Internet Resource

Guide
A Collection of Online Resources
Penn State Civil Engineering Majors
Ayodeji Battles-Williams
February 12, 2015

Table of Contents
Preface 3
Organization... 3
Audience

Assumptions... 3
Internet Resource #1..

Internet Resource #2..

Internet Resource #3..

Internet Resource #4..

Professional Paper.. 9
Statistical Abstract.

10

Internet Resource #5..

11

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.....

12

Index of Periodical Literature........

13

Preface:
Contained in this guide is information and resources related to information for
undergraduate civil engineering. This guide is aimed for underclassmen engineering
students interested in studying civil engineering. This guide does not require any prior
information in the field of civil engineering. The resources in this guide will serve as a
foundation for students who would like to know what civil engineers do and the many
different focuses in civil engineering. These resources will provide information that is
designed to further interest students into the fields of civil engineering that consist of
structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, water resource engineering,
construction management engineering and environmental engineering. Additionally, this
guide provides Internet resources that reveal further future advances in the field.
Organization:
This guide is designed to originally provide resources that inform the audience of civil
engineering. Once the audience becomes familiar and gains an understanding about civil
engineering, the guide provides resources on information about the five focuses under the
umbrella of civil engineering which are: construction management, structural, water
resources, environmental, and geotechnical engineering. The resources in this guide was
organized by first providing a window within the Department of Civil Engineering by
providing potential organizations for students to join and make possible life-long bonds
and in general pull off the mysterious veil from the civil engineering major. Afterwards,
the guide will thoroughly introduce the audience to the five focuses within the civil
engineering major that were briefly listed in the first provided resource. These five
resources each focus on one civil engineering branch and provide detailed introductory
information on these branches. The next step in this resource guide will be to provide
additional enticing information on the field of civil engineering like potential salary
earnings, inspiring stories of how civil engineers have changed the world, and potential
future advances within the major.
Audience:
The resources in this guide are designed for underclassmen engineering students
interested in choosing civil engineering as a major and potential career. The resources in
this guide will provide useful information to guide underclassmen engineering students to
the major of civil engineering by describing the types of projects, salary, and processes
used to complete the projects in the field of civil engineering.
Assumptions:
In the creation of this Internet Resource Guide, A Collection of Online Resources for
Penn State Civil Engineering Majors, the audience was assumed to have no prior
knowledge of the field of civil engineering. This guide was designed to gradually peak
the interests of its audience by providing foundational knowledge of civil engineering to
them.

Internet Resource #1: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Location: http://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/undergraduate.html
Abstract: This website provides a wide variety of information from a very brief overview
of civil engineering at Penn State. This website gives the audience a
description of all the different focuses with the civil engineering major at Penn
State. This website describes the different projects that civil engineers of all the
different focuses that are as follows: water resources, structures,
environmental, geotechnical, and transportation. Additionally this website
contains information on study abroad, scholarships, civil engineering
organizations, course list, job placement, and even a list of faculty and
administration including a picture. This website provides a ton of information
for students on the major of civil engineering at Penn State. This information is
more suited for students who have no prior understanding than the average
freshman enrolled in the Penn State College of Engineering for this
information is not as in-depth as the other websites in the resource guide. After
reviewing this link, the audience ideally should be able to review the other
Internet resources to gain more information. This information would better suit
to persuade the audience who is already leaning to a career in civil engineering.
Since this Internet site contains resources on scholarships, honor societies,
fraternities, internships, full-time employment, and other great information for
only civil engineering majors, it is a great initial resource for students who
have a slight interest or more in civil engineering. This resource serves as a
great foundation because it provides a window to the audience of the Penn
State Department of Civil Engineering, which can either fuel or extinguish
students interests in civil engineering.
Tips:

To view information on scholarships, review the panel to the left of the

website until you notice the Aid & Scholarship link. Click Aid &
Scholarship.
To view overview information on the civil engineering courses, review the
panel to the left of the website until you notice the Courses link. Click
Courses.
To view information on when to take each civil engineering course, review
the panel to the left of the website until you notice the Student Handbook
link. Click Student Handbook. Clicking this link will automatically
download a PDF version of this course list.
To view a list of the civil engineering, student organization, honor societies,
and fraternities at Penn State, review the panel to the left of the website until
you notice the Student Organizations link. Click Student Organizations.
To view information on job placement and useful tips to abide by while
searching for a job, review the panel to the left of the website until you
notice the Job Placement link. Click Job Placement.

To view information about the current faculty and College of Engineering

administration, review the panel to the left of the website until you notice
the Faculty-Staff Directory link. Click Faculty-Staff Directory.

Internet Site #2: What is Geotechnical Engineering?

