structures (i.e. dams, grade control, spillways, energy dissipaters & outlet works)
- Turbines, valves & other turbomachinery
- Pump and piping systems
Environmental Fluid Mechanics
The study of environmental fluid mechanics and fluid dynamics considers environmental and geophysical fluid flow and transport in both natural and engineered environments. Graduate studies in Environmental Fluid Mechanics typically consider issues such as:
- River engineering with emphasis on flow dynamics and transport processes (e.g. sediment and other scalars)
- Flow obstacle interactions in environmental flows
- Drinking water and wastewater quality for small communities and decentralized systems
- Wind energy and sustainability
- Ocean and atmospheric flow physics with an emphasis on turbulence and mixing
- Assessment of acoustic instruments for hydraulic flow measurements for practical applications
Faculty
Courses
Students select their courses in consultation with their advisor to match their specific needs and interests. No specific courses are required at the master’s or doctoral level, which allows each student maximum flexibility to tailor their education.
Common Courses for Hydraulic Engineering
- CIVE 413 Environmental River Mechanics
- CIVE 440 Nonpoint Source Pollution
- CIVE 502 Fluid Mechanics
- CIVE 510 Applied Hydraulic System Design
- CIVE 512 Irrigation Systems Design
- CIVE 514 Hydraulic Structures/Systems
- CIVE 516 Water Control and Measurement
- CIVE 520 Physical Hydrology
- CIVE 521 Hydrometry
- CIVE 525 Water Engineering: International Development
- CIVE 524 Modeling Watershed Hydrology
- CIVE 538 Aqueous Chemistry
- CIVE 539 Water and Wastewater Analysis
- CIVE 542 Water Quality Modeling
- CIVE 544 Water Resources Planning and Management
- CIVE 547 Statistics for Environmental Monitoring
- CIVE 549 Drainage and Wetlands Engineering
- CIVE 576 Engineering Applications of GIS and GPS
- CIVE 577 GIS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
- CIVE 592 Environmental Engineering Seminar
- CIVE 604 Fluid Turbulance and Modeling
- CIVE 607 Computational Fluid Dynamics
- CIVE 612 Open Channel Flow
- CIVE 613 Stream Rehabilitation Design
- CIVE 622 Risk Analysis of Water/Environmental Systems
- CIVE 680 Fluvial Hydraulics & Computational Modeling
- CIVE 695 Independent Study-Hydraulics
- CIVE 716 Erosion and Sedimentation
- CIVE 717 River Mechanics
- CIVE 721 Stochastic Water and Environmental Systems
- AREC 340 Water Law
- BZ 470 Freshwater Biology
- BZ 471 Stream Biology & Ecology
- BZ 472 Stream Biology & Ecology Lab
- BZ 474 Limnology
- ECOL 505 Foundations of Ecology
- ECOL 610 Ecosystem Ecology
- FW 540 Fisheries Ecology
- FW 544 Ecotoxicology
- FW 555 Conservation Biology
- GEOL 652 Fluvial Geomorphology
- NR 505 Concepts in GIS
- NR 506 GIS Methods for Resource Management
- NR 523 Quantitative Spatial Statistics
- NR 621 Design of Geographic Information Systems
- NR 660 Biogeochemical Cycling in Ecosystems
- RS 478 Restoration Ecology
- SOCR 442 Forest and Range Soils
- SOCR 455 Soil Microbiology
- SOCR 467 Soil and Environmental Chemistry
- SOCR 470 Soil Physics
- STAR 511 Design and Data Analysis for Researchers I
- STAR 512 Design and Data Analysis for Researchers II
- WR 516 Cumulative Effects and Watershed Analysis
- WR 616 Hillslope Hydrology and Runoff Processes
- WR 714 Water Quality for Wildland Managers
Common Courses for Fluid Mechanics
Master of Science
- CIVE 502 Fluid Mechanics
- CIVE 504 Wind Engineering
- CIVE 506 Wind Effects on Structures
- CIVE 562 Foundations of Solid Mechanics
- CIVE 566 Intermediate Structural Analysis
- CIVE 604 Fluid Turbulence and Modeling
- CIVE 607 Computational Fluid Dynamics
- ATS 555 Air Pollution
- MATH 530 Mathematics for Scientists and Engineers
- MATH 631 Partial Differential Equations I
Doctor of Philosophy
- CIVE 562 Fundamentals of Vibrations
- CIVE 565 Finite Element Method
- CIVE 622 Risk Analysis of Water/Environmental Systems
- CIVE 703 Special Topics in Fluid Mechanics
- ATS 601 Atmospheric Dynamics I
- ATS 623 Atmospheric Boundary Layer
- STAT 520 Introduction to Probability Theory
- STAT 521 Stochastic Processes I
Graduate Admission and Program Details
Prospective students can learn more about our requirements, objectives, and program details.
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Advising and Graduate Student Resources
Current students can schedule an appointment with the graduate advisor and access tools to help plan their academic journey.