Department Background
The Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering has a rich history in Kansas City. The University of Kansas City offered a General Engineering degree in the 1950's. The master’s programs in Civil and Mechanical Engineering were started in 1964 and later the undergraduate programs were added in the early 1970s. Since 1977, the undergraduate programs in Civil and Mechanical Engineering have been independently accredited by ABET. The Civil and Mechanical Engineering Department became a part of the School of Computing and Engineering (SCE) in January 2001 and is housed in Flarsheim Hall.
The civil and mechanical engineering students have traditionally been a commuter population with many students working and having family obligations. The recent (2004) completion of the Oak Street residence hall and plans to complete another on-campus housing facility (Oak Street West apartments) by fall 2008 has begun to decrease our average student ages. We have already seen many of our students complete the degree in the minimum time. In January 2007, the average enrollment for civil and mechanical engineering undergraduates exceeded 12 semester hours (full-time) for the first time. Our students are generally drawn from the Kansas City metropolitan area, and most of our alumni remain in the area as well. The Kansas City area has many civil engineering employment opportunities, so our students and alumni are well-employed in the region.
Organization
Civil Engineering (CE) Program
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) defines civil engineering as "the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and physical sciences gained by study, experience, and practice is applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize economically, the materials and forces of nature for the progressive well-being of humanity in creating, improving and protecting the environment, in providing facilities for community living, industry and transportation, and in providing structures for the use of humankind". The CE program aims to prepare students with a breadth and depth in the technical knowledge so that they can work immediately in most areas of the profession including geotechnical engineering; hydraulics, hydrology, water resources; structural engineering; and transportation/ traffic engineering.
Mechanical Engineering (ME) Program
The ME program is one of the broadest of the engineering disciplines, and, thus, mechanical engineers are the generalists of the engineering profession. Mechanical engineers design, construct, test, and operate many types of mechanical, thermal and biological devices, and they are involved in almost every industry, including aerospace, automotive, bioengineering, communications, electronics, energy, food processing, HVAC, manufacturing, power generation and refrigeration, as well as business, government, and academia. The ME program aims to prepare students with a breadth and depth in technical knowledge so that they can work immediately in most of the areas of the profession.
Degrees Offered
The Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering offers the bachelor’s degree and the master’s degree in both Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and participates in the UMKC Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program. The Bachelor of Science degrees are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The Master of Science degrees have both thesis and non-thesis options. Students interested in pursuing a doctoral degree may select engineering as a discipline when applying for admission into the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program.
