In an effort to expand the breadth of course offerings for graduate students, the department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering has added two senior-level technical electives for students interested in entrepreneurship and forensics.
This fall, the course Engineering Innovation for Impact was implemented and is taught by professor Necati Catbas. It provides graduate students with the skills and tools to transform their engineering research-based ideas into product proposals and eventual profitability.
“I am bringing my experiences working with start-ups and working with government agencies to support entrepreneurship.” Says Catbas. “The course also fosters collaboration with faculty, enabling graduate students to contribute to research idea generation and proposal preparation.”
Catbas worked closely with Noble Reach Foundation (a nonprofit that educates and recruits top talent from academia, industry, and government to collaborate on national challenges in areas like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship) for the development of this course. He also attended their training and interacted with professors from other major universities that are developing classes similar to this one. However, Engineering Innovation for Impact is unique due to the inclusion of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) proposals, and Intellectual Property (IP) development .
The course is implementing novel technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins for innovative engineering solutions as well. This integration allows for the creation of simulations that accelerate product development, improve efficiency, and enable more intelligent decision-making.
In addition to this course, the department has also added Forensic Engineering to its curriculum. The course will debut in Spring 2026 and will be taught by senior lecturer Dennis Filler. The goal is to teach students about the field of forensic science as well as the forensic investigation process.
“It will probably spike interest in a percentage of students who absolutely want to become forensic engineers.” Filler Says. “Ask any investigator in any profession, no matter what it is, and they’ll tell you investigation is fascinating. It takes you to a place that no other engineer goes.”
Students can look forward to learning through the use of case studies. Filler plans to implement various.
Early topics in the course will review the history of engineering, the nature of failures as well as the process in which forensic engineers investigate. Topics such as investigation and analysis with use of scientific methods, jurisprudence, our legal system of civil and criminal law and expert reports will be analyzed through case studies.
The second half of the course will focus on investigations of a variety of different engineering practices. These topics range from accident reconstruction to product liability, alongside others like structural failures, hydrologic control, floods; and coastal erosion, damage assessment, water quality treatment and systems engineering.
Filler says that a course such as this one is essential for future engineers. Forensic engineers are trained to look for future problems in designs, looking for potential weaknesses allows for a better final product. They focus on preventing future accidents by analyzing past failures and coming up with critical insight to help civil engineers build more dependable designs. Likewise, learning to commercialize research is crucial for engineers because it teaches students daily life application of the skills they are learning, as well as increase the impact of their work.
“The world needs the next generation of engineers to be better than we are.” Filler says. “That is progress.”
- Written by Hannia Gonzalez