Civil engineer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses. Over time, various branches of engineering have become recognized as distinct from civil engineering, including chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering, while much of military engineering has been absorbed by civil engineering.
In most countries, a civil engineer has graduated from a post-secondary school with a degree in civil engineering, which requires a strong background in mathematics and the physical sciences; this degree is typically a four-year degree, though many civil engineers continue on to obtain additional degrees. In many countries, civil engineers are subject to licensure, and often, persons not licensed may not call themselves "civil engineers".
In the United States, most civil engineers practice in particular specialties of civil engineering, such as geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, transportation engineering, hydraulic engineering, or environmental engineering. Civil engineers are typically employed by municipalities, construction firms, or consulting engineering firms.
In some places, a civil engineer may perform land surveying; in others, surveying is limited to construction surveying, unless an additional qualification is obtained.
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[edit] Civil engineering in European countries
[edit] Belgian civil engineers
In Belgium, civil engineer (abbreviated ir.) (burgerlijk ingenieur in Dutch)is a legally protected title applicable to graduates of the five-year engineering course of an university or the Royal Military Academy. Their speciality can be all fields of engineering: civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, chemical. This use of the title may cause confusion to the English speaker as the Belgian "civil" engineer can have a speciality other than civil engineering.
The formation of the civil engineer has a strong mathematical and scientifical base and is more theoretical in approach than the practical oriented industrial engineer (ing.) educated in a four-year program at a polytechnic. Traditionally, students were required to pass an entrance exam on mathematics to start civil engineering studies. This exam was abolished in 2004 for the Flemish Community, but is still organised in the French Community.
[edit] Scandinavian civil engineers
In Scandinavian countries, some Master of Science degrees are called civil engineer (civilingenjör (Swedish), sivilingeniør (Norwegian)), civilingeniør (Danish). That is if they have their graduation, or "diploma", from an institute of technology. The word has its origin from one of the English meaning of 'civil engineer' [1] (compare [2]);
- an engineer whose training or occupation is in the design and construction especially of public works (as roads or harbors).
Although the English language meaning is very narrow, during the middle of 19th century (before [3] 1874), its Swedish interpretation also became "a person graduated from institute of technology", and now the profession represents all fields within engineering professions, like civil engineering, computer science, electronics engineering, etc. However, it might also mean only the civil engineering topic.
Although a 'college engineer' (högskoleingenjör, diplomingenjör/mellaningenjör (Swedish), ingeniør (Norwegian), diplomingeniør (Danish)) represents a Bachelor of Science in Scandinavia, to become a 'civil engineer', one has to almost re-start the education from zero and it will take a half up to one year extra compared to B.Sc./M.Sc. studies. This is because the higher educational system is not fully adopted to the international standard graduation system, since, at least in Sweden, it is treated as a professional degree. A Scandinavian "civilingenjör" will in international contexts commonly call itself "Master of Science in engineering" and will occasionally wear an engineering class ring possibly inspired by the Canadian iron ring.
[edit] Spanish civil engineers
In Spain, a civil engineering degree is obtained after six years of study in the various branches of mathematics, physics, mechanics, etc. The official title of Civil Engineers in Spain, Ingeniero de Caminos, Canales y Puertos (often shortened to Ingeniero de Caminos) literaly means Engineer of Roads, Canals and Harbors, though civil engineers in Spain practice in the same fields beyond those as civil engineers do elsewhere. The first Civil Engineering Institute, the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos Canales Y Puertos de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid: [4] was founded by Agustín de Bethencourt y Molina in 1802.
