 Public
Works Engineering & Management
Public works infrastructure management is multidisciplinary and includes
all aspects of civil engineering like construction, structures, water resources,
transportation, materials, geo-technical, surveying, coastal, waste management
and facility planning & management.
Vision Statement
Establish and maintain nationally and internationally renowned
research and graduate programs in public works engineering
and management.
Goals:
- Enhance the graduate program and have more flexibility in course selections
to meet the future needs of graduate students in military,
public works agencies and international communities.
- Attract the undergraduate
students to the PWEM graduate program.
- Improve the existing
undergraduate course and develop new relevant under graduate
courses.
- Continue to improve the Ph.D.
program to meet the needs of nation and international communities.
- Add one more faculty to the program to create balance between teaching
(including FEEDS) and research.
- Develop an International Public
Works Center to focus on graduate teaching, research and implementing
a
new technology transfer program to
meet the needs of national and international communities.
- Develop short courses to meet the needs of state, national and international.
- Continually
update and improve graduate and undergraduate course contents
to current problems in Civil
and Coastal Engineering.
- Increase quality and quantity
of graduate students.
- Develop Internet based courses and expand
course offerings on FEEDS.
- Improve the overall PWEM curriculum
by obtaining input from an external advisory committee.
Undergraduate
Program
Problem/ Need: The existing undergraduate public works courses need to
be web-based, and students need to be exposed to research.
Objective: Develop web-based undergraduate courses.
Plan: Contact the UF Faculty Resource Center and the college of Engineering
Outreach Program. Exchange ideas and obtain input to determine what resources
are needed to develop web-based undergraduate courses.
Graduate Program
Problem/ Need: The existing graduate program needs to
be revised to meet the current demands of the profession. This
will require the development
of some new courses. Recent trends in graduate education suggest
that a web-based MS program in PWEM is a viable alternative.
Objective: Revise the existing curriculum and develop new courses to meet
current demands of the profession, and offer a web-based MS Program in PWEM.
Plan: Set up an external advisory committee to review the PWEM curriculum
and make suggestions pertaining to course content and provide input for
development of new courses. This committee would consist of representatives
from such agencies as the U.S. Armed Services, USDOT, World Bank, APWA etc.
Research
Strengths/ Needs/ Opportunities: Public works infrastructure management
is multidisciplinary and includes all aspects of civil engineering
(e.g. construction, structures, transportation, materials, geotechnical,
surveying,
coastal, water resources, waste management and facility management).
Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the public works infrastructure,
there
are many opportunities for inter-displinary research with public
works and the other CCE areas. Some such possible research collaborations
include
safety of public workers during highway reconstruction and
maintenance, alternative construction methods and techniques to expedite
reconstruction,
management of traffic during highway projects, performance
based QA/QC tests, strategies to minimize construction delays, development
implementation
and evaluation of performance based specifications for highway
construction
and workforce training and development.
Contact Information
Dr. Fazil T. Najafi, Ph.D., Professor
Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering
345 Weil Hall, P.O.Box 116580
Gainesville, FL 32611 – 6580
Office: (352) 392 1033
Fax : (352) 392 3394
Email: fnaja@ce.ufl.edu
WebPage: http://plaza.ufl.edu/fnaja
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