Location: http://www.whatisgeotech.org/
Abstract: This site provides brief information on what geotechnical engineering is and the
types of the projects that geotechnical engineers would work on. This site also
provides links to additional information for each type of geotechnical
engineering projects, and directs the audience to geotechnical engineering
organizations to support the audience in networking with geotechnical
professionals who the audience might be working with in the future. This site is
designed in an amazing way to attract the attention of high school and college
students with great pictures of geotechnical projects. The design of the site is
very interactive as to not wear down the audience with information, but still
informs the audience with a brief overview of information.
Tips:

To uncover the definition of geotechnical engineering, click the What is

Geotechnical Engineering?
To uncover any of the information on a specific geotechnical engineering
project, like dams, click the picture of the dam. This will reveal some basic
knowledge and provide links for more researching.
To reveal the list of geotechnical engineering organizations, click the link
that states Geotechnical Societies.

Internet Site #3: Water Resources Systems, Planning, and Management

Location:_https://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2804/21/00_intro.pdf
Abstract: This online site is the web version of a book titled Water Resources Systems,
Planning, and Management An Introduction to Methods, Models, and
Applications. This site contains information on the job responsibilities of water
resource engineers, the importance of their jobs on the civilized world, and the
possible projects water resource engineers participate in. This site would be
great for high school students and underclassmen college students who are
interested in studying Civil Engineering, but still intrigued as to what focus in
Civil Engineering they would like to pursue as a potential career. Water
resources is a branch of civil engineering where the primary focus is to control
the flow and directional of bodies of all shapes and sizes. As described in the
link, water resource engineers can design the flows of rain water draining off a
parking lot into a nearby storm drain, or design the flow of water leaving the
Hoover Dam, that is designed to generate electricity and allow the soil to be
cultivated to produce crops. These are just a few of the small and large scale
projects that are managed by water resource engineers.

Internet Site #4: Conceptual Structure Design: Bridging the Gap Between Architects
and Engineers
Location:_https://books.google.com/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=8H2q0KUZeOsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=related:pETeGWQ6j
-EJ:scholar.google.com/&ots=NXKIg9I2l&sig=X4B2dtWfaErcuCnRZH9J2RnGURc#v=onepage&q&f=false
Abstract: This onsite site is titled Conceptual Structure Design: Bridging the Gap
Between Architects and Engineers, and is the web version of the book. This site
contains an introductory overview on the branch of civil engineering known as
structural engineering. This site provides an in-depth description about the
project and structures that structural engineers design and build. The site goes
through the processes of how an engineer would design a structure, and the
types of structures that they are responsible for. For example, the site lists the
primitive structures, and the typical designs of stadiums, bridges, buildings,
offices, and eventually all structures have evolved to promote a more modern
way of living. This site is a great use for underclassmen college students who
are interested in civil engineering but are unsure of what area to focus their
remaining years of college studying. This site explains many of the older
structures that were built by civil engineers, which could attract such young
students. Consequently this site goes so in-depth into the design processes that
it may provide more information than necessary. The site could go further into
information that may not be understandable to the target audience. The site
would do better by providing some typical corporations that would hire
structural engineers to work on civil engineering projects. The site would also
fare well to go into detail about the information a structural engineer would
make compared to jobs in the other civil engineering focuses.

Professional Paper: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

Reference: Riggs, L. (1988). Educating Construction Managers. J. Constr. Eng.
Manage., 114(2), 279285.
Location: http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(1988)114:2(279)
Abstract: In this professional journal on Construction Engineering the definition, history,
and strategies for successful navigation of the professional field are provided.
This paper gives vast information on the field of Construction Engineering,
which is a branch of Civil Engineering. This paper describes the connection
between the concepts and theories taught in a college setting compared to the
concepts that are actually needed to survive and even thrive in as a construction
manager. The strength of this paper includes a very in-depth summary of the
purpose, importance, and abundance of job opportunities within Construction
Engineering, which would be very helpful for students who are interested in
pursing a career in Civil Engineering. The weaknesses that also accompany this
paper is that it may go too in-depth within the field of Construction
Engineering and lose the target audience. This paper also doesnt provide
simple statistics on the employment of construction managers. For example, an
average salary for a construction manager is not listed as well as the interesting
projects that construction managers oversee.
Tips:

To download the PDF version of this file, located on the right is a link that
will guide the audience to another where this paper can be downloaded for
no charge.

Statistical Abstract: Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management

Location: http://proquest.libguides.com/espm
Abstract: The reference tool, Statistical Abstract of the United States, is an amazing
online database where searching a subject will provide a list of subjects within
the database. By clicking on the subject title that closely relates to your subject
will gain the audience access to general, overview information, subject
coverage, different publication types, deep indexing, webinars, recordings,
videos, policies, and the last title list and publication coverage. The
Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management statistical abstract is a
great resource for students interested in study the environmental engineering
branch of civil engineering. Students with no prior knowledge of this subject
can go through all of the links to find the information that they need. This
reference tools provides a wealth knowledge that begins with the history of the
subject and even provides the numerous sub branches with the subject of
environmental sciences and pollution management.
Tips:

To review a list of the sub branches, locate the panel heading Subject
Coverage and directly underneath Subject Coverage are the sub
branches.
To watch the webinars and videos on environmental sciences and pollution
management, both panels containing this are located on right.

