Engineering Construction Engineering

Description

Construction engineering (CONE) is a program of the Charles W. Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction. The construction engineering major integrates engineering, construction and management courses. This program is designed for persons fulfilling the construction industry’s need for licensed professional engineers. It resembles the construction management program but provides a greater emphasis on engineering, scientific, and technical courses to meet requirements for licensure as a professional engineer. The courses focus on the application of engineering principles to solve real-world construction problems. They include instruction in civil engineering, structural principles, material testing and evaluation, project management, computer-assisted design, 3D animation, sustainability, and graphic communication.

The Durham School Construction Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET, Inc.
 

Program Educational Objectives (PEOs)

1. Professional Achievement: The Construction Engineering program prepares graduates to become Licensed Professional Engineers and Certified Professional Constructors.
2. Career Achievement: The Construction Engineering program prepares graduates to contribute to society by working in an occupation related to the architecture-engineering-construction industry.

Under the stimulus of increasing demand for global services, many Nebraska companies have expanded their reach well beyond U.S. borders. This demand gives the construction engineering graduate an unprecedented number of opportunities for employment—locally, nationally and internationally—and for pursuing an advanced degree at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln or elsewhere.

Construction engineers participate in the preparation of engineering and architectural documents, including specifications, which they translate into finished projects such as buildings for housing, commerce and industry, highways, railroads, waterways, airports, power plants, energy distribution systems, military bases and space center complexes. These projects involve thousands of details shared by a team of owners, architects, engineers, general constructors, specialty constructors, manufacturers, material suppliers, equipment distributors, regulatory bodies and agencies, labor resources and others. The constructor assumes responsibility for delivery of the completed project at a specified time and cost and also accepts associated legal, financial and management obligations. Because of the broad scope of the construction engineer’s project responsibility, they must assure the project’s constructability as well as its capability to be operated and maintained.

Construction engineering students are required to enroll in a set of courses specifically designed for a general construction education. Each student selects, with the guidance of an advisor, a set of approved electives. The program outlined below leads to the bachelor of science degree in construction engineering.

College Requirements

College Admission

College Entrance Requirements

Students must have high school credit for (one unit is equal to one high school year):

1. Mathematics – 4 units: 2 of algebra, 1 of geometry, and 1 of precalculus and trigonometry
2. English – 4 units
3. Natural sciences – 3 units that must include 1 unit of physics and 1 unit of chemistry (chemistry requirement waived for students in construction management and computer science)
4. Foreign language – 2 units of a single foreign language
5. Social studies – 3 units
6. Students having a composite ACT score of 28 or greater (or equivalent SAT score) will be admitted to the College of Engineering even if they lack any one of the following: trigonometry, chemistry, or physics.
7. Students having an ACT score of 19 or less in English (or equivalent SAT score) must take ENGL 150 Writing and Inquiry or ENGL 151 Writing and Argument.

A total of 16 units is required for admission.

Students must have an ACT (enhanced) score of 24 or greater (or equivalent SAT). Students who lack entrance requirements may be admitted based on ACT scores, high school rank and credits, or may be admitted to pre-engineering status in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center. Pre-engineering students are advised within the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center.

Students for whom English is not their language of nurture must meet the minimum English proficiency requirements of the University.

Students who lack entrance units may complete precollege training by Independent Study through the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Office of On-line and Distance Education, in summer courses, or as a part of their first or second semester course loads while in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center or other Colleges at Nebraska.

Students should consult their advisor, their department chair, or Engineering Student Services if they have questions on current policies.

Other Admission Requirements

Students who transfer to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from other accredited colleges or universities and wish to be admitted to the College of Engineering (COE) must meet COE freshman entrance requirements and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and be calculus-ready. Students not meeting either of these requirements must enroll in the Explore Center or another University college until they meet COE admission requirements. Students transferring from UNO, UNL, or UNK to the College of Engineering must be in good academic standing with their institution.

The COE accepts courses for transfer for which a C or better grade was received. Although the University of Nebraska–Lincoln accepts D grades from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and at Omaha, not all majors in the COE accept such low grades. Students must conform to the requirements of their intended major and, in any case, are strongly encouraged to repeat courses with a grade of C- or less.

All transfer students must adopt the curricular requirements of the undergraduate catalog current at the time of transfer to the COE—not that in use when they entered the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Upon admission to Nebraska, students wishing to pursue degree programs in the COE will be classified and subject to the policies defined in the subsequent section.

Students who were previously admitted to COE and are returning to the College of Engineering must demonstrate a cumulative GPA of 2.5 in order to be readmitted to COE.

College Degree Requirements

Grade Rules

Grade Appeals

In the event of a dispute involving any college policies or grades, the student should appeal to his/her instructor and appropriate department chair or school director (in that order). If a satisfactory solution is not achieved, the student may appeal his/her case through the College Academic Appeals Committee on his/her campus.

Catalog Rule

Students must fulfill the requirements stated in the catalog for the academic year in which they are first admitted at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In consultation with advisors, a student may choose to follow a subsequent catalog for any academic year in which they are admitted to and enrolled as a degree-seeking student at Nebraska in the College of Engineering. Students must complete all degree requirements from a single catalog year. The catalog which a student follows for degree requirements may not be more than 10 years old at the time of graduation.

