CLOSE
A legacy of innovation
Since its founding in 1865, just after the Civil War, MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has been at the forefront of civil engineering education and research. Civil engineering was one of MIT’s earliest academic offerings, originally designated as Course II before becoming Course I in 1873, a position it still holds today.
Originally named Civil and Topographical Engineering, the department was established to meet the infrastructure needs of a rapidly growing nation—offering instruction in roads, railways, bridges, canals, and drinking water systems. Reflecting the rising importance of urban health and sanitation, the department merged in 1889 with Sanitary Engineering (Course XI) and was renamed Civil and Sanitary Engineering in 1892.
In 1911, MIT made a bold move to enhance hands-on learning by acquiring 700 acres in East Machias, Maine. There, it launched “Camp Technology,” a summer surveying camp that gave students invaluable real-world field experience. The camp ran for more than four decades, until 1953.
Evolving with society
Throughout the 20th century, the department continuously expanded its scope to reflect the changing needs of society. In 1934, it incorporated Course XVII, Building and Engineering. By the early 1960s, the department simplified its name to the Department of Civil Engineering, signaling a broader mission. Then, in 1992, in step with growing global awareness of environmental issues, it became the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering—a name that underscores its commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. It continues to offer fieldwork classes annually in sustainable materials and infrastructure in Italy, and climate-focused fieldwork in Hawaii.
For more than 150 years, MIT CEE has been redefining what it means to be a civil and environmental engineer. From designing the physical backbone of society to leading the charge on sustainability and climate resilience, the department continues to educate and empower generations of engineers prepared to tackle the world’s most urgent challenges.
Students first admitted in Course II, Civil and Topographical Engineering, with classes offered in mechanics, surveying, geodesy, and structures.
Course II switches with Mechanical Engineering to become Course I and drops “Topographical” from its name. Curriculum focuses on surveying, roads, railways, bridge and canal construction as well as a growing emphasis on water supply issues and distribution.
Eiichiro Honma, MIT’s first Japanese graduate, majors in Civil Engineering and writes his thesis on a railroad bridge. After MIT, he worked as a railroad engineer for the national railway and as the chief engineer for several private railroad companies.
William Thompson Sedgwick helps create the Lawrence Experiment Station, the U.S.’s first water and waste treatment research plant.
Charles M. Spofford becomes department head. The department was organized into four divisions: Hydraulics; Structures; Surveying; and Railroad Engineering. The Railroad Engineering division was discontinued in 1933.
A summer surveying course known as “Camp Technology.” is first offered in Maine and continued until 1953.
Civil Engineering merges with Sanitary Engineering (Course X), and the department’s name becomes Civil and Sanitary Engineering in 1892.
The curriculum is altered to speed up the technical training needed by the armed forces during WWI. A special camp provides military training for all MIT sophomores.
The Pierce Lab was established, named after US representative from Massachusetts and Mayor of Boston, Henry Lillie Pierce.
The first soil mechanics course and laboratory were created, under the direction of Karl Terzaghi.
Thomas Camp develops the Sanitary Engineering curriculum. Camp wrote more than 100 papers on water and sewage treatment, many of which are still widely referenced.
R.F. Tucker establishes a course of study in building construction, among the first in the U.S.
1931:
River Hydraulic Laboratory constructs a model of tidal currents in the Cape Cod Canal, the first of its kind the U.S.
1934:
Course XVII, Building and Engineering, was added to Course I and in 1961 or 1962, Sanitary Engineering was dropped from the name of the department.
1938:
Arthur Rudge invents electrical strain gauge for measuring the movement of a structure during an earthquake. A form of this sensor is still used today.
1942:
Courses in surveying expand to meet the needs of the armed forces.
1946:
Albert Dietz establishes the first research laboratory to focus on plastics as construction materials.
1950:
A new hydrodynamics laboratory opens under the direction of Arthur Ippen and Dames Daily (later named The Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory) directed by Arthur Ippen.
1954:
Researchers at the Plastics Lab collaborate with architecture faculty to design and build the “Monsanto House of Future,” which imagined life in 1986.
1960:
Charles Miller established the Civil Engineering Systems Laboratory, it was one of the first computer labs for civil enginering students in the United States; the department was one of the first at MIT to incorporated computers into teaching and research.
