A New Coastal Engineering Graduate Program

Paper ID #12157 A New Coastal Engineering Graduate Program Dr. Robert W. Whalin, Jackson State University Dr. Robert W. Whalin, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Director, Coastal Hazards Center, Jackson State University. He is Director Emeritus of the Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS. He received his PhD in Oceanography from Texas A&M University in 1971 and is a Registered Professional Engineer. Dr. Whalin was Director of Army Research Laboratory (1998-2003; Adelphi, MD), and Technical Director /Director of Waterways Experiment Station (1985-1998; Vicksburg, MS). He has authored/co-authored over a hundred technical papers and reports during his career in private industry, government and academia. His current research interests are nearshore wave transformations, coastal structures, tsunami inundation, hurricane surges, high performance computing, and engineering education. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 Page 26.73.1

A New Coastal Engineering Graduate Program Abstract A Master of Science degree in Engineering with a Coastal Engineering concentration has been approved, students enrolled and several graduates are scheduled for May 2015. This is the first coastal or ocean engineering graduate program at an Historic Black College or University (HBCU). Students may choose a thesis, project or course only option. All options require an oral examination. Seven core courses, one mandatory, comprise the coastal engineering concentration. The student may select elective courses from among a large variety of civil and environmental engineering graduate courses. This flexibility enables the graduate student to tailor coursework to their major civil engineering area(s) of career interest. Laboratory facilities potentially available to students are briefly described. The program has a coastal natural disaster focus and was established as part of the Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence (Education) sponsored by the Office of University Programs, US Department of Homeland Security. An undergraduate coastal engineering track in the BS Civil Engineering degree program and a Ph.D. in Engineering with a coastal engineering concentration, both with a coastal natural disaster focus, are discussed briefly as a part of future plans. Background The new coastal engineering graduate program described herein emanated from a competitively awarded Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence (Education) cooperative agreement from the Office of University Programs, US Department of Homeland Security which focused on coastal natural disasters education and, in particular, education to enhance the inclusion of underrepresented minority and female engineers in the coastal hazards engineering profession. The proposed program included adding a Coastal Engineering concentration to the MS Engineering degree program which had existing concentrations in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Geological Engineering that comprised the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department graduate program. Other MS Engineering concentrations are Computational Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering that comprise the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department graduate program. The MS Engineering degree concentrations each have their own four required core courses supplemented by electives. The student may, with approval of their Committee Chair and the Department Chair, choose either a thesis option (24 semester hours plus a six hour Thesis), a project option (27 semester hours plus a three hour Project) or a course only option (36 semester hours). All options require an oral examination which is a Thesis defense, a Project defense or a coursework exam respectively. There are approximately thirteen universities with MS and/or ME degree programs, [1] and [2], in Coastal and/or Ocean Engineering. Only one has the word Coastal in the title (MS and ME in Coastal and Ocean Engineering at the University of Florida). The University of North Florida has a MS Civil Engineering degree with a major in Coastal Engineering. A number of universities have MS or ME and PhD programs that have a specialty in Coastal Engineering where typically one to three professors teach the core coastal engineering courses and supervise research performed by graduate students. The program described in this paper is analogous to those programs with respect to administrative structure within the Department and the College. Page 26.73.2

Program Description The unique aspect of this MS in Engineering degree program with a concentration in Coastal Engineering is the focus on coastal natural disasters (both research and course work). Research performed is related to coastal natural disasters, particularly hurricanes and to a lesser extent, nor easters, riverine flooding impacting estuaries and nearshore coastal areas and tsunami inundation. The Mission of the Coastal Engineering concentration is to provide engineers with graduate education in the specialized field of coastal engineering, including knowledge, skills and abilities to address coastal engineering challenges arising from coastal natural disasters. Program Objectives are: a. Provide students an understanding of the fundamental coastal engineering knowledge and principles necessary to address engineering challenges in a coastal environment, especially those arising from coastal natural disasters, b. Provide graduate course work and research programs in coastal engineering, and c. Enable students to achieve enhanced professional development and to appreciate the technical and societal challenges existing in the practice of coastal engineering. The Coastal Engineering concentration of the MS Engineering degree program is comprised of seven core courses, 3 semester hours each. CIV 520 CIV 538 CIV 539 CIV 558 CIV 631 CIV 636 CIV 637 Advanced Engineering Analysis I Coastal Structures Advanced Coastal Engineering Design Sedimentation and River Engineering Linear Theory of Ocean Waves Spectral Wave Analysis Advanced Design for Breakwater Rehabilitation Students pursuing the Coastal Engineering concentration are required to take CIV 520 and three of the six other core courses. Elective courses may be selected from the three remaining core courses and over 35 other CIV elective courses. This flexibility allows students to build a strong interdisciplinary background in the civil engineering area/areas they desire. Six of these other courses that are especially relevant include: CIV 521 Advanced Engineering Analysis II. CIV 632 Tides and Long Waves CIV 659 Advanced Topics in Water Resources Engineering CIV 697 Internship CIV 698 Independent Study CIV 699 Thesis Research 3hrs 3hrs Variable 1-4 hrs Variable 1-3 hrs Variable 1-4 hrs Variable 1-6 hrs Course descriptions are in the university catalog [3]. Page 26.73.3

