The online Master of Science in Civil Engineering curriculum provides a rich grounding in theoretical concepts and practical skills. As an R1 research university, MSU offers students exceptional access to industry resources and real-world data, often drawn from the systems that serve the university’s own sprawling campus. Our faculty members teach the quantitative methods and industry-standard software tools that enable professionals to solve vital problems.
You’ll work with an academic adviser to determine a customized program plan that fulfills graduation requirements while helping you build the expertise to take on complex engineering projects, qualify for state licensure and progress in your career.
- Master’s students must complete 30 total credit hours (10 courses) to graduate.
- All online students take one general course that covers the fundamentals of statistical theory and R programming.
- Students who choose a general track can select any combination of elective courses.
- Students who choose a focus area must take 27 credit hours (9 courses) from their specialization:
- Transportation Engineering
- Pavement Engineering
- Structural Engineering
- Students in this focus area may replace one elective course with a three-credit design or analysis project.
Master of Civil Engineering Course Descriptions
Note: Course availability varies by semester. Contact an enrollment specialist for details.
General Course (Required)
Programming in R and use of associated open source tools. Addressing practical issues in documenting workflow, data management and scientific computing.
Geotechnical Engineering
Foundations and earth retaining structures. Bearing capacity, settlement, and lateral resistance of deep foundations. Advanced design of retaining structures using in-situ test data. Numerical solution of geotechnical problems.
Transportation Engineering
Introduction to transportation engineering, including: transportation planning, traffic engineering, geometric design, traffic flow, and highway capacity, queuing theory, traffic control, and highway safety.
Geometric design of highways. Operation, capacity, safety and geometric features. Alignment, drainage and pavement design. Use of CAD systems in preparing contract plans.
Highway design policies and practices. Design and performance aspects of freeways and interchanges. Traffic control and signalization strategies.
Analysis of highway geometric design alternatives and operational-control strategies with respect to accident probabilities. Statistical methods of pattern identification. Countermeasure selection and evaluation methodology. Risk management.
Application and interpretation of quantitative methods and design of experiments for transportation research. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), non-parametric, discriminant analysis, factor analysis, multivariate regression and SPSS statistical analysis software.
Pavement Engineering
Engineering concepts and information needed to rehabilitate pavements. Network and project survey and evaluation: design of rigid and flexible overlays, other methods of rehabilitation and selection of rehabilitation alternatives. Initial and life cycle cost analysis of various rehabilitation alternatives.
Theoretical models for analysis of concrete pavement systems. Impact of concrete material on pavement response and performance. Formulation of improved mechanistic structural design procedures.
Mechanistic approach to asphalt pavement design. Analysis of asphalt pavement systems using theoretical models, asphalt material modeling, prediction and performance. Formulation of improved mechanistic structural and mix design procedures.
Theoretical and statistical analysis of pavement networks. Engineering monitoring. Determination of distress mechanisms and engineering solutions. Assignment of priorities to engineering actions.
Superpave asphalt mix design, binder tests, hot mix asphalt performance tests, viscoelasticity, continuum damage models and image analysis methods.
Structural Engineering
Design:
Design of steel beams, columns, tension members, and connections. Stability and plastic strength. Required only for non-CE majors.
Flexural and torsional instability of columns and beams. Slender cross-sectional elements, design of beam-columns. Torsion, plastic design, plate girders, composite steel-concrete construction, connections.
Analysis and design of prestressed and conventionally reinforced concrete structures.
Fire safety, fire codes, and fire engineering design methods. High temperature material properties, and behavior of materials and structures exposed to fires. Fire resistance design of steel, concrete, composite and timber structures. Use of the computer program for thermal and structural analysis.
Materials:
Microstructure, engineering characteristics and modeling of concrete materials. Structure-property relationships in concrete materials. Control of concrete structure and properties for different infrastructure applications.
This course provides an introduction to the field of smart materials and structures. The content focuses on the characteristics of different types of smart materials, their properties and constituent behavior.
Analysis:
Theoretical, numerical and computational methods for civil engineering problems. Physical modeling, numerical techniques and programming methods. Focus on civil engineering dynamics, solving systems of differential equations and visualizing the results.
Dynamic response of single degree-of-freedom systems. Damping in structure and soils. Time and frequency domain methods. Analytical and numerical techniques. Earthquake response spectra. Classical and finite element formulation.
Advanced linear mechanics. Potential energy principle. Finite element formulations. Applications to problems in structural, geotechnical and pavement engineering.
Optional:
Master’s degree Plan B individual student research project. Original research, research replication, or survey and reporting on a research topic.
Request Brochure
To learn more about Michigan State University’s online master’s programs in engineering and download a free brochure, fill out the fields below to request information. You can also call us at (517) 300-3722.