Civil and Systems Engineering

More detailed requirements for students enrolling at JHU for Fall 2025 will be available on this page when the JHU e-Catalogue is published in early July.

Overview

Civil Engineering has traditionally been the engineering discipline responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the physical infrastructure that enables a society to meet the needs of its people. Systems Engineering is a growing discipline that uses data analytics and optimization to design solutions to complex problems involving connectivity among multiple variables. Johns Hopkins’ Department of Civil and Systems Engineering (CaSE) was borne out of an understanding that the physical infrastructure on which our society depends (e.g. transportation, shelter, healthcare, energy, water) is increasingly interconnected, and that we need to be able to model these complex systems – considering environmental, social, and economic objectives and constraints – in order to successfully engineer solutions to the grand challenges we face, including:

Our curriculum is designed to prepare graduates with the knowledge and skills necessary to tackle these highly interdisciplinary societal challenges. In addition to fundamental coursework in science, mathematics, and engineering, as a student majoring in Civil or Systems Engineering, you will learn about the human side of civilizations, putting into context the needs of society and the tools engineers have historically used and currently use to meet those needs. You will learn how to design new structures, and how to design and manufacture new materials optimized for a particular application–like space!–and you will learn how to create mathematical models to approximate the behavior of a physical system – whether that be an infrastructure system (e.g. energy, water, transportation) or a healthcare system.

Programs

We offer a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Systems Engineering. We also offer minors in both disciplines.

Research

Nearly 100% of our undergraduate students participate in research by the time they graduate–that is the benefit of a small program. Students have the option of doing research in the fields of mechanics, structures, or systems, and no matter the field, they have the opportunity to work side-by-side with faculty and graduate students.

Recently, our students have done research with Professors Michael Shields, Ben Schafer, and Rachel Sangree to understand the vulnerability of U.S. bridges in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, with Professor Lauren Gardner to measure transit accessibility in cities through data analysis, and with Professor Tak Igusa to optimize an ongoing multi-facility program to improve maternal and newborn health in Kenya.

After Graduation

Students pursue a breadth of opportunities after graduation – most students pursue careers in engineering consulting or construction, with many students earning their master’s degrees immediately after earning their BS degrees. Some students go on for PhDs in Civil or Systems Engineering. Other students decide to do something completely different–e.g. medical school, law school, dental school, or pursue careers in finance, real estate, or the military.

Activities

Most students in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering–whether Civil Engineering majors or Systems Engineering majors – are members of the JHU Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The ASCE Student Chapter organizes teams for annual intercollegiate competitions such as Sustainable Solutions and Steel Bridge. The student chapter also organizes monthly meetings with guest speakers, social activities such as barbecues, and networking opportunities with the Maryland Section of ASCE at the Engineers Club in Mount Vernon.