Current Research Areas High visibility research underway relates to the Ike Dike concept proposed, under the leadership of Dr. William Merrell, 40 George P. Mitchell Chair of Marine Sciences, Texas A&M University, Galveston to protect Galveston Island and the greater Houston, Texas metropolitan area from future potentially devastating hurricane surges. The Ike Dike name emanated from the obvious need for greater protection as a result of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Our part of the Ike Dike team is to evaluate hurricane surge flooding for existing conditions and to evaluate the degree of protection offered by the Ike Dike concept, a barrier (seawall) the same height of the existing Galveston seawall with a gate (to be closed prior to landfall) across the Houston Ship Channel. The Ike Dike would extend a, to be determined, distance east and west of the Houston ship channel. Currently we (faculty, staff, and students) are evaluating the efficacy of the concept through computational fluid dynamics modeling (ADCIRC) of coastal flooding on Galveston Island and the areas around Galveston Bay and up the Houston ship channel to the downtown Houston area. To date, four graduate students have participated in Independent Research on this project. Some results from this research are shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1. Comparison of the maximum water surface elevation field (in feet) for existing and with-ike Dike conditions for a 930-mb direct-hit hurricane. The benefit of the Ike Dike is clearly indicated. Hurricane surge levels within the Galveston and Houston metropolitan areas are reduced nearly 10 feet for a synthetic storm with a central pressure of 930mb (slightly more intense than Hurricane Ike). ERDC researchers are participating in quantifying the probability distribution of hurricane surges for the Houston/Galveston area. Our graduate students and researchers at JSU are taking advantage of the computational assets at ERDC to perform the investigations. Another graduate student performed his 3 hour Project with an investigation of the famous Sines, Portugal breakwater Page 26.73.4

destruction by severe coastal storms shortly before completion of construction in 1977/1978. He explored a repair concept totally different from the successful repair accomplished during the 1980 s. His repair concept consisted of a shallow sloping seaward breakwater slope and a smaller size of concrete armor unit for the cover layer.[4] These are two examples of coastal natural disaster focused research underway. Program Participation It is envisioned that about 1-3 MS degrees will be awarded annually in the Coastal Engineering concentration of the MS Engineering degree program. An average of about 9 MS Engineering degrees has been awarded annually beginning in 2006 (over 80 to date). One student completed all requirements for the Coastal Engineering concentration and graduated in December 2013 in the course only option. Three students graduated in May 2015 in the Coastal Engineering concentration (two in the course only option and one with the Project option). All these students have permanent engineering positions in the local commuting area. All four are currently EIT s in the state of Mississippi and plan to take the PE exam this calendar year. Students working in engineering firms (or for the government) appear to be well served by the course only option since they work on projects in their day to day jobs and most prefer knowledge gained from additional graduate coursework to research experience gained from a thesis. They tend to believe selecting the six semester hour thesis option has a potential to delay graduation more than enrolling in four courses (12 semester hours). To date, all five students graduating have been outstanding and are fully capable of succeeding in a PhD program anywhere in the nation should they desire. However, most seem motivated to concentrate on professional industry careers and do not plan to pursue a PhD full time. Students in other MS concentrations (Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering) enroll in some of the Coastal Engineering core courses as electives. Nearly half the class enrollments in Coastal Engineering core courses have been from students in other concentrations. Graduate course enrollment has averaged about 5 students per course in the core courses for the last two years. Core courses are offered either once a year are once every two years at the present time. Most graduate students are expected to come from engineers working in the local greater metropolitan area with a population exceeding 500,000, this includes state Departments of Transportation and Environmental Quality, civil engineering design and construction firms and federal laboratories and federal/state agencies within the commuting area. Most courses are offered in the late afternoon or early evening to better serve the urban population. The largest federal coastal engineering laboratory is a source of graduate students in the commuting area. Other state and federal agencies have local offices including the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey. Faculty and Facilities The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department has two tenured faculty members (Professor and Associate Professor) who are well known coastal engineers. A large number of potential Adjunct Faculty (holding doctoral degrees) are available from the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory of ERDC, the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, a Page 26.73.5

