INSTRUCTOR

Prof. JoAnn Silverstein, Dept. Civil, Environ. & Arch. Eng.
Email: joann.silverstein@colorado.edu
Office: ECOT 444, (303) 492-7211 
Office Hours: Mon., 10 AM - noon; Wed. 1 - 3 PM; by appt.

TEACHING ASSISTANT 

Justin Joslin
Email: Justin.Joslin@colorado.edu
Office: ECST 320. Hours: T, 2 - 4 PM

LECTURES

12:30 - 1:45 PM, Tuesday and Thursday, Room ECCR 200 

WEB PAGE

           http://civil.colorado.edu/~silverst/cven3414.html 

TEXTBOOK

Environmental Engineering Science, W.W. Nazaroff and Lisa Alvarez-Cohen, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 2001.

EMAIL LIST

subscribe to the class email list, "cven3414@lists", immediately by sending a message to: listproc@lists.colorado.edu:

subscribe cven3414 <Your full name>

For example: "subscribe cven3414 JoAnn Silverstein"

Background: This is an engineering course and it is worthwhile to consider what that means. William Wulf, past President of the National Academy of Engineering provided a definition of engineering in 1998:

"Second, a word about my view of what an engineer does, since this colors my ideas of how an engineer needs to be educated. Science is analytic - it strives to understand nature, what is. Engineering is synthetic - it strives to create what can be. My favorite operational definition of engineering is "design under constraint." Engineering is creating, designing what can be, but it is constrained by nature, by cost, by concerns of safety, reliability, environmental impact, manufacturability, maintainability, and many other such "ilities." Engineering is not "applied science." To be sure, our understanding of nature is one of the constraints we work under, but it is far from the only one, it is seldom the hardest one, and almost never the limiting one."   Source: William A. Wulf, The Bridge, National Academy of Engineering, Volume 28, Number 1 - Spring, 1998 "Incorporating a set of "new fundamentals" into the engineering curriculum and encouraging faculty to practice their craft are among the steps needed to bring engineering education into the 21st century."

Sciences are often emphasized in environmental engineering education, for two reasons. First, most science curriculum in engineering focuses on the physical sciences. However the biological, natural, and health sciences are the foundations of much of environmental engineering; therefore they often must be introduced in environmental engineering courses. Second, the systems where environmental engineers work - encompassing the land, water and atmosphere of the planet - are so complex that the natural constraints to engineering are still not well understood. So environmental engineers must be prepared to assimilate and adapt our activities right alongside discoveries in the natural sciences. That said, the excitement of environmental engineering is still creating solutions to environmental problems within a myriad of challenging constraints.

  Course Objectives:  CVEN 3414 is an introduction to a broad range of concerns in environmental engineering, including: water, air and land pollution, short-term (days, weeks, months, years) cycling of naturally-occurring material as well as contaminants in the natural environment and in engineered treatment processes by biological, chemical and physical processes, long-term (decades, centuries) environmental effects like resource consumption and global warming, and environmental management through regulations and risk assessment.  With each of these topics there is emphasis on quantification of environmental problems in order for an engineer to develop new solutions to problems, evaluate and improve existing systems for pollution prevention and clean-up, and anticipate the impact of human activities on natural systems. 

  This course is intended to address a range of interests: of engineering students who intend to practice professionally in environmental engineering; of engineering students who will work in other fields, like design and construction of civil infrastructure, and will find concepts in this course important in your career because environmental issues have an impact on all technical activities; and of non-engineering students with some background in mathematics and basic science who are interested in how math and science are applied to environmental concerns through engineering. 

  Prerequisites:  calculus through differential equations, freshman chemistry, and ability to use a desktop computer spreadsheet.  Highly recommended: at least one engineering science class (e.g., statics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, chemical engineering materials balances) as a base for problem-solving skills.

  Learning Outcomes

Accreditation through ABET

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) is a professional accrediting organization that accredits specific academic programs to assure quality in education. Accreditation is a voluntary, non-governmental process of peer review. It requires an educational program to meet certain, defined standards or criteria. More information on ABET and accreditation can be found on the ABET website at http://www.abet.org. At CU Boulder, both the B.S. in Architectural Engineering and the B.S. in Civil Engineering are ABET-accredited degrees. Receiving a degree from an accredited program is an important first step towards attaining the Professional Engineer’s license.