Professional Admission Requirements

In order to be professionally admitted into the construction engineering program, students must complete at least 43 credit hours of courses listed in the first two years of the required curriculum with a minimum GPA of 2.5 for those major courses (not necessarily the cumulative GPA).

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the construction engineering program will have:

1. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
2. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
3. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
4. An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
5. An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
6. An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
7. An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

The above student outcomes have been approved by the ABET Engineering Area Delegation for use beginning with the 2019-20 academic year, and have been adopted by the faculty of the Charles W. Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction.

Major Requirements

Requirements for the Degree (Lincoln Campus)

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
First Semester
CHEM 109A & CHEM 109L	General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory	4
COMM 286	Business and Professional Communication	3
CONE 103	Introduction to Construction Engineering	1
CSCE 155N	Computer Science I: Engineering and Science Focus	3
ENGR 10	Freshman Engineering Seminar	0
MATH 106	Calculus I	5
Credit Hours Subtotal:		16
Second Semester
CNST 112	Construction Communications	3
MATH 107	Calculus II	4
PHYS 211	General Physics I	4
PHYS 221	General Physics Laboratory I	1
ACE Elective
Choose one course from not yet satisfied ACE outcomes 5, 7, or 9		3
Credit Hours Subtotal:		15
Third Semester
CONE 221	Geometric Control Systems	3
ENGR 20	Sophomore Engineering Seminar	0
JGEN 200	Technical Communication I	3
MATH 208	Calculus III	4
MECH 223	Engineering Statics	3
PHYS 212	General Physics II	4
Credit Hours Subtotal:		17
Fourth Semester
BSEN 206 / CONE 206	Engineering Economics	3
CNST 225	Introduction to Building Information Modeling (BIM)	3
MATH 221	Differential Equations	3
MECH 325	Mechanics of Elastic Bodies	3
MECH 373	Engineering Dynamics	3
Credit Hours Subtotal:		15
Fifth Semester
ECEN 211	Elements of Electrical Engineering I	3
CIVE 341 & CIVE 342	Structural Analysis Fundamentals and Structural Design Fundamentals	4
CNST 241	Horizontal Construction	3
CONE 378 / CNST 378	Construction Estimating I	3
MECH 310 / CIVE 310	Fluid Mechanics	3
Credit Hours Subtotal:		16
Sixth Semester
CIVE 334	Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering	4
CIVE 378	Materials of Construction	3
ECON 212	Principles of Microeconomics	3
STAT 380	Statistics and Applications	3
or MECH 321	Engineering Statistics and Data Analysis
ACE Elective
Choose one course from not yet satisfied ACE outcomes 5, 7, or 9		3
Credit Hours Subtotal:		16
Seventh Semester
CIVE 440	Reinforced Concrete Design I	3
CNST 444	Construction Site Safety Management	3
CONE 476 / CNST 476	Project Budgets and Controls	3
CONE 485 / CNST 485	Construction Planning, Scheduling, and Controls	3
Technical Elective		3
Credit Hours Subtotal:		15
Eighth Semester
CIVE 441	Steel Design I	3
CONE 489	Construction Engineering Capstone Course	3
CNST 420	Professional Practice and Ethics	3
Design Elective		3
ACE Elective
Choose one course from not yet satisfied ACE outcomes 5, 7, or 9		3
Credit Hours Subtotal:		15
Total Credit Hours		125

Additional Major Requirements

Grade Rules

C- and D Grades

All coursework must be of C grade level or higher to be credited toward graduation requirements or to be valid as a prerequisite for another course.

Electives

Students are required to enroll in a predetermined set of courses specifically designed for general construction education. Each student selects, with the approval of his/her advisor, a set of approved electives.

Technical electives are selected from the following list. One (3 credit hour) of the required two electives needs to be considered a design technical elective.

Design Electives

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
CONE 416	Wood and / or Contemporary Materials Design	3
CONE 417	Formwork Systems	3
CONE 481	Highway and Bridge Construction	3
CONE 483	Support of Excavation	3
CIVE 443	Advanced Structural Analysis	3
CIVE 444	Structural Design and Planning	3
CIVE 446	Steel Design II	3
CIVE 447	Reinforced Concrete Design II	3

Technical Electives

All previously listed Design Electives

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
CNST 379	Construction Estimating II	3
CNST 434	The Design-Build Project Delivery System	3
CONE 450	Sustainable Construction	3
CONE 466	Heavy and/or Civil Estimating	3
CONE 498	Special Projects	1-6
MECH 420	Heat Transfer	3

ACE Requirements

The CONE program follows the University’s ACE general education requirements. Because of the specific needs of the program, several of these courses are specified in the curriculum. Please contact Melissa Hoffman at melissa.hoffman@unl.edu or 402-554-4482, if you are interested in more information about this program.

PLEASE NOTE
This document represents a sample 4-year plan for degree completion with this major. Actual course selection and sequence may vary and should be discussed individually with your college or department academic advisor. Advisors also can help you plan other experiences to enrich your undergraduate education such as internships, education abroad, undergraduate research, learning communities, and service learning and community-based learning.

 

Career Information

The following represents a sample of the internships, jobs and graduate school programs that current students and recent graduates have reported.