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Internet Sites #5: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Location:_http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/civil-engineers.htm
Abstract: This website consists of a lot of general information that could grasp the
attention and lead students of all ages to want to learn more about civil
engineering and hopefully pursue a career in the field. This website lists
interesting information like the median annual and hourly wage for a civil
engineer as well as the structures that civil engineers are responsible for and
job outlook for these professionals. This information will be important for
students looking for a potential career to pursue. This is because most students
want a high paying job and want to pursue a degree with which they can easily
locate an open position and where positions are available in plenty. Also, the
website lists that civil engineers design, construct, supervise, operate, and
maintain large construction projects and systems including roads, buildings,
airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and systems for water supply and sewage
treatment, which is interesting because these are enormous structures that
people use everyday.
Tips:

To find more information about the subject heading like Job Outlook click
the blue subject heading to compare to other careers
Towards the bottom right of the site there is a blue link which displays the
text What They Do and this will go in further detail in each of the subject
headings listed on the original site. For instance, the first subject heading
that comes up after clicking this link is the duties of civil engineers. If you
want to go back to the original site, you can link the blue text, located on the
bottom left of the site, that states Summary or to go forward to reach more
subject headings to gather more information you can click the blue text,
located on the bottom right of the site, that states, Work Environment for
more information on the work environment of civil engineers or to just
reach the other subject headings like How to become a Civil Engineer,
Pay, Job Outlook, etc.
Take a few minutes to browse through this information on each subject of
civil engineering. This information is a great tool to grasp a vague boundary
on the statistics of civil engineers.

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Catalog of U.S. Government Publications: Create a World of Difference With a

Career in Civil Engineering
Reference: "Create a World of Difference - with a Career in Civil Engineering." United
State Army Corps of Engineers. Dept. of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, 25 May 1993. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
Location:_http://catalog.gpo.gov/F/419NRE7P6PQSBYXNRFKQRERK58EICNV26NP
1P7CTKE11H8LBMG-13409?func=full-setset&set_number=433672&set_entry=000032&format=999
Abstract: This report, titled Create a World of Difference With a Career in Civil
Engineering, was located by searching the Catalog of U.S. Government
Publications. To locate the report on the catalog, on the headline at the top
homepage is a link reading Search the CGP. Clicking this link will open a
search bar. In the search bar, search Civil Engineer, which will list 481
records. The report is identified at the 32nd record, which is listed on page four.
To jump to the 32nd record, directly above the list of records there is a search
bar. In the search bar, write 32 and click the Jump to # link. This report
consists of great inspiration and interesting information about the career a civil
engineer can experience while employed with the United States Army Corps of
Engineers. A few examples of the type of amazing projects that a civil engineer
can experience while working for the United States Army Corps of Engineers
are, but not limited to, controlling the flows of rivers, such as the Mississippi
River, performing structural and foundational designs, performing
environmental enhancement and restoration, performing large-scale
construction management, and even conducting advanced engineering research
and development. A current employee, Wipawi Vanadit-Ellis, provides her
detailed employment experience with the United States Army Corps of
Engineers and describes how obtaining an entry-level career at the United
States Army Corps of Engineering can be especially rewarding by allowing
young civil engineers to apply their talents immediately to nearly any facet of
civil engineering while providing many opportunities for continuing
education, professional growth and advancement. Create a World of Difference
With a Career in Civil Engineering is just one of many informations
abundant reports located on the catalog.

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Index of Periodical Literature: Advances in Civil Engineering

Location: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ace/2014/483729/
Abstract: This periodical literature consists of new technology that will be better the field
of civil engineering. This article provides an overview of state-of-the-art
mobile imaging and computing (MIC) system for performing accurate
assessments for civil engineering structures. This new technology was consists
of on-site and real-time imaging. This article explains how optical imaging is
used to aid and perfect the technique in civil engineering for detecting,
analyzing, and calculating faults in civil engineering structures. Although this
new technology is very useful, it is also limited. The limitations are observed
when applying optical imaging in the field. The limitations are as follows;
starting with the most significant limitation is the lack of computing and
processing capability in real time. This limitation is a major current issue, but
with the advancement of mobile imaging there is a promising opportunity to
correct this limitation. This system also includes advanced mobile technologies
that are context-enable image collection, interactive image preprocessing, and
real-time image analysis and analytics. This paper also includes that the
performance of this technology has improved sustainably through field
experiments and defines the feasibility and efficiency of the system. This
literature serves as an example that the field of civil engineering is not at a
stand still and will continue to develop and broaden as technology becomes
more advanced. This literature will serve as a great resource for students who
have a solid foundation of the current projects and technologies civil engineers
use because those students will be more able to appreciate the technological
advancements in this literature.

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