About the Concentration
Hydraulic and Hydrologic engineers work to prevent floods, to supply water for cities, industry and irrigation, to treat wastewater, to protect beaches, and to manage and redirect rivers. Professionals in the hydraulics and hydrology use scientific study of the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on the surface of the land, in the soil and underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere.
In Civil Engineering’s Hydraulic and Hydrologic Engineering specialty group, also sometimes termed Water Resources Engineering, students will deal with problems and issues involving the flow and storage of water. Specific applications have traditionally arisen in urban drainage, measures for mitigating the effects of floods and droughts, water supply, water treatment, and coastal protection. More recently, the flow implications for water quality have become of greater concern, and the transport of sediment, nutrients, and pollutants in natural or engineered watercourses has received greater attention. Faculty members are particularly interested in applying the latest software and hardware technologies to investigate, understand, and model fundamental flow and transport processes with the widest range of applications. Research opportunities may be found in projects dealing with turbulent flows, watershed hydrology, environmental hydraulics, and contaminant transport. The Hydromechanics and Burke Research Laboratories give undergraduate and graduate students hands-on learning opportunities to expand their experience here at Purdue.
Required Courses (21-30 credits)
At the master’s level, a non-thesis option, thesis option, or report option are available. The 30-credit requirement for a master’s degree is satisfied by completing 30 course credits (non-thesis option) or 21 course credits plus a thesis (9 credits) for the for thesis-option.
For the report option, a student in this track will satisfy 24-27 credit hours through courses (four core + electives) and 3-6 credit hours of independent study. All students choosing the Report option must submit a written report, prepared under the guidance of the student’s research advisor and approved by the MSCE committee as a graduation requirement.
