THE MASTER'S DEGREE

Stevens offers the degree of Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Water Resources Engineering.

The mission for Water Resources Engineering is to develop and prepare engineering professionals and managers for responsible roles within the field of water-resources. The curriculum is designed to increase the individual's knowledge in designing, modeling, managing and supervising water-resources related projects. Special attention is also given to the environmental impacts of these projects.

In addition to the professional focus of the program, the department also has active water-resources related research in the following areas: monitoring of toxic pollutants in the Hudson-Raritan estuary, stochastic aspects of saturated and unsaturated groundwater flow modeling, advanced oxidation of hazardous waste, statistical process control of wastewater treatment, hydrodynamic modeling of currents and the dispersion of effluents in the coastal zone, coastal sediment transport, and analysis of current and waves observation in the coastal ocean.

The requirement for completion of the master's degree is 30 credits. Of these 30 credits, 5 to 10 credits may be completed via an optional thesis project.




CORE CURRCULUM
The 5 core courses in the Water Resources Concentration are:
•    CE 525 Engineering Hydrology


Close Engineering Hydrology Principles of hydrology and their application to engineering projects, including the hydrologic cycle, measurement and interpretation of hydrologic variables, stochastic hydrology, flood routing and computer simulations in hydrology.

•    CE 684 Mixing Processes in Inland and Coastal Waters


Close Mixing Processes in Inland and Coastal Waters Development of advective-diffusion equations for conservative and non-conservative substances.  Fickian diffusion, turbulent diffusion, shear flow dispersion.  Description and specification of mixing processes in rivers, reservoirs and estuaries.  Methods and analyses of conservative dye tracer studies.  Monte Carlo simulations of diffusion processes, and numerical models for simulation of advection diffusion processes in rivers and estuaries.

•    CE 685 Advanced Hydraulics


Close Advanced Hydraulics Fundamentals of open channel flows; types of open channels and their properties; velocity distribution in open channels. Specific energy, momentum and specific force principles; critical flows; principles of uniform flow and its computation.  Gradually varied flow; channel transitions and controls. Rapidly varied flow; hydraulic jump and energy dissipaters.  Unsteady flows; waves and wave propagation; flood routing.  Applications of numerical methods in hydraulic engineering.

•    EN 686 Groundwater Hydrology and Pollution


Close Groundwater Hydrology and Pollution Fundamental concepts in groundwater hydrology and pollution, occurrence, and movement of groundwater; flow nets; well hydraulics; and numerical methods in groundwater hydraulics. Chemical properties of groundwater, sources, and effects of contamination; principles of mathematical modeling of containment transport in groundwater; and numerical methods in groundwater pollution.

•    CE 535 Stormwater Management


Close Stormwater Management This course will be of significant importance in urbanplanning and construction management.  The management of stormwater must be addressed for any modern development/construction project.  This course will focus on the development of the runoff hydrograph, the design of storm drains and detention ponds, watershed characteristics for the existing and developed areas and regulations by both state and federal agencies.

For a Track in Hydrologic Modeling additional courses include:
•    EN 723 Flow & Mass Transport in Porous Media


Close Flow & Mass Transport in Porous Media An advanced treatment of flow and mass transport in porous media; fluid and porous matrix properties; mathematical description of flow and mass transport in fully and partially saturated soils; diffusion and hydrodynamic dispersion processes; analytical-numerical and conformal mapping techniques for the solution of the governing equations; development of computer models for prediction of flow and contaminant transport in variably saturated soils.

•    EN 680 Modeling of Environmental Systems


Close Modeling of Environmental Systems Incorporation of fundamental reaction and transport phenomena into mass balances to describe the fate and transport of contaminants in lakes, rivers, estuaries, groundwater, the atmosphere, and in pollution-control processes. Several computer projects involving numerical solutions of models are required.

