Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering involves the planning, design and management of the natural environment.
What is Environmental Engineering?
Environmental engineers require an understanding of the complexity and variability of natural systems, and the way these interact with the built environment. They focus on land and water engineering, examining issues such as land use and management, salinity, water resources management, water quality and soil rehabilitation and create sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. Environmental engineers regularly work with biologists, ecologists and resource managers in order to solve problems related to ecologically sustainable development.
What You Study
Environmental engineering students learn from staff active in research areas such as hydrology, irrigation and water management. The course has a strong focus on sustainability and project management. Guest lectures and seminars by industry professionals are available to students, along with community project work and site visits that combine theory with practice. Environmental engineering is a rapidly growing field and qualified environmental engineers are in demand.
Career Outcomes
The need for qualified environmental engineers has never been greater. New kinds of jobs are being developed in environmental areas such as bushfire protection, carbon management, climate change and sustainable systems. Career opportunities exist in consulting firms, conservation and natural resource management agencies, environmental protection agencies, catchment management authorities, local, state and federal government and mining companies. Environmental engineering graduates may find work with companies such as GHD, Golder Associates or Alluvium.
How to Become a Environmental Engineer
Step 1: Physical Systems
The Physical Systems major may be taken as a part of either of the following degrees. You can find out more about the degree on the following website:
Please note, Bachelor of Science students with any engineering major, who wish to switch their specialisation to environmental engineering, may be eligible to do so and should consult with the Academic Program Coordinator.
Bachelor of Commerce students may choose the Physical Systems sequence, and study between eight and ten engineering subjects as the breadth component of their degree. You can find out more about the degree on the following website:
Duration
300 credit points / 3 years full-time
Fees
Domestic Students
Commonwealth Supported Places: Fees per 100 credit points (depending on subjects taken) $4547–$7262 (with 10% up-front discount)
Commonwealth Supported Places are guaranteed until 2019 for the duration of the undergraduate degree and Master of Engineering course.
International Students
Typical yearly fee range per 100 credit points (depending on subjects taken) $28,788–$33,004
For more information please refer to the Fees page on the University’s Future Students website.
Course Structure
Sample Course Plan — Bachelor of Environments (Physical Systems)
This example is provided as a guide only. Subject availability will vary from year to year and there is no guarantee that the listed subjects will be available in future years. This information is for students with VCE Units 3 and 4 Specialist Mathematics.| Year 1 | Semester 1 | Reshaping Environments | Constructing Environments | Environments elective | Calculus 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Semester 2 | Natural Environments | Environments elective | Environments elective | Linear Algebra |
| Year 2 | Semester 1 | Engineering Mathematics | Engineering Mechanics | Environments elective | Breadth |
| Year 2 | Semester 2 | Engineering Materials | Earth Processes for Engineering | Environments elective | Breadth |
| Year 3 | Semester 1 | Risk Analysis | Fluid Mechanics | Environments major elective | Breadth subject or Environments elective |
| Year 3 | Semester 2 | Systems Modelling & Design | Environments elective | Environments major elective | Breadth subject or Environments elective |
Step 2: Master of Engineering (Environmental)
Graduates with a Physical Systems major (with a 65% average) are eligible for a two-year Master of Engineering (Environmental).
Find out more about the Master of Engineering (Environmental)
| Year 4 | Semester 1 | Quantitative Environmental Modelling | Engineering Site Characterisation | Sustainable Infrastructure Systems | Elective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 4 | Semester 2 | Engineering Project Implementation | Civil Hydraulics | Environmental Analysis Tools | Monitoring Environmental Impacts |
| Year 5 | Semester 1 | Integrated Design | Research Project | Elective | Elective |
| Year 5 | Semester 2 | Elective | Elective |
| Physical Systems subjects | Electives | Breadth subjects |
Make an Enquiry
Please call or email Eastern Precinct Student Centre:
13 MELB (13 6352)
+61 3 9035 5511 (overseas)
Apply Now
Engineering Study Guide
Download Engineering Study Guide [PDF 2.9MB]
Lisa Lowe
Environmental Engineering graduate, Lisa Lowe, won Engineers Australia’s Victorian Young Engineer of the Year award in 2010, for her outstanding work in the area of water accounting.
She completed her undergraduate studies in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Science in 2000. She then completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Environment and embarked on a PhD in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. During this time, Lisa was granted an internship at the United Nations in New York, where she worked with the global water accounting team. She is now a senior hydrologist in the Surface Water team at Sinclair Knight Merz and works on groundbreaking projects such as a water accounting report for the Murray-Darling Basin.
I really enjoy the diversity of work that you can do. I also like the direct application of it, where I see that I do something and immediately it’s being used by government or a by a water authority to make a decision or to change what they are doing. I get a great deal out of that experience.