Civil Engineering

As a civil engineer, you will be building and maintaining the infrastructure of the country keeping it running efficiently and adapting it to meet the requirements of population growth, climatic changes and natural disasters.

What do civil engineers do?

Civil engineers design and oversee the construction, operation and maintenance of public and private infrastructure projects. They work on buildings, roads, railways, airports, bridges, harbours, dams, irrigation projects, power plants, and water supply and sewage treatment systems.

What does a typical day at work involve?

  • Checked Meet with clients to understand their needs
  • Checked Review and evaluate tenders for construction projects
  • Checked Create detailed designs using design software
  • Checked Estimate technical or resource requirements
  • Checked Estimate operational cost
  • Checked Liaise with subcontractors, architects and clients
  • Checked Oversee construction
  • Checked Manage health and safety on-site
  • Checked Ensure the quality and progress of work

What areas can a civil engineer specialise in?

It is the study of materials, equipment and methods used in the process of building structures.
Environmental engineering specialisation deals with the projects in water supply and sewerage, management of surface water and groundwater quality, remediation of contaminated sites and solid waste management with the goal of ensuring that societal development and the use of water, land and air resources are sustainable.
Geotechnical engineering is the discipline of civil engineering dealing with soil mechanics, including the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties and the assessment of the influence it will have on a project proposed at the site.
Geomatics is the study of land and water areas on the earth’s surface using surveys, mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to make informed decisions about the best places to build roads, bridges, buildings, dams and other structures.
Hydraulics engineering specialisation in civil engineering deals with the application of fluid mechanics for the design of hydraulic structures, such as sewage conduits, dams for irrigation or hydel power generation and for the management of waterways for erosion protection and flood prevention.
This deals with utilising a number of simple structural elements to build complex constructions and involves the use of applied mechanics, materials science and applied mathematics to understand and predict the capacity of these structures to support self-weight and imposed loads
Transportation engineering focuses on the design of facilities that enable the efficient movement of passengers and goods. It includes the design of motorways, traffic signals, bus and rail stations, pavements and walkways.

How to become a civil engineer?

Step 1
Take Science stream with Physics and Mathematics

To be eligible for admission to an undergraduate course in civil engineering, you need to study Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects along with one of the subjects Chemistry/Biotechnology/Biology/ Technical Vocational subject at the 10+2 level.

Step 2
Take a BTech (Civil Engineering)/BE (Civil Engineering)

Bachelor of Engineering/Bachelor of Technology is a four year course offered by Universities and Institutes of Technology in India and abroad.

Step 3
Take an MTech (Civil Engineering)

After graduation in civil engineering, you can take an M Tech / ME degree course in any specialisation of Civil Engineering, which is of 2 year duration. You can also take up the equivalent MS degree course offered by foreign universities and select institutions in India.


Note :
  • Some institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology offer an integrated dual degree combining B Tech(civil engineering) and M Tech(civil engineering specialisations) which is of 5 year duration.
  • MSc degree holders in Physics/Mathematics (or other disciplines relevant to the specialisation) with 1 to 2 years experience in civil engineering related fields may also be granted admission to MS courses in civil engineering in some institutions.
Step 4
Take a PhD

After post graduation, you can take a PhD in civil engineering specialisations which will enable you to take up a career in research or academics.


Note :

There are select institutions which offer integrated MTech-PhD program in some specialisations of civil engineering.

Civil Engineering Colleges

Name State District Type Website Course

Requirements for masters in civil engineering

Requirements for admission into a PG course in one of the top institutions to help you get an overall picture

India (from IIT Bombay for M.Tech in Civil Engineering (multiple specialisations))

  • B.E/B.Tech/B.Arch. or M.Sc (Chemistry/Life Sciences/Mathematics/Physics) with minimum 60% aggregate score.
  • IIT B.Tech graduates having CGPA 8.0 and above (does not require GATE qualification)
  • GATE score around 600 and 800 ( general category) out of 1000
  • Personal Interview at campus

Foreign (for Master of Engineering (MEng) at MIT)

  • Undergraduate degree in civil/environmental engineering. Students with undergraduate degree in science, math and other engineering or related fields may also be considered.
  • Statement of objectives.
  • Official GRE general exam score report. Students with a minimum score of 80th percentile or better for all 3 areas (Verbal,Quant, Analytical) of GRE are eligible to apply.
  • Minimum TOEFL score of 100 or IELTS score of 7.5
  • 3 letters of recommendation

To see the entrance exams, scholarships and UG admission details, click here

Skills Required

Leadership Skills

Civil engineers must have leadership and managerial skills as they are in charge of the entire project. They need to coordinate different activities from planning to implementation.

Problem Solving skills

Civil engineers need to have the skills to evaluate and identify complex problems arising in their day to day work and find efficient solutions for them.

Communication skills

Civil engineers must be able to clearly communicate ideas and give direction without leaving any ambiguity.

Technical skills

A high level of mathematical and physics skills allow civil engineers to identify and solve engineering problems.

Visualising Skills

Must have the skills to imagine and visualise how the things they are building now will be, when it is done.

Industries

  • Checked Construction
  • Checked Structural Engineering
  • Checked Transportation Industry
  • Checked Environmental Engineering
  • Checked Oil & Gas Industry
  • Checked Wind & Hydel Energy
  • Checked Water Resources & Sewage

Top Companies

  • Checked BECHTEL(US)
  • Checked Technip FMC
  • Checked L&T (Larsen and Toubro) Engineering & Construction Division
  • Checked AECOM
  • Checked ESSAR Group
  • Checked Jaypee Group

Resources to make use of

Useful links

Videos

What Do Civil Engineers Do?
What Do Civil Engineers Do? A video from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Department of Civil Engineering: IIT Bombay
Department of Civil Engineering: IIT Bombay This video shows how the Department of Civil Engineering of IIT Bombay functions.