•    CE 652 Hydrologic Modeling


Close Hydrologic Modeling Water is probably the most used, the most abused, and the most taken for granted natural resource.  Few people realize what is involved in the planning and building of urban water-distribution and management systems. Environmental costs must also be considered when analyzing any water resources project.  Efforts continue toward conservation and environmental protection, which increases the need for engineers to be educated in the behavior of water as it moves through the water cycle.  This course will address the modern day hydrologic processes, the mathematical and scientific processes for hydrology and introduce several models commonly used in industry. These models will aid the engineer in analyzing the hydrologic processes of a particular region and help provide the best solution for a very sensitive issue.

•    CE 651 Drainage Design and Modeling


Close Drainage Design and Modeling Drainage design includes watershed analysis combined with hydrologic and hydraulic computations.  The basic laws of drainage design will be discussed including the environmental and economic implications. Regulations pertinent to the area will also be addressed.  Concepts of open channel, pressure and gravity flow will be discussed.  Mathematical and computer models will be used to educate the engineer in the techniques available in industry.  These models combined with the mathematical principals presented will aid the engineer in developing the best possible design for a particular region.

•    CE 526 Watershed Modeling


Close Watershed Modeling This course is intended to provide graduate students with the tools necessary to simulate the water quality of a complex watershed.  The course will focus on the development of models for examining the water quality and water quantity issues that are associated with watershed management.  Students will learn various modeling technologies from simplistic mass balance models to more complex dynamic models.  The models required for fully understanding the effects of both point and nonpoint sources of pollution on a natural waterway will be examined.  The students will also develop an understanding of how to design a monitoring program to collect the data that are appropriate for simulating a natural system.  Current state and federal guidelines and regulations will be discussed including the development of a wasteload allocation for a point source, a load allocation for a nonpoint source and a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for an impaired waterway. This course will not only provide the student with the tools necessary to simulate a watershed but also provide a keen insight into the watershed management process.  The final project will require the students to work in teams to analyze a specific watershed.

For a Track in Stormwater Management additional courses include:
•    OE 616 Sediment Transport


Close Sediment Transport Theory of sediment transport in open channel flow, including applications to riverine, ocean, and coastal environments. Topics covered include boundary layer dynamics, the initiation of motion, sediment characteristics, suspended load, and bed load. Applications include the estimation of transport rates in waves and currents, and the influence of hydraulic structures.

•    CE 527 Wetland Hydrology


Close Wetland Hydrology Over the past two decades, there has been a rise in wetland mitigation projects across the country.  The success of a wetland depends mainly on it hydrology.  Central to the course will be the principle of water budgeting. This course will outline the hydrologic principles involved in freshwater and coastal wetland engineering.  Dynamic and steady state mathematical modeling will be presented as techniques to estimate wetland hydrology.

•    CE 650 Water Distribution Systems Analysis


Close Water Distribution Systems Analysis The design of an effective and proper system for the distribution of potable water for domestic, institutional, commercial, and industrial use, requires an understanding of the principles of planning, design and construction of pipe networks.  This course will focus on the critical elements of planning, design, and modeling of a water distribution systems.

•    CE 691 Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology


Close Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology Introduction to meteorology presents a cogent explanation of the fundamentals of atmospheric dynamics. The course begins with a discussion of the Earth’s atmospheric system including global circulation, climate and the greenhouse effect. The basic conservation laws and the applications of the basic equations of motion are discussed in the context of synoptic scale meteorology. The thermodynamics of the atmosphere are derived based on the equation of state of the atmosphere with specific emphasis on adiabatic and pseudo-adiabatic motions. The concept of atmospheric stability is presented in terms of the moist and dry lapse rate. The influence of the planetary boundary layer on atmospheric motions is presented with emphasis on topographic and open-ocean frictional effects, temperature discontinuity between land and sea and the generation of sea breezes. The mesoscale dynamics of tornadoes and hurricanes are discussed as well as the cyclogenesis of extratropical coast allows. The course makes use of a multitude of web-based products including interactive learning sites, weather forecasts from the National Weather Service (NWS), tropical predictions from the National Hurricane Center and NWS model outputs (AVN, NGM, ETA, and WAM).