What is Environmental Engineering?

Environmental engineering is the sister field of civil engineering and involves integrating engineering principles and science to improve natural environment and to protect it while providing potable water, clean air and sustainable life for humans and other organisms. Another crucial task tackled by environmental engineering is that of cleaning up polluted areas/sites. It also deals with tackling issues that are being faced by public.

Environmental Engineering Sub Disciplines

Environmental engineering has been divided into a number of sub-disciplines which are as follows;

Waste water management
Air Pollution Control
Recycling
Solid Waste Management
Radiation Protection
Industrial Hygiene
Industrial Sustainability
Public Health Issues
Water Supply and Treatment

Top Environmental Engineering Universities

The top three ranked universities when it comes to Environmental Engineering are as follows;

University of California, Berkley
Stanford University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Environmental Engineering Associations

There are a myriad of associations pertaining to Environmental engineering but we shall list only three;

AAEES
AEESP
EPA

Being an Environmental Engineer

Being an environmental engineer implies that you are passionate about Earth, environment and want to play your part in making it a better place. As an environmental engineer, you will be dealing with the impact that technological advancement is imparting on the environment by conducting a number of waste management studies to gain insight into environmental hazards and their significance. You will be required to draft regulations to prevent health hazards posing a threat to public life and to eliminate the chance of any mishap. It is also the duty of environmental engineers to look into municipal water supply and waste water treatment systems, whilst improving and optimizing them.