ENVSE-BS - Environmental Systems Engineering (BS)
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Program Overview
The Environmental Systems Engineering major prepares students to apply sustainable design, strategies, and practices into natural and built systems including infrastructure, ranging from buildings and energy systems to water resources and coastal regions.
Students in the Environmental Systems Engineering major learn about environmental systems through coursework that is multidisciplinary in nature, combining math, science, and engineering fundamentals with tools and skills that are essential for an engineer. Students choose one of four focus areas for in-depth study of sustainable design and management: coastal systems, energy systems, freshwater systems, or urban systems. The program equips students to take on the complex challenges of the 21st century using sustainable approaches involving natural and built environments in the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
A Comparison: Environmental Systems Engineering vs. Civil Engineering
Students interested in the area of civil and environmental engineering should be aware of the following differences between choosing this Environmental Systems Engineering major versus the Civil Engineering major.
Professional Considerations: The Civil Engineering degree is ABET-accredited, while the Environmental Systems Engineering major is not. A degree accredited by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is a first step toward a professional engineering license. In California, you must accrue 6 years of work experience under the supervision of a licensed professional engineer before being allowed to take the licensing exam. An ABET-accredited B.S. degree counts as 4 years of this required work experience. Earning an MS degree from a department that offers an ABET-accredited B.S. degree will give you credit for a total of 5 years of work experience in California, regardless of whether or not your B.S. degree is ABET-accredited.
If you envision a career providing, supervising or managing professional engineering services (e.g. engineering investigations, design) , you will likely need to become a licensed professional engineer and should aim, via your chosen BS and/or MS (coterm) degrees, to earn ABET credit for 4-5 years of work experience.
Pragmatic Considerations: The Civil Engineering major provides a structured curriculum that ensures breadth across different areas specified by ABET. The Environmental Systems Engineering major requires fewer units, offers more flexibility in choosing courses, and provides greater ability to focus on a specific topic area.
Preparing for the Major
Instruction For Declaring Major in Environmental Systems Engineering
Enter your major declaration as Environmental Systems Engineering in Axess
Download your Stanford transcript (unofficial is fine) from Axess.
Download and complete the Excel version of the major Program Sheet. Be sure and list all courses already taken and those you plan to take -- you will have the opportunity to revise this later, so please fill in as many courses as you can. Specify which Focus area you are using.
Email your transcript and completed program sheet to the CEE Assistant Director of Degree Progress, Jill Filice and request to have an EnvSE advisor assigned to you. You may request a specific advisor if you wish.
Meet with your Environmental Systems Engineering undergraduate advisor and have them review and sign your program sheet.
Email your signed program sheet to the CEE Assistant Director of Degree Progress, who upon receiving your signed sheet will approve your major declaration in Axess.
You are encouraged to meet with your ENVSE undergraduate adviser at least once a quarter to review your academic progress. Changes to your program sheet can be made by printing out a revised sheet, obtaining your undergraduate adviser’s signature on a revised program sheet, and emailing the sheet to the CEE Assistant Director of Degree Progress. NOTE – It is very important to confirm that your program sheet is up to date at least 1 quarter prior to graduation
Other information:
Procedures for requesting transfer credits and program deviations are described in detail in the SoE Undergraduate Handbook at the beginning of Chapter 4: "Policies and Procedures." The relevant forms, found at the Transfers-AP-Exceptions link, may be filled out and distributed electronically.
If you are requesting transfer credits or program deviations, email copies of your completed petition forms, along with your transcript and program sheet, to the CEE Assistant Director of Degree Progress, at least one quarter before your graduation quarter. Check with the CEE Assistant Director of Degree Progress to make sure that you are on the CEE UG student email list for important announcements about department events and activities
Exploring Environmental Systems Engineering through Courses
Are you wondering whether an Environmental Systems Engineering major is for you? If so, here are some courses accessible early in your undergraduate career that will help you explore your interest in our major. If you end up joining our program, this early start on fulfilling requirements will pay off by giving you more flexibility in class scheduling for your junior and senior years.
ENGR 14: Intro to Solid Mechanics
CEE 70: Environmental Science and Technology
CEE 107A: Understand Energy
CEE 162F: Coastal Processes
CEE 176A: Energy Efficient Buildings
For more information on the Environmental Systems Engineering major, please contact Jill Filice in Room 316 of the Yang and Yamazaki Environment & Energy (Y2E2) building.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
The Curriculum
The undergraduate Environmental Systems Engineering major provides the math, science, engineering fundamentals, and tools and skills considered essential for an engineer, along with a choice of 4 subplans for more in-depth study, including a capstone experience. The subplans are:
Sustainable Coastal Systems: Focuses on the impacts of urban areas on coastal waters, and vice versa. Study areas include coastal engineering, biological and chemical processes and contaminants in the marine environment, and issues in coastal planning and policy.
Sustainable Energy Systems: Focuses on designing renewable energy systems to address urban area challenges. Courses range from optimization of renewable energy systems to the impacts of energy use on climate and urban air pollutants.
Sustainable Freshwater Systems: Focuses on incorporating sustainability into the design, management, and protection of water supply systems. Areas include water resources, water treatment processes, aquatic chemistry/biology, and design principles for urban waterways.
