Natural Resources and Environment and Engineering (M.S. and M.S.E.)
Peer Level Pages
**NEW - Official Dual Degree Effective October 2007: Engineering Sustainable Systems (ESS)
The dual degree confers a Master of Science (M.S.) degree from SNRE and a Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) from the College of Engineering (CoE). Global climate change, energy security, ecological degradation, environmental threats to human health, and resource scarcity are critical sustainability challenges for the 21st century. Sustainability is based upon our ability to meet societal needs within the context of economical and ecological constraints. This dual degree provides the tools necessary to help meet those needs. The program trains graduate students to protect, restore, and create engineered and natural systems that are socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable. Graduates of this dual degree program will have both the engineering and sustainability foundations to command jobs domestically and internationally with engineering consulting firms, research and development labs in the private and public sectors (e.g. Fortune 500 corporations), government agencies, and NGO's.
There are three initial tracks or specializations in ESS - Sustainable Energy Systems, Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, and Sustainable Water Resources. Students may integrate the 30-credit-hour M.S.E program with the 42-credit-hour M.S. program (totaling 72-credit-hours) into a 54-credit-hour/2 or 2.5 year program. The student must still meet all the basic requirements of each program, which are summarized below.
School of Natural Resources and Environment Requirements
- At least 25 NRE credits
- Fulfill field of study core and the NRE core course requirements
- Two analytics courses (one may need to be statistics)
- Integrative master's opus
College of Engineering Requirements
Please visit the various program sites:
- Mechanical Engineering http://me.engin.umich.edu/
- Chemical Engineering http://www.engin.umich.edu/dept/cheme/
- Civil and Environmental Engineering http://cee.engin.umich.edu/
New applicants
Students must be admitted by both units and meet the admission standards of both units. New applicants must submit an application to both:
School of Natural Resources & Environment
Graduate Admissions
440 Church Street
1520 Dana Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1041
Phone: (734)764-6453
Email: mailto:snre.admissions@umich.edu
and the College of Engineering
ESS Track or Specialization Descriptions
In 2006 it was estimated that 471 exajoules of energy, equivalent to nearly 80 billion barrels of oil, were consumed globally. As energy demands rise, and the impacts of greenhouse gases become more prevalent, where will future energy come from? Students in the Sustainable Energy Systems ESS specialization graduate with both an understanding of the magnitude of earth's energy crisis and the tools to design more sustainable energy solutions. The chemical engineering curriculum builds upon traditional chemical engineering topics with energy-focused courses such as ChE 686: Case Studies in Sustainable Engineering and NRE 574: Sustainable Energy Systems. To place this design within a ecological context, students will complement this technical foundation with such courses as NRE 527: Social Institutions for Energy Production and NRE 580: Integrated Problem Solving. Sustainable Energy Systems students are set apart by their combination of deep technical knowledge of sustainable energy systems and a broad understanding of complex social, environmental, and economic impacts.
Sustainable Energy Systems
Sustainable Design and Manufacturing Systems
Sustainable technologies and products; do they truly exist? Moreover, a greater challenge may be the design of sustainable technological or product systems, rather than sustainable technologies or products themselves. Fewer and fewer of today's design and manufacturing engineers are cognizant of the larger systems which incorporate new technologies and products, with potentially large consequence. Students in the Sustainable Design and Manufacturing Systems ESS specialization focus on the design of new sustainable technologies and products while examining their effect on larger systems, evaluated through environmental, social, and economic impacts. Mechanical engineering courses in Eco-design and Manufacturing (ME 599) and Sustainable Manufacturing (OMS 742) form the engineering foundation for this program. Natural Resources and Environment classes in Risk-Benefit Analysis (NRE 595) and Industrial Ecology (NRE 557) give students a broader understanding of the ecological impacts of these new technologies from a systems-based perspective. Understanding both ecological science and engineering fundamentals, Sustainable Design and Manufacturing Systems ESS graduates are uniquely placed to make balanced design decisions on more sustainable technological and product systems.
The dual degree in Natural Resources and Civil and Environmental Engineering provides the tools needed to help protect, conserve, and manage water resources as well as the ecosystems and societies that depend on them. Integrating CEE course work in engineering principles of quantitative analysis and modeling with NRE course work in natural and social system dynamics will provide students with the tools and skills demanded by both public and private institutions dedicated to sustainable water resources as well as the ecosystem goods and services they provide.
Students Currently Enrolled
If the student is currently enrolled in one program she/he must complete the "Readmission, Dual Degree, Change of Field Information and Application" form and submit it with the other application documents. Before graduation, form 6010 - Dual Degree Course Elections must be completed to verify completion of requirements and minimum hours.
