Civil Engineering (Okanagan)

In Civil Engineering, you’ll build a solid foundation, from the ground up – from soil mechanics and foundation engineering, to the design of structures, roads and transportation networks, river and flood management systems, construction management and law, environmental engineering (water and wastewater networks and treatment plants, air pollution, and waste management), and municipal engineering.

This program is also offered at UBC's Vancouver Campus

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Program information

Campus: Okanagan
Faculty: School of Engineering
Degree: Bachelor of Applied Science (Engineering)

Length 4 yrs
Co-op Yes
You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
Honours No
You can study intense specialization in a single field.

Civil Engineering introduces you to the broad field of engineering that deals with the planning, construction, and maintenance of fixed structures and public works. Common civil engineering projects include buildings, plants, roads, water supply and sewer systems, and flood and traffic control. Civil engineers design structures and alter geography to suit human needs.

Specializations

Environmental Engineering Concentration
Resilient Infrastructure Management (RIM) Concentration

Consult with a School of Engineering Advisor about these Concentrations.

Experiential learning and research

In fourth year you can complete the Engineering Capstone Design Project, where you design a project – which can be multidisciplinary or in a specialized area of engineering – in response to an actual engineering problem. You will then submit a comprehensive project report and deliver a formal presentation. Through Engineering Co-operative Education, you can work in BC, across Canada, or around the world while gaining international insight and developing technical skills, industry networks, and mentoring opportunities with professionals. As an engineering student, you can apply for a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada undergraduate student research award, and gain valuable work experience while working with a faculty member on one of their research projects.

From Women in Engineering to Engineers Without Borders to the Concrete Toboggan Club, UBC’s Okanagan campus has engineering-focused student clubs and associations that will help you meet your peers, have fun, and find opportunities for career growth in the process.

Campus features

The engineering program on UBC’s Okanagan campus has superb new facilities for teaching and research, which include undergraduate laboratories for civil engineering courses and research labs for biological solutions, life-cycle management, and for the creation, testing, and analysis of environmental and infrastructure projects.

Engineering research facilities

What can you do with this major after graduation?

Your Civil Engineering career options

APSC 171 - Engineering Drawing and CAD/CAM
Orthographic projections, axonometric and perspective projections, dimensioning and tolerances, computer-aided design and modeling, introduction to rapid prototyping, team-based design project.
APSC 169 - Fundamentals of Sustainable Engineering Design
Theory and practice of sustainable engineering. Awareness and risk analysis of potential impacts on society and the environment over the lifecycle of engineering projects. Engineering design process, project lifecycle, and professional responsibility. Team-based design project.
APSC 172 - Engineering Analysis I
Functions, limits, differentiation, applications of derivatives, integration, applications of definite integrals.
APSC 178 - Electricity, Magnetism, and Waves
Coulomb's law, electric field, Gauss' law, electric potential, conductors, capacitance, electric currents, resistance, DC circuits, magnetic fields and forces, sources of magnetic fields, electromagnetic induction, mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves, light propagation, geometrical optics.
APSC 182 - Matter and Energy I
Thermometry, states of matter and phase change, ideal and real gases, 1st law of thermodynamics, 2nd law of thermodynamics, liquids, solutions, solid crystals, atomic structures and bonding.

APSC 246 - System Dynamics
Linear time invariant system, impulse response function, operator, convolution, system characterization, complex numbers, solution of linear ordinary differential equations, Laplace transform and its applications, transfer function, frequency response, solution to system of linear differential equations. Fourier series and transform.
APSC 254 - Instrumentation and Data Analysis
Data acquisition, sensors, instrumentation, measurement techniques and their limitations, experimental design, and data analysis; statistics, basic probability; application of statistics to data analysis.
APSC 256 - Numerical Methods for Analysis
Complex numbers, partial differential equations, Fourier series, and numerical methods. Engineering applications to the design and analysis of networks, structures, and hydraulic systems.
APSC 201 - Technical Communication
Written and oral communication in engineering. Report preparation, business correspondence, and oral presentation of technical material.

ENGR 330 - Optimization and Decision Analysis for Civil Engineering
Systems engineering, optimization, applied probability, and simulation for civil engineering infrastructure and the environment. Alternative goals, constraints, resource allocation, and multi-objective design.
ENGR 325 - Civil Engineering Materials
Structures and properties of common materials: aggregates, Portland cement, concrete, asphalt, timber, composites, and metals. Relationships between materials structures and mechanical properties.
ENGR 303 - Engineering Project Management
Project management including initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing engineering projects. Managing the scope, costs, schedule, risks, and human resources in engineering projects.
ENGR 342 - Open Channel Flow
Channel characteristics, flow classification, specific energy and momentum, uniform flow, critical flow, hydraulic jump, flow control structures, channel design, unsteady flow, contaminant transport.

ENGR 425 - Design of Steel and Timber Structures
Introduction to limit states design of steel and timber structures: material properties, design of tension and compression members, beams, columns, and connections.
ENGR 428 - Earthquake Engineering
Strong ground motion; single-degree-of-freedom systems; earthquake response of linear and inelastic systems; subspace iteration; multi-degree-of-freedom systems; earthquake response and design; building design consideration.
ENGR 413 - Law and Ethics for Engineers
The Canadian legal system. Companies, partnership, independent contractors. Contract documents, specifications, liability, torts and liens. Intellectual property. Agency; evidence; expert witnessing. Employment law. Engineer Act, Code of Ethics, APEGBC.
ENGR 440 - Foundation Engineering
Empirical and analytical approaches for foundation engineering. Topics include site investigation, lateral earth pressure, ground improvement, design of shallow and deep foundations, and retaining structures.

Your future

A UBC education will introduce you to people and ideas from around the world, open doors to new opportunities, and take you places you never imagined. You’ll graduate not only with expertise in your chosen field, but with the skills you need to continue growing, learning, and evolving with your career over time.

Program requirements

Canadian high schools
International high schools
International baccalaureate

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.

IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Applied Science (Engineering)

IB Math Analysis and Approaches SL or HL, or IB Math Applications and Interpretations HL. (IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, are not acceptable.)
IB Chemistry
IB Physics
Academically strong candidates missing either IB Chemistry or IB Physics may be evaluated on a case-by-case basis

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

Language Arts
Mathematics and Computation
Sciences