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The
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is housed in
the new P. B. S. Pinchback Engineering building. Faculty offices
are located on the third floor of the building. Classroom space
is shared across all engineering programs.
The Civil & Environmental Engineering
department has 11 fully equipped laboratories that support both
instruction and ongoing research projects. The laboratories are located
in the P.B.S. Pinchback Engineering building on the SUBR Campus.
Multimedia Presentation Facilities Previously, the engineering faculty utilized traditional overhead and portable LCD projectors as the primary tools to display the contents of course instruction. While initial responses from students were good, utilizing this technology as a method of instructional delivery was time consuming and had limited functionality. Ultimately, this led to the design and implementation of our new multimedia presentation configuration that provides faculty and students with the state-of-the-art resources needed to fully enhance the learning experience. Classrooms The funding for this project was a joint effort between the Title III Engineering Enhancement grant and the Information Technology Initiative. These funding sources were earmarked for enhancing the assimilation of technology into the process of disseminating college curricula. Utilizing these funds, five regular classrooms (rooms 218, 219, 221, 222, and 224) and a high-tech classroom (room 123) located in the Pinchback Engineering Building are multimedia equipped. Also, three portable multi-media configurations were purchased. Each of the multimedia configurations in the second floor classrooms consists of: • Ceiling
mounted projectors.
High-tech Classroom The high-tech classroom (room. 123) is an auditorium-style lecture hall that is equipped with a multimedia configuration that includes: • A
total capacity of 84 seats, each equipped with data and power
connections
Laboratories The
three portable, multimedia-rack configurations that were purchased
using these funds are intended to be used primarily in labs located
throughout the Pinchback Engineering Building, where no permanent
multimedia configurations were installed. Each of these multimedia-racks
is equipped with a configuration that includes: A
cart which contains one of each of the following components:
The intended purpose of equipping the multimedia classrooms, high-tech lecture hall, and portable multimedia-rack configurations is to develop a state-of-the-art teaching and learning environment. Faculty members now have a stable and reliable teaching setting, which is fully supported by a staff technician. The incorporation of various forms of instructional media into a regular classroom setting gives students an enhanced learning opportunity and it affords them the prospect of utilizing this equipment for presentations of course assignments. In utilizing the latest technologies that are available to us, our engineering students are afforded the opportunity to intensify the learning process. Laboratory Areas Civil engineering laboratories are located on the first, third and fourth floors. The total laboratory space assigned for the civil engineering laboratories is approximately 7,700 square feet. The Surveying Lab, Concrete Lab, Structural Lab and the Computer Lab are located on the first floor of the complex. The Environmental Lab, Soils Lab and the Hydraulics Lab are located on the third floor of the complex. The Transportation Lab is located on the fourth floor. The areas assigned for each lab is listed below: Concrete
Lab: 1,012 sq.ft. Generally, laboratory equipment is primarily used for the undergraduate program. Given the present student enrollment, the equipment can accommodate the various lab needs. Additions, replacements and repairs are expected to be monitored continuously, particularly with the anticipated needs of the graduate program as it becomes more established. Following is a summary of the individual lab facilities:
Concrete
Laboratory Available equipment: A set of sieves and shakers (square & circular), scale, oven, asphalt mixer, Rice specific gravity testing set, air-meter, slump test set, a rugged buck, mixing pans and a universal compression machine. A gyratory compactor has been purchased. Delivery of the equipment is expected shortly. Experiments Conducted: This lab is primarily used for CIEN 327, Construction Materials Lab. Experiments conducted in this space include: • Sieve
analysis of both fine and coarse aggregates
Environmental
Laboratory Available equipment: Inductively coupled plasma spectrometer (ICP), atomic absorption spectrometer with graphite furnace, ion chromatograph (IC), gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer, several high pressure liquid chromatograph, total organic carbon analyzer, microwave digestion system, several centrifuges, micro-respirometer, jar test apparatus, several furnaces and ovens, high power microscope with digital adapter and TV monitor, several turbidity meters, several pH meters, several DO meters and several electronic balancers. This lab is primarily used for CIEN 421 Water & Wastewater Analysis. Experiments conducted in and/or planned for this space include: • Solids
(Total solids, Total Dissolved solids, Total Suspended solids,
volatile Suspended solids)
Soil
Mechanics Laboratory Available Equipment: Ovens, Casagrande liquid limit device, plastic limit experiment kit, specific gravity of soil solids kit, sieve shakers with sieves, hydrometers and accessories, Proctore test kit, sand cones, permeability apparatus, direct shear apparatus, unconfined compression apparatus, triaxial system, geojacs and automated triaxial system. This lab is primarily used for Soil Mechanics CIEN 424. Experiments conducted in this space include: • Field
density using the sand cone method
Computer
Laboratory Computer facilities for the department are integrated as part of the network for the college of engineering. Engineering students have access to all software licensed by the college. The Computer Lab assigned for the exclusive use of students in the civil engineering program can accommodate 30students. In addition to the software available to the general college, the department has access to specialized software. Maintenance: Maintenance of the computer facilities is included as part of the general maintenance plan for the college. Updating or acquisition of new specialized civil engineering software is an ongoing process that is monitored by the department as new versions of programs become available.
Surveying
Laboratory Available equipment: The surveying lab maintains a large list of equipment which includes planimeters, rod levels, EDM, tripods, prisms, target poles, digital and regular theodolites, transits, auto levels, Leitz height finder, telescoping prism pole, function keyboard sf2, wide frame, wood and regular tripods, transits, steel tapes, power pack electronic distances meter, stereoscopes, parallax bars, range poles, Philadelphia rods, tension handles, chaining pin, rolla tape, and total stations. New equipment has been recently added. This includes automatic levels, digital theodilites, transits, tripods (wood/fiberglass), scale master II calculator, VHF radios, several drafting tables and rod verniers, etc. The lab covers the requirements of the laboratory portion of CIEN 201, Elementary Surveying every fall semester. Experiments include: • Closing
the horizon
Transportation
Laboratory Available Equipment: A cluster of personal computers, a server, a speed imaging system, and software for computational simulation and pavement design. The lab is used for general transportation research. Experiments include: • Fast
speed imaging of quick process
Hydraulics
Laboratory Available equipment: The major instrumentation in the Hydraulics Lab includes: Bernoulli theorem demonstration apparatus, fluid friction apparatus (friction and minor losses), flow over weir setup, flow through orifice demonstration setup and fluid properties and hydrostatic bench setup. This lab is primarily used for CIEN 323: Water Resources Engineering. Experiments include: • Bernoulli
apparatus (Bernoulli theorem demonstration experiment) |
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