Engineering A Greener Future

- Megha Aggarwal

Traditionally, environmental engineering was a branch of civil engineering and was variously called sanitary engineering and public health engineering. However, with the coming of dedicated higher education options in environment during the 1980s, it found its own niche.

Today, the stream is a widely offered higher education option and finds many takers. “Environmental engineering may not be the most popular choice among aspiring engineers, but there is no dearth of opportunities in it and increasingly a number of students are opting for it. Today, I have many students who are working in this field,” reveals Prof. Sudha Goel, who teaches environmental engineering at the Dept. of Civil Engineering in IIT Kharagpur.

A multidisciplinary subject

Environmental engineering is a multidisciplinary subject that borrows ideas from different sciences as well as fields of engineering to understand environmental issues and engineer design solutions for these, for example, by creating a landfill or a waste water plant.

Typically, a programme in this discipline will include concepts from physics, chemistry and biology as well as Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical Engineering. Apart from this, students will also learn about impact assessment, environmental management and audit. However, most modules will be geared towards developing a comprehensive understanding of different forms of pollution, managing environmental resources and controlling waste.

Undergraduate Vs Postgraduate

Although environmental engineering is generally offered as a postgraduate specialisation, a handful of institutes also offer it at the undergraduate level.