Environmental Systems Engineering Program
2024-25 Environmental Systems Engineering UG Major
The Environmental Systems Engineering major prepares students to incorporate environmentally sustainable design, strategies and practices into natural and built systems and infrastructure, ranging from buildings and energy systems to water resources and coastal regions.
Courses in the program are multidisciplinary in nature, combining math/science/engineering fundamentals, and tools and skills considered essential for an engineer, along with a choice of one of four focus areas for more in-depth study: sustainable coastal systems, sustainable energy systems, sustainable freshwater systems, or sustainable urban systems. This major offers somewhat more flexibility in the curriculum than the Civil Engineering degree program, and requires fewer units. The program of study, which includes a capstone experience, aims to equip engineering students to take on the complex challenges of the twenty-first century involving natural and built environments, in consulting and industry as well as in graduate school.
The Curriculum
The undergraduate Environmental Systems Engineering major provides the math, science, engineering fundamentals, and tools and skills considered essential for an engineer, along with a choice of 4 focus areas for more in-depth study, including a capstone experience. Focus areas are:
- Sustainable Coastal Systems: Focuses on the impacts of urban areas on coastal waters, and vice versa. Study areas include coastal engineering, biological and chemical processes and contaminants in the marine environment, and issues in coastal planning and policy.
- Sustainable Energy Systems: Focus is on designing renewable energy systems to address urban area challenges. Courses range from optimization of renewable energy systems to the impacts of energy use on climate and urban air pollutants.
- Sustainable Freshwater Systems: Focus is on incorporating sustainability into the design, management, and protection of water supply systems. Areas include water resources, water treatment processes, aquatic chemistry/biology, and design principles for urban waterways.
- Sustainable Urban Systems: Focuses on sustainability in the constructed urban environment, ranging from building-scale to urban-scale issues. Considerations include sustainable design and construction practices, building energy, urban infrastructure, and sustainable cities.
Those undergraduates potentially interested in the Environmental Systems Engineering major should examine the Civil Engineering major as a possible alternative; a comparison of these two majors is presented below.
Exploring Environmental Systems Engineering through Courses
- ENGR 14 (req'd Eng Fund; 3u)
- CEE 70 (req'd for Coastal and Freshwater; breadth elective for other focus areas; 3u)
- CEE 107A (req'd for Energy; breadth elective for other focus areas; 3-5u;)
- CEE162F (req'd for Coastal; breadth elective for other focus areas; 3u)
- CEE176A (req'd for Urban; focus elective for Energy; breadth elective for other focus areas; 3-4u)
For more information on the Environmental Systems Engineering major, please contact Jill Filice in Room 316 of the Yang and Yamazaki Environment & Energy (Y2E2) building.
A Comparison: Environmental Systems Engineering vs. Civil Engineering
Students interested in the area of civil and environmental engineering should be aware of the following differences between choosing this Environmental Systems Engineering major versus the Civil Engineering major:
Professional Considerations: The Civil Engineering degree is ABET-accredited, while the Environmental Systems Engineering major is not. A degree accredited by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is a first step toward a professional engineering license. In California, you must accrue 6 years of work experience under the supervision of a licensed professional engineer before being allowed to take the licensing exam. An ABET-accredited B.S. degree counts as 4 years of this required work experience. Earning a M.S. degree from a department that offers an ABET-accredited B.S. degree will give you credit for a total of 5 years of work experience in California, regardless of whether or not your B.S. degree is ABET-accredited.
→ If you envision a career providing, supervising or managing professional engineering services (e.g. engineering investigations, design) , you will likely need to become a licensed professional engineer and should aim, via your chosen B.S. and/or M.S. (coterm) degrees, to earn ABET credit for 4-5 years of work experience.
Pragmatic Considerations: The Civil Engineering major provides a structured curriculum that ensures breadth across different areas specified by ABET. The Environmental Systems Engineering major requires fewer units, offers more flexibility in choosing courses, and provides greater ability to focus on a specific topic area.
Research Experience For Undergraduates
The department of Civil and Environmental Engineering welcomes student participation in the VPUE undergraduate research programs. Interested students should check the VPUE website and the CEE website for announcements regarding the application procedures. Program announcements typically appear in January with application due dates in February.
Links to ENVSE planning tools:
ENVSE 4-Year Plans/Flowchart
ENVSE 4-Year Plans for Going Abroad
Requirements: Major in Environmental Systems Engineering
Find current major requirements for this and all other School of Engineering major programs at Explore Degrees
ENVSE Coterm Information
Dept | Application Deadlines | Contact | Informational Website |
Civil & Environmental Engineering | 3rd Friday of Winter quarter | Jill Filice | cee.stanford.edu |
Instruction For Declaring Major in Environmental Systems Engineering
- Enter your major declaration as Environmental Systems Engineering in Axess
- Download your Stanford transcript (unofficial is fine) from Axess.
- Download and complete the Excel version of the major Program Sheet. Be sure and list all courses already taken and those you plan to take -- you will have the opportunity to revise this later, so please fill in as many courses as you can. Specify which Focus area you are using.
- Email your transcript and completed program sheet to the CEE Student Services Specialist, Jill Filice and request to have an EnvSE advisor assigned to you. You may request a specific advisor if you wish.
- Meet with your Environmental Systems Engineering undergraduate advisor and have them review and sign your program sheet.
- Email your signed program sheet to the CEE Student Services Specialist, who upon receiving your signed sheet will approve your major declaration in Axess.
- You are encouraged to meet with your ENVSE undergraduate adviser at least once a quarter to review your academic progress. Changes to your program sheet can be made by printing out a revised sheet, obtaining your undergraduate adviser’s signature on a revised program sheet, and emailing the sheet to the CEE Student Services Specialist. NOTE – It is very important to confirm that your program sheet is up to date at least 1 quarter prior to graduation
- Other information:
- Procedures for requesting transfer credits and program deviations are described in detail on the Transfers-AP-Exceptions page.
- If you are requesting transfer credits or program deviations, email copies of your completed petition forms, along with your transcript and program sheet, to the CEE Student Services Specialist, at least one quarter before your graduation quarter. Check with the CEE Student Services Specialist to make sure that you are on the CEE UG student email list for important announcements about department events and activities