Environmental engineering is concerned with the design of systems, policies and processes to protect human, animal, and plant populations from the effects of adverse environmental factors, including toxic chemicals and wastes, pathogenic bacteria, and global warming, and to design systems that enable a more sustainable society.
Environmental engineers design systems, processes and policies to minimize the effect of human activities on the physical and living environment so that we can all live more healthy and sustainable lives. Environmental engineers work to meet human needs for resources in ways to minimize impact on the ecosystem and adverse effects on health. This field builds on other branches of engineering, especially civil, chemical, and mechanical engineering. It also builds on information from many of the sciences, such as chemistry, physics, hydrology, geology, atmospheric science, and several specializations of biology (ecology, microbiology, and biochemistry). Students who elect to study environmental engineering will become familiar with many of these areas because maintaining and improving the environment requires that problems be evaluated and solutions found using a multidisciplinary approach.
Mission
The mission of the undergraduate environmental engineering program at Drexel University is to graduate outstanding engineers who can identify, evaluate and solve complex environmental problems, and who desire to continue their education on a lifelong basis.