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Program Details
Civil engineers design, build and maintain the infrastructure we all depend on—from highways across continents to high-rise condominium towers, to tunnels through mountains, and massive hydro-electric dams. Carleton’s Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree is one of the largest programs of its kind in Canada, giving students the opportunity to learn from professors with expertise across a broad range of specialties, while benefiting from a comprehensive and industry-relevant curriculum. You will develop a broad background in civil engineering in your first three years of study before you have the option to specialize in one of the following areas:
- Structural engineering: analysis, design, and construction of safe and reliable buildings and bridges, as well as analysis and assessment of existing structures.
- Transportation engineering: planning, design, and operation of safe systems and facilities for transportation on land, by water or in the air.
- Geotechnical engineering: design and evaluation of soil and rock structures with applications to roads, bridges, buildings, dams, embankments and tunnels.
- Municipal engineering: address the range of tasks handled by municipal governments, such as road and bridge operation, water and wastewater treatment, waste management and urban planning.
Labs and Facilities
Civil engineering students explore real-world applications by analyzing soil stability, testing construction materials, and simulating structural loads using advanced instrumentation in facilities like the Advanced Geotechnical Research Laboratory and the Civil Engineering Structures Lab. They also gain proficiency with state-of-the-art design and modelling tools used in industry, making them marketable and attractive to employers after graduation.
Co-op
Carleton offers students a paid Co-op option with work terms of 4, 6, 8, 12 or 16 months. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering also offers eligible first-year students the opportunity to participate in a paid, eight-week internship through its First Year Internship Program.
Work Experience
Ottawa is home to one of Canada’s largest concentrations of government agencies and high-tech companies. Civil engineering students have access to career-ready opportunities at the many major engineering firms, government agencies and national research institutions, which are unique to Ottawa
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Career Outcomes
Explore your passions, refine new skills and discover the career that’s right for you.
The skills learned through the study of civil engineering are highly transferable and will prepare you for a wide range of career opportunities in various industries.
Sample Careers
- Build
- Construction Management
- Evaluate and Maintain Infrastructure
- Geotechnical Design
- Infrastructure Maintenance and Security
- Management
- Municipal Systems
- On-Site Construction Management and Supervision
- Project Management
- Security and Comfort
- Structural Design
- Transportation
- Urban and Rural Planning
Sample Courses
CIVE 2004 - GIS, Surveying, CAD and BIM
Engineering geometry and spatial graphics. Fundamentals of surveys. Digital surveying tools; total station, GPS. Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD). Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Spatial referencing. Building Information Modelling (BIM). Integrated design using digital tools. Field exercises using software to process and evaluate spatial data.
CIVE 4614 - Building Fire Safety
Understanding fire-structure interaction and the concepts of fire severity and resistance; behaviour of steel, concrete, and timber buildings exposed to fires; compartment fire dynamics; correlations and computer models to predict fire dynamics; fire retardants; laboratory-scale fire experiments; performance-based approach for building fire safety design.
Visit the Undergraduate Calendar to view a comprehensive list of course offerings for this program and discover the exciting things Carleton students are learning in the classroom!