Civil engineering focuses on serving people by providing for and improving their overall quality of life. Civil engineers use their knowledge and skills to enhance human welfare and the environment, designing, constructing, and maintaining sustainable infrastructure for the cities and communities in which they live and work, including buildings, bridges, roads, airports, dams, and levees. They also protect and improve the natural environment, including air, land, and water resources. Civil engineers design and plan transportation projects for growing populations, engineer solutions for bringing infrastructure to new cities and developments, and address how structures can better protect and serve humanity.

Civil engineering students are interested in how buildings are designed, how they stand up against the forces of nature, and how they are built. They are concerned about the environment and how to provide clean water and improve air quality. They want to be part of the solution for traffic congestion and improve how to move people and goods locally, nationally, and globally. They want to better protect people, their belongings, their homes and businesses from natural disasters and help to create a sustainable and resilient future through creative and technical solutions.