Construction Engineering
What is Construction Engineering?
Construction Engineers lead the construction process that turns plans and designs into physical reality. To accomplish this, they manage the cost, schedule, quality, and safety of a project to deliver facilities that benefit society. Construction Engineers also select the most efficient construction methods and equipment, mobilize project materials, design temporary structures, and interface with customers, governmental agencies, and the public during the construction period.
Our Approach to Construction Engineering
Florida Tech offers unique opportunities in the Construction Engineering area because we have a joint Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Management offering B.S. degrees in both areas. As an engineering major you will have the opportunity to be in classes with and work with construction management majors in a team environment similar to what you will encounter in industry. Our Construction Engineering/Construction Management faculty members have over 70 years of experience in the construction industry on both U.S. and international projects ranging from residential home construction to multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects. Our Construction Engineering courses are strongly oriented toward practical application in a work environment. Most of our course examples and student projects are directly taken from commercial projects in the $500K–$10M range.
A second distinctive aspect of the Florida Tech program is that we include coursework in leadership and project management, quality control/assurance, scheduling, budgeting, cost estimating, construction safety, and construction materials. The majority of our students and graduates in the construction engineering area of study work as project managers, cost estimators, or schedulers. Our graduates work for a wide variety of organizations ranging from small local firms to large national and international firms including Bechtel, Fluor, D.R. Horton, Shaw Engineering, Kiewit, Turner Construction, Disney, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We have strong support from the local design and construction industry so we are able to incorporate field trips to construction sites, concrete plants, etc. to enhance your classroom learning.
A third unique feature of the Florida Tech program is the opportunity to learn about sustainable or green construction practices which are increasingly in demand in both the engineering design and construction industries. Florida Tech has a Sustainability Studies program with the opportunity for you to either take individual courses in the subject or to minor in Sustainability. Our faculty members have research initiatives in sustainable construction, renewable energy, Building Information Modeling (BIM), energy efficient structures, and innovative construction methods.
We encourage but do not require internships or co-op experiences. Most of our students have internships during the summer. Some continue part-time internships during the school year.
Students learn Building Information Modeling (BIM) software (Revit) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) software (AutoCAD) which they apply in other courses and for their senior projects. Students learn to create cost and resource-loaded MS Project schedules and to use those schedules for production and cost tracking and reporting. Students also create bar and linear schedules manually using Excel. Students create Excel-based cost estimates and use the RS Means online cost estimating application. Students also create digital surveying information and map/analyze it in AutoCAD.