Overview
The Environmental Systems Engineering (ENVSE) degree program has recently been expanded to include two options. Beginning in the summer 2009, students entering the ENVSE program will have the opportunity to choose the option in Environmental Systems Engineering or the new option in Environmental Health and Safety Engineering (EHSE).
The ENVSE option focuses primarily on the impact of industrial activities on the environment and the choice of cost-effective remediation strategies. The EHSE option is concerned with the safe and healthful design of industrial systems so that workers are protected from the potentially high risk exposures associated with today's industries. Both options follow a similar course schedule over the first two years of study. Specialization in either ENVSE or EHSE then is achieved through successful completion of additional courses in one of the two option areas.
The ENVSE degree program follows a unique interdisciplinary curriculum that is designed to address the critical environmental, safety, and health problems of the basic industries involved in the extraction, conversion, and utilization of energy and mineral resources. All students gain a deeper understanding of both the impact of environmental degradation on society and the effects on industrial activity of society's demands for protection of workers and the environment. The program is complementary to the more general environmental science programs that emphasize the identification and evaluation of environmental problems, and to the classical environmental engineering programs offered by civil engineers, whose traditional emphasis is on public-sector concerns of water supply, municipal waste water (sewage) treatment, and solid waste (trash) management and disposal.
ABET Accreditation
The Environmental Systems Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012, telephone: (410) 347-7700.