Funded by a $700,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the program will cover tuition for 14 master’s degree students over three years.
The first seven students will begin this fall. “We are preparing a generation of engineers ho will examine the nation’s infrastructure throughout its life, from the planning stagesthrough design, construction, operation, maintenance and rehabilitation,” said Ron Andrus, associate professor of engineering at Clemson and principal investigator on the project. Andrus also wrote in his abstract about the need for a “paradigm shift to look holistically at the nation’s infrastructure throughout its life.”
Unlike traditional civil engineering programs, Clemson officials said, the new program will involve interdisciplinary coursework and internships with external partners to help students focus on broader issues involving the nation’s infrastructure problems, from aging roads and bridges to water supplies and power grids.
“The department of civil engineering recently has adopted resilient and sustainable infrastructure as a research and educational focus, and I believe this was instrumental in securing the grant from NSF,” said Nadim M. Aziz, department chairman.
The students will work in interdisciplinary teams, gain experience with businesses in the field and learn to communicate their ideas to technical and nontechnical audiences. External partners will include national laboratories, international engineering firms, state and local government agencies, and nonprofit and professional organizations.
“By working in project teams and through extensive interaction with our external partners, these students will gain expertise that will allow them to contribute immediately to the workforce in a critical area of the nation’s economy,”
A shot of the Springfield Interchange, also
as the Mixing Bowl, in Northern Virginia.
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