Sustainable Urban Systems: Focuses on sustainability in the constructed urban environment, ranging from building-scale to urban-scale issues. Considerations include sustainable design and construction practices, building energy, urban infrastructure, and sustainable cities.
Research Experience for Undergraduates
The department of Civil and Environmental Engineering welcomes student participation in the VPUE Undergraduate Research Programs. Interested students should check the VPUE website and the CEE website for announcements regarding the application procedures. Annual program announcements appear in January with application due dates in February.
Note on Double-Counting and Minimum GPA
A course may only be counted toward one requirement, not double-counted. All courses taken for the major must be taken for a letter grade if the instructor offers that option. The Minimum Combined GPA for all Engineering Fundamentals and Depth courses is 2.0.
Courses required for all EnvSE subplans: Math 19, Math 20, Math 21, CME 102 (same as ENGR 155A), Math 51, CME 106 (same as ENGR 155C), Phys 41, Chem 31A.
Courses required for Sustainable Energy Systems subplan: Phys 43.
Courses required for Sustainable Freshwater Systems subplan: Chem 31B, ChemEng 55 (same as ENGR 55).
Courses required for Sustainable Coastal and Urban Systems supblans: Chem 31B.
For Sustainable Energy Systems, Chem31E is alternative to Chem31A and Chem31B.
AP Physics C with score of 5 will be accepted in place of PHYSCIS 41 or PHYSICS 41E.
CEE31E was previously offered as 31M.
Courses may not be double-counted between the required and elective courses sections.
Take two courses minimum including the ones required by your subplan
ENGR 90 is the same as CEE 70.
ENGR 55 is the same as ChemEng 55, required for Sustainable Freshwater Systems subplan.
ME 30 is required for Sustainable Energy Systems subplan.
No double counting is allowed for courses in multiple lists.
Choose and complete the requirements of one of the 4 subplan categories below.
The following WIM courses are the same for all four subplans. No double counting allowed.
The capstone course must be at least 3 units.
See Capstone Requirement listed within each Subplan.
The Environmental Systems Engineering Honors Program involves an in-depth research study in an area proposed to and agreed to by a Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty adviser and completion of a thesis of high quality.
A written proposal for the research to be undertaken must be submitted and approved by the faculty advisor in the fourth quarter prior to graduation. At the time of application, the student must have an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.3 for course work at Stanford; this GPA must be maintained to graduation.
The written thesis must be approved by the thesis adviser.
Students are encouraged to present their results in a seminar for faculty and students.
The thesis is supervised by a CEE faculty adviser and must involve input from the School of Engineering’s Technical Communication Program (Huang 049) by means of ENGR 202S: Directed Writing Projects or its equivalent.
Up to 10 units of CEE 199H Undergraduate Honors Thesis may be taken to support the research and writing (not to duplicate ENGR 202S).
These units are beyond the normal Civil Engineering or Environmental Systems Engineering major program requirements.
Students must complete at least 40 units.
Please note that the following courses have prerequisites:
CEE 101B/E prerequisite: Physics 41, or Math 51, or CME 100;
CEE162F prerequisite: Physics 41
Complete at least 2 classes from one of the following majors and 1 class from each of the remaining majors.
EARTHSYS 151 and EARTHSYS 152 are designed to be taken concurrently.
EARTHSYS 151 and EARTHSYS 152 are designed to be taken concurrently.
Take CEE 177 only if you do not take CEE 170.
Take CEE 170 only if you do not take CEE 177.
Take 1 elective course within the Environmental Systems Engineering Subplan. This course can come from either this subplan (Sustainable Coastal Systems) or other subplans: Sustainable Urban Systems, Sustainable Energy Systems, Sustainable Freshwater Systems.
Students must complete at least 40 units.
ENERGY50E is a prerequisite for MATSCI156
Take at least two elective courses from those listed in the Focus Area Electives of two other subplans: "Sustainable Urban Systems" or "Sustainable Coastal Systems," or "Sustainable Freshwater Systems."
If you have completed four courses from the Required Core Courses list, please take any three courses from the Focus Electives list.
Take at least two elective courses from those listed in the Focus Area Electives of two other subplans: "Sustainable Urban Systems" or "Sustainable Coastal Systems," or "Sustainable Energy Systems."
Students must complete at least 40 units for the whole subplan.
Take at least 11 total courses from the Required Core (3 courses) and Focus electives.
Take at least 3 courses from either the "Building Systems" or "Urban Planning, Design, and Analysis" subplans, and 1 course from each of the remaining three subplans: "Building Systems" or "Urban Planning, Design, and Analysis," "Energy Systems" and "Water Systems."
Breadth Elective: Take 1 elective course within the Environmental Systems Engineering Major (can come from other subplans)
Take at least 3 courses from either the "Building Systems" or "Urban Planning, Design, and Analysis" subplans, and 1 course from each of the remaining three subplans: "Building Systems" or "Urban Planning, Design, and Analysis," "Energy Systems" and "Water Systems."
Take 1 elective course within the Environmental Systems Engineering subplan. This course can come from either this subplan (Sustainable Urban Systems) or other subplans: Sustainable Coastal Systems, Sustainable Energy Systems, Sustainable Freshwater Systems.