ABET a-k outcomes

            As part of the accreditation process, ABET sets general criteria for students, faculty, facilities, educational objectives, and institutional support, as well as program criteria for specific engineering disciplines. One major criterion established by ABET is a set of desired program outcomes, the so-called “a-k” outcomes. These are listed in their entirety below. Specific objectives for individual courses in the CEAE Department are mapped to these ABET outcomes, and course instructors assess the relative importance of each outcome for their courses. The designation in parentheses after each outcome shows the importance of that outcome for the CVEN 3414 course – S for small, M for moderate, L for large, N/A for not applicable. In addition, specific learning outcomes related to environmental engineering follow each a - k criterion.

ABET-accredited engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have:

(a)    an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering  (L)

§         Quantify water and air environmental systems for predictive modeling and design

§         Apply conservation of mass (mass balance), transformation and transport process analysis to water and air environments

§         Apply natural sciences (biology, chemistry, geology, ecology) to engineered processes

(b)    an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data  (N/A)

(c)    an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs  (S)

§         Specify components of engineered water and gas treatment processes

  (d)    an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams  (S)

§         Anticipate the environmental impact of a variety of Civil Engineering activities

(e)    an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems  (L)

Develop sustainable solutions to:

§         Wastewater treatment and discharge

§         Drinking water treatment

§         Water storage and reuse

§         Prediction of contaminant transport and transformation in groundwater

§         Dispersion of air pollutants from mobile and stationary sources

§         Management of hazardous wastes

(f)    an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility  (M)

Understand constraints to designs embodied in:

§         Codification of environmental protection, human health and social well-being into statutes and regulations

§         Environmental justice

§         Conservation of natural resources and preservation of the biosphere

(g)    an ability to communicate effectively  (S)

§         Communicate technical information to other engineers

§         Communicate engineering solutions to the concerned public

(h)    the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context  (M)

§         Apply the criteria for sustainability to environmental engineering solutions.

§         Anticipate and mitigate the environmental impacts of Civil Engineering activities

(i)    a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning  (S)

§         Integrate of new scientific knowledge into environmental engineering technology

(j)    a knowledge of contemporary issues  (S)

§         Evaluate environmental reports and claims in the popular media

§         Understand the role of environmental engineering in public decision making

(k)    an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.  (M)

§         Use computer solutions to solve complex environmental problems in water and air

§         Use state-of-the-art sensors and sensor networks to monitor environmental systems and control engineered processes.

Course Work

Reading.  Selected readings from Environmental Engineering and Science will provide important background for class lectures, discussions, and assignments. There is a lot of material in the book that is not in the scope of an introductory course, and students will not be held responsible for knowing that.  In general, you will be expected to be familiar with any assigned sections in the text, whether it is covered in lectures or not.

Homework.  There will be approximately one assignment each week of 4 - 6 problems, mostly from the end of the chapters, although other problems may be added occasionally. Completed homework must be turned in by 5 PM on the due date.  Solutions will be posted the next day, so no late homework will be accepted (except for cases of documented illness or family emergency).  You will be able to delete the grade for one homework assignment from your overall semester homework grade average, i.e., your total homework grade will be based on the average over the best 12 out of 13 assignments, or 11 out of 12 assignments.

Homework Format.  Homework problems should be solved on gridded engineering (E2) paper using one side only.  Pages should be neat, stapled together and numbered.  Use only one side of the page.  Problem solutions should begin with given facts, assumptions, a sketch, if appropriate, and a list of what is to be found.  Units should be clearly indicated on all numbers used in formulas, tables, sketches with dimensions and graphs. Graph axes should be clearly labeled.  Use a visible pencil lead (# 2 or "HB") and make sure that sketches and graphs are large enough to read easily. Answers should be clearly marked: boxed in, underlined, marked with arrows or highlighted, etc. Use the appropriate number of significant digits for answers (numbers, tables, or graphs). Do not use report more significant digits than the precision of your "given" information.

Tests.  There will be two 50-minute midterms during the semester and a final exam. All tests are open book and notes. Test format will be primarily numerical solutions to problems, with some short word answers or multiple choice questions.

Project.  Student teams will select topics and produce a 10-minute presentation on the sustainability of a civil or environmental engineering design at the end of the semester. Details will be provided later in the semester.

Course grades will be based on the following distribution:

Homework                         25%

Project                               25%

Midterms (15% each)      30%

Final exam                        20%

Spring 2003

Course Schedule

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