Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Geotechnical and Materials Engineering Graduate Program

The Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering offers an MS and PhD with an emphasis in geotechnical engineering or civil engineering materials.

Students interested in studying the utilization of soils, rocks, aggregates, concretes, bituminous materials, pavement systems, fly ash, and bulk solids will find a variety of opportunities in both course work and research. Learn more about what geotechnical and material engineers do.

Find out why you should choose our graduate program.

Program of Study

Individualized programs can be designed to specialize in geotechnical engineering, civil engineering materials, and environmental geotechnology. Graduates find employment in consulting firms, construction, government, teaching, and research.

Courses

For full course descriptions, see the ISU catalog.

  • CE 560. Foundations of Soil Mechanics
  • CE 561. Applied Foundation Engineering
  • CE 562. Site Evaluations for Civil Engineering Projects
  • CE 563x. Experimental Geotechnical Analysis
  • CE 564. Application of Numerical Methods to Geotechnical Design
  • CE 565. Fundamentals of Geomaterials Behavior
  • CE 567. Geomaterials Stabilization
  • CE 568x. Reliability Based Design in Geotechnical and Materials Engineering
  • CE 569. Environmental Geotechnology
  • CE 581. Geotechnical and Materials Engineering Seminar
  • CE 582. Advanced Pavement Analysis and Design
  • CE 586. Advanced Asphalt Materials
  • CE 587. Advanced Portland Cement Concretes

Degree Requirements

Research

Iowa State’s geotechnical faculty and research staff continue the legacy of cutting-edge research, investigating issues related to soil mechanics, geomaterials behavior and stabilization, in situ testing, and environmental geotechnology. Faculty in the materials area lead substantial research efforts in asphaltic materials, portland cement concrete, utilization of industrial co-products and recycled materials, and pavement systems. Many of their efforts are coordinated with industry, state and national sponsors.

Their specialized areas of interest also comprise soil-structure interaction, soil stabilization and compaction, rock mechanics, unsaturated soils, fly ash and waste products, micromorphology, geosynthetics, applications of numerical modeling techniques, and underground conduits.

Learn more about:

Centers and Labs

Geotechnical Engineering Labs

Get Paid to Learn

Research assistantships and teaching assistantships are available to qualified students to help offset the cost of graduate education. In addition, graduate scholarships and fellowships are available to highly qualified students.

For more information, see Financial Aid for CCEE Graduate Students.

Admission to Graduate Study

The Graduate Admissions Office handles all admissions to Iowa State graduate programs. Graduate information is available from the CCEE Admissions and Graduate College Web pages.

You may also contact the college by mail:

Graduate Admissions Office
100 Alumni Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-3232

Prerequisites

A Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering is the normal prerequisite for geotechnical and civil engineering materials programs.

Students from other curricula such as geology, agricultural engineering, construction engineering, chemical engineering, and material science and engineering may enter the program on a provisional basis with the stipulation they satisfy some civil engineering requirements. See specific prerequisites.

Learn More

For more information about the geotechnical and materials engineering graduate program, contact Chris Williams, rwilliam@iastate.edu , 515-294-4419.