About Us
Sharon L. Wood
Department Chair
Welcome to the the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin! We are home to six research areas of study; those not-so-obvious in our department name are Construction Engineering and Project Management, Geotechnical Engineering, Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials, and Transportation Engineering.
Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering together and individually offer some of the most-exciting career opportunities of the 21st century. Many of the critical problems facing our country and the world are related to the need to address deteriorating infrastructure, the need to develop new kinds of infrastructure, and the need to build sustainable structures and systems. The world’s increasing need for energy and water, coupled with the need to minimize and control climate change, means that civil, architectural, and environmental engineers will be at the forefront of ensuring adequate food, water, and mobility for generations to come. Solving these critical problems means using state-of-the-art technologies to produce new materials, systems, and processes. The CAEE department is preparing future engineers to meet these challenges.
Our department offers our 1,200 plus students a variety of courses of study developed by our dedicated faculty with international reputations. Teaching is joined with creative, innovative research, as undergraduate and graduate students from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds work together to further their education and change the world. Our excellent administrative and technical staff support our faculty and students on campus, and parents, friends, and industry partners are also vital to our mission.
Our department, its programs, faculty, and students are one of the nation's best (see our rankings). In the last year alone, our faculty have won 24 national or international awards and our students have won 2 national awards. We consider our excellent students to be our greatest asset, and we are very proud of our graduates as they go on to successful and varied careers.
This website is for you, to learn more about us and to begin a relationship with us that could last a lifetime. (You may be interested in our undergraduate fact sheet or our graduate fact sheet.) I hope, whether as a student, an alum, a parent, an industry partner, or a friend, you will enjoy and benefit from your association with the UT-CAEE community.
Sharon L. Wood
Department Chair