Civil Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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Get your Civil Engineering Ph.D. at UW

At UW, graduate civil engineering faculty and students are imagining a maverick future where biomaterials make natural gas, where fracking wastewater is cleaner, autonomous vehicles are safer and America’s highways are used more intelligently.

Help create this more sustainable world by working toward the highest degree possible in this transformational field.

About the Civil Engineering Ph.D. Program at UW

UW’s Ph.D. program in civil engineering offers a close-knit academic and research environment that affords abundant student-faculty collaborations and access to UW’s remarkable research facilities.

The civil engineering doctoral degree program prepares you for post-doctoral work, academic positions and advanced roles in the industry.

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Faculty members and students assembling a wall full of cinder blocks

The University of Wyoming's doctoral program in civil engineering offers specialized concentrations, allowing graduate students to personalize their degrees to match their individual interests and professional ambitions.

Concentrations:

  • Building Mechanical Systems Engineering
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • Structural Engineering
  • Transportation Engineering
  • Water Resources Engineering
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What Can You Do With a Civil Engineering Doctoral Degree?

Our civil engineering doctorate program prepares you for high-level industry roles, post-doctoral fellowships, academic careers and research at the apex of science and technology research and development.

Civil Engineering Careers

  • Architectural and Engineering Managers
  • Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers
  • Civil Engineers
  • Transportation Engineers
  • Water/Wastewater Engineer
  • Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary

 

 

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UW civil engineering Ph.D. alumni have gone on to work at the following organizations among others:

  • Assistant professor at St. Cloud State University
  • Assistant professor at Purdue University, Fort Wayne
  • Assistant professor of at Cairo University
  • Postdoctoral fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Merced
  • Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Buffalo
  • Transportation engineer at ZOOX Autonomous Mobility
  • Research scientist at Batelle
  • Staff engineer at ARA
  • Senior project manager/chief geotechnical engineer at MC Squared, Inc.
  • Hydraulic engineer at Free Flow Power
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Civil Engineering Doctoral Degree Program Highlights

UW’s civil engineering Ph.D. program offers a small, collegial environment in which faculty and students encourage each other to ask big questions about energy production, transportation, water resources, sustainability and other aspects of the greater built environment for the betterment of all. These are some reasons to consider the UW Ph.D. degree in civil engineering:

Graduate Assistantships

The majority of civil engineering graduate students are supported by a research or teaching assistantships.

Facilities

UW has civil engineering-related facilities that include the Multidisciplinary Fluids Laboratory, an Environmental Lab, Soils Lab, the Structural Testing Lab at the High Bay Research Facility, a Driving Simulation Lab and Water Resources Data System.

 

Civil Engineering Research Groups

Look into UW’s civil and interdisciplinary research groups such as the Center for Computational Hydrology and Hydrosciences, Office of Water Programs, Construction Research and Innovation Lab, Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research, Center for Excellence in Produced Water Management, Carbon Capture and Storage and Transportation Safety. Learn about UW’s civil engineering faculty, many of whom are leading cutting-edge research.

 

Sample Civil Engineering Thesis Titles

“Integrating machine learning and optimization tools in asset management for data collection and decision-making costs”
“Role of climate and watershed on drought modulation from observations and climate models”
“Online-learning-based fault detection and diagnosis for HVAC systems in commercial buildings”
“Modeling groundwater recharge and streamflow and potential changes in the future climate: Bayesian averaging and machine-learning paradigm”
“Updating and implementing the grade severity system for Wyoming mountain passes”
“Load and resistance-factored design and construction of driven piles in intermediate geomaterials”

As a civil and architectural engineering Ph.D. candidate, Majid Karami, Ph.D. ’19, was awarded a $10,000 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Grant-in-Aid award. Each year, only 10 to 25 applicants worldwide receive this prestigious distinction. Today, he works as an autonomous systems and A.I. developer for PassiveLogic.

Contact Us

We're Eager to Help!

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management

Department 3295, 1000 E. University Avenue

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-2390

Email: cae.info@uwyo.edu