1961:
Miller developed the first computer program for topographical surveying, an early CAD program prototype. The program, called COGO — short for Coordinate Geometry System — understood traditional civil engineering terms, making the early room-sized computers more accessible to civil engineers for surveying problems.
1962:
Ronald T. McLaughlin becomes the second black faculty member appointed at MIT. McLaughlin was one of the first appointments in the field of water resources systems, He taught courses including hydraulic engineering, water resources development, water quality control, and water resource systems.
1964:
Launch of the Integrated Civil Engineering System (ICES), to make early computers more accessible for complex engineering problems, was developed under the leadership of Charles L. Miller. Work on the system began in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with significant contributions by Daniel Roos.
1966:
Debut of “1.00 Information Systems,” a class on computer-based approaches to engineering problems (renamed “Principles of Computer-Based Engineering Problem Solving” in 1981).
1968:
Allin Cornell writes a paper on seismic risk analysis that establishes the field of risk and reliability.
1969:
Launch of an open-source computer programming language for structural engineering design called STRUDL (Structural Design Language), developed and pioneered by Robert Logcher. The programming language continues to be used today.
The 1970s was a time of rapid growth for the department’s interdisciplinary research and educational efforts in project management; transportation; building technology; and in environmental areas. The Sea Grant Program, Center for Transportation Studies, Urban Systems Laboratory, and Energy Laboratory are early examples of collaboration.
A renovated and expanded Hydrodynamics Laboratory is renamed the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory. Research expands into the aquatic and environmental sciences.
Peter Eagleson’s Dynamic Hydrology ushers in a new era of hydrologic science.
1973:
The Center for Transportation Studies is established; in 1979 the department offers a Master of Science in Transportation.
1982:
Frederick Salvucci is named Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation (for the second time) and begins planning Boston’s Big Dig. Moshe Ben-Akiva’s MIT SIMLab developed a traffic modeling and simulation system that tested real-time electronic monitoring and surveillance systems for the Big Dig project in the 1990s.
1983:
François Morel publishes Principles of Aquatic Chemistry, a book that integrates fundamental chemistry principles with environmental quality studies.
1986:
Sallie “Penny” Chisholm discovers the tiny bacteria called Prochlorococcus — the world’s most abundant photosynthetic organism, crucial for its role in oxygen production and carbon cycling, especially in nutrient-poor ocean regions.
1992:
The department was renamed the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to reflect the new combined discipline and its increased focus on environmental chemistry and biology.
1994:
CEE debuts a new Master of Engineering degree that prepares students to work in high-performance structures, water-quality engineering, or geotechnical engineering.
CEE further expands the frontiers of research through several research hubs, centers, and academic fieldwork courses:
2000:
TREX (Traveling Research Environmental Experiences ) course 1.091 is first offered as a fieldwork class over IAP to the Florida Everglades to familiarize students with North America’s most extensive wetland and largest watershed reclamation project. The fieldwork class travelled to Hawaii in 2001 where it’ still held today, studying astmospheric particulate matter and invasive species.
2002:
CEE and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences launch Terrascope in 2002, a project-based, team-oriented program for freshman focused on a single environmental issue each year.
2005:
MIT Data Science Lab is founded by David Simchi-Levi to develop advanced analytics and algorithms to improve decision-making in operations and supply chains.
2009:
MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub is founded to advance concrete and infrastructure science .
2015:
An MIT Research Program with UMRP (Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique) in Morocco is established focusing on sustainable development, water management, green chemistry, and smart urban growth.
2016:
CEE first offers 1.034, One-MA3 (Materials in Art, Archaeology and Architecture), a summer fieldwork course that brings undergraduates to Italy to study ancient infastructures of the past to improve infrastructures of the future. In 2024, the fieldwork course joined with Department of Materials Science and Engineering under the new name Materials in Human Experience (1.034/3.094) and offered during IAP in 2026.
2021
CEE expands the Master of Engineering degree program to offer a Climate, Environment and Sustainability track and in 2022, offers an additional track in Data Science for Engineering Systems.
2023:
CEE and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences launch a joint major, Course 1-12 Bachelor of Science in Climate System Science and Engineering that foucses on climate change.