The major and minor courses comprising a degree plan for a doctoral student will be determined by the student’s advisory committee. These plans will vary among students depending on their background and dissertation research topic. Possible Ph.D. program focus areas include geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, transportation systems management, air pollution control and atmospheric science, or water and wastewater engineering.
In addition to meeting the Lyle School of Engineering requirements for the Ph.D. degree, candidates are required to satisfy the following:

At least 54 credit hours of course work beyond the baccalaureate degree.
A minor of at least 12 credit hours providing breadth and support to the doctoral program.
Twenty-four credit hours of dissertation.

Civil engineers are engaged in planning, design, construction, maintenance and management of the infrastructure of modern society. They are responsible for the design of water-supply and wastewater treatment systems; transportation systems such as highways, railways, waterways, mass transit, airports, ports and harbors; dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric power plants; thermoelectric power plants; transmission and communication towers; high-rise buildings; and even aircraft and aerospace structures, shuttles and space stations. Every major structure critical to this country and global society depends on the work of civil engineers. The civil engineering program prepares graduates for professional and academic careers through a focus in the following areas: 1) construction management, 2) geomechanics and foundations, 3) structural analysis and design, 4) water and wastewater treatment, 5) surface and groundwater quality management, and 6) transportation planning.
Today, the environmental field is dynamic and wide-ranging, comprising many different disciplines and professional roles. Environmental engineering and science involve not only traditional water and wastewater management, but also the management of hazardous and radioactive materials, pollution prevention and waste minimization, innovative hazardous waste treatment and site remediation processes, environmental and occupational health, resource conservation and recovery, sustainable development of natural resources and air quality management, and air pollution control. In addition, modern manufacturing, both domestic and worldwide, is focusing on products fabricated from recycled and natural materials that are both competitive and harmlessly degraded in the environment. The trend toward global manufacturing will grow stronger in the years ahead. Environmental challenges presented by this movement must be overcome if the economic and lifestyle benefits of globalization are to be extended to all people of the world.
SMU’s environmental engineering program prepares graduates for professional and academic careers dealing with a broad spectrum of environmental issues: 1) atmospheric systems and air-pollution control, 2) environmental and occupational health, 3) environmental chemistry and biology, 4) environmental systems and process modeling, 5) hazardous and waste materials management, 6) solid-waste management, 7) surface and groundwater quality management, and 8) wastewater management.
All Ph.D. candidates will be required to complete and successfully defend a dissertation.