number of major civil engineering design and construction firms and other federal agency organizations in the commuting area. Our university has a formal Education Partnership Agreement, authorized by Public Law, with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), a federal laboratory in the commuting area. The Agreement facilitates a federal laboratory/university partnership including equipment loans, adjunct professors, internships for students, use of facilities (both experimental and computational) and almost any other form of partnership envisioned, as long as both signatories agree. A formal Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was signed with ERDC and separate amendments to the CRADA are entered into as specific partnerships arise. This allows ERDC engineers to be part of the project team. The Ike Dike research project mentioned earlier is a project where we (university/federal laboratory) take advantage of both the Education Partnership Agreement and the CRADA. We use computational assets at ERDC subject to appropriate security requirements. To date we have not taken advantage of ERDC experimental laboratory facilities for an MS Project or Thesis; however, we anticipate taking advantage of this opportunity in the future. The ERDC experimental and computational facilities are some of the best in the world. Experimental assets include six wave tanks with spectral wave generators, a shallow water wave basin equipped with a directional spectral wave generator and a sediment transport research basin with spectral wave generators. Future Plans Future plans include formal approval of a Coastal Engineering track in the BS Civil Engineering degree program and adding a Coastal Engineering concentration to the recently approved PhD in Engineering degree program. Current concentrations in the approved PhD Engineering program include Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Geological Engineering in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and concentrations in Computational Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Summary A Coastal Engineering concentration in the MS Engineering degree program has been formally implemented at an Historic Black College and University. This concentration has a focus on coastal natural disasters which is articulated in the formal Mission and Program Objectives for the program. Five students are completing requirements for the concentration and four are scheduled to graduate in May 2015. The program is off to a good start and projections are for a steady stream of one to four graduates annually in the Coastal Engineering concentration. An undergraduate Coastal Engineering track in the BS Civil Engineering degree program and a Coastal Engineering concentration in the recently approved PhD Engineering degree program are on the near term horizon. Acknowledgements The Office of University Programs, US Department of Homeland Security is gratefully acknowledged for funding the Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence (Education) that supported preparation and initiation of the Coastal Engineering concentration of the MS Engineering Page 26.73.6

degree program described in this paper as well as preparation and presentation of the paper. The US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is gratefully acknowledged for (a) their Education Partnership Agreement and for partnering with the Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence on the Ike Dike investigations mentioned herein, and (b) for supporting preparation of this paper in the authors volunteer position of Director Emeritus, ERDC. Dr. Farshad Amini, Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and Dr. Richard Alo, Dean, College of Science, Engineering and Technology are acknowledged for their support of the preparation and presentation of this paper. My tireless and dedicated Administrative Assistant, Ms. La Shon N. Lowe is gratefully acknowledged for outstanding administrative support in preparation of the paper. References [1] Robert W. Whalin and Qing Pang, Coastal, Ocean and Marine Engineering Graduate Education: A 2012 Health Assessment, Proceedings of the 120 th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Atlanta, GA, June 2013. [2] Engineering Data Management System, http:edms.asee.org/, American Society for Engineering Education. [3] JSU Graduate Catalogue. www.jsums.edu/graduateschool/files/2012/08/cset13.pdf. Pages 201-213 [4] Chris Funches, A Comparative Exploration of Alternative Structures for the Port of Sines Breakwater Rehabilitation, MS Project, Jackson State University, April 2015. Page 26.73.7