CESE at SCU
The Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Department is well known for its supportive faculty and strong sense of community among the students and the department. Through numerous real-world projects, hands-on laboratories, and field trips, learning here is collaborative rather than competitive. Students in the department forge enduring friendships and build a robust support network that fosters success both academically and professionally.
SCU consistently ranks among the top for Best Undergraduate Teaching in the US News & World Report. The faculty’s and University’s commitment, driven by Jesuit values, to small class sizes, student growth and achievement, and teaching excellence is fundamental to our identity and a real focus for the CESE Department. Graduating seniors in CESE consistently rate our department highly in overall satisfaction with their major and the program effectiveness. Not only does our department lead the School of Engineering at SCU, but we also surpass the national average for engineering departments nationwide who participate in the Benchworks exit surveys.
From the start of their first year, CESE students dive into a curriculum designed to equip them with essential professional skills and facilitate early internship opportunities. Problem-solving, design thinking, ethics, technical writing, and professionalism are integrated into their coursework, culminating in a year-long senior design experience. Each senior takes full ownership of their project scope under faculty mentorship. Senior design projects span a wide range, from designing and constructing sustainable housing in Ghana to creating wildlife bypasses under Highway 17. Other projects include finding solutions for water quality issues in underserved communities in California's Central Valley, developing sustainable transportation hubs to enhance public transportation access, and analyzing levee safety and resilience in response to climate-induced storms.
Nathan Rogers '12 sums up what makes Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, the senior design experience, and SCU so special in his timeless – and witty – valedictorian speech: