Facilities
We have extensive laboratory facilities to support our hands-on approach to engineering education. The labs are used for both instruction and student projects, which include independent studies and thesis research.
Bio-Environmental Engineering Laboratory (13-111)
Location: 13-111
Facilities: ENVE 443, ENGR 581-583
Description
The Bio-Environmental Engineering Laboratory is used for both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Current Equipment
- ENVE 443 Bioenvironmental Engineering I: Covers technologies used in bioremediation of contaminated waste sites.
- ENGR 581-583 Biochemical Engineering I-III: A three-quarter lecture-lab sequence in biochemical engineering.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) Laboratory (13-113)
Location: 13-113
Chevron Environmental Protection Engineering Laboratory (13-114)
Location: 13-114
Description
The EPEL is used for both undergraduate and graduate courses to reinforce students' understanding of the fundamental engineering principles inherent to environmental engineering.
Current Equipment
EPEL is equipped with state-of-the-art analytical instruments for analyzing trace concentrations of important environmental contaminants.
- Gas and liquid chromatography: used for the identification and quantification of toxic organic compounds
- Ion chromatography: used for analyzing anions and cations in solution
- UV-Vis Spectrophotometer: Used for a variety of wet-chemical analyses
Computer Laboratory (13-118)
Location: 13-118
Graduate Meeting Room (13-119)
Location: 13-119
Advanced Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory (13-121)
Location: 13-121
Facilities: CE 482, 582, 583
Description
AGEL supports work performed in upper-division undergraduate level courses (technical electives) as well as graduate-level courses.
Current Equipment
AGEL is outfitted with sophisticated modern geotechnical laboratory test equipment as well as field testing equipment. The lab also houses an extensive geotechnical engineering library donated to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department by Willy Norup of Geodex International.
- Triaxial Device: Used to evaluate static and dynamic soil behavior
- Simple Shear: Used to assess the liquefaction potential of soil
- Portable devices that can be used to take comparative measurements in the field
Power Engineering Construction Co. Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory (13-123)
Location: 13-123
Facilities: CE 382, 466, 467
Description
The Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory is used primarily as a teaching laboratory for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Current Equipment
The Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory is equipped with several state-of-the-art instruments that are used to determine the hydraulic and mechanical properties of soils. Equipment is also used to evaluate the engineering characterization of soils and rocks and test for the strength and compressibility of foundations, embankments, and earth retaining structures.
- Index Property and Soil Classification: Includes sieves and sieve shakers, Atterberg limits equipment, specific gravity equipment, expansion index devices, hydrometers, and relative density
- Motorized Direct/Residual Shear: Allows for rapid characterization of the shearing behavior of soils
- Triaxial Test Apparatus: Applies sophisticated boundary conditions to represent accurate stress histories, confining conditions, pore water pressures, and loading conditions for geotechnical construction projects
- Flexible Wall Permeameter: Used to test low hydraulic conductivity soils under appropriate effective stress conditions
Pavement and Advanced Materials Laboratory(13-125)
Location: 13-125
Facilities: CE 222, 521, 524
Description
The Pavement and Advanced Materials Laboratory is used as a teaching lab for undergraduate students.
Current Equipment
The Pavement and Advanced Materials Laboratory houses several state-of-the-art pieces of equipment used for asphalt binder and asphalt mix testing.
- The Dynamic Shear Rheometer
- Gyratory Compactor
- Rolling Thin Film Oven
- NCAT Pavement Permeability
- Los Angeles abrasion
Hal Cota Air Measurements Laboratory (13-201)
Location: 13-201
Facilities: ENVE 309, 407, 426, 439, 542
Description
The Air Measurements Lab is used as a teaching lab for both undergraduate and graduate students. In addition to labs involving the measurement of ambient air quality and industrial air pollution sources, the facility hosts lab courses for noise and vibration control, solid waste engineering, and sustainable environmental engineering. In addition, the Air Measurements Lab provides a facility for the environmental design competition teams: the WERC Design Competition, the Pacific Southwest Regional ASCE Water Treatment Competition, and AWMA’s Environmental Challenge International (ECi).
Current Equipment
The Air Measurements Lab includes a 2,100 square foot indoor space with 7 large workbenches and a deck area with 1,600 square foot of outdoor experimental space. The lab is also a smart-room with a projector for lab-prep lectures and student presentations with seating for 22 students.
- High volume ambient air samples for PM2.5, PM10, and total suspended particulate
- Flow measurement and calibration equipment
- EPA Method 5 sampling train and sampling stack
- Continuous ambient gas monitoring equipment (NOx, SOx, and ozone)
- Sound pressure level meters and noise testing equipment
Cannon Corporation Water Resources Laboratory (192-136)
Location: 192-136
Facilities: CE 337
Description
The Hydraulics Laboratory is used as a teaching lab for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Current Equipment
The Hydraulics Laboratory is equipped with hydraulic benches which can be used with a variety of modular accessories to instruct students in different aspects of hydraulic theory.
- Weir Flow Measurement: demonstrates the principles and applications of flow measurement in an open channel
- Pipe Flow Measurement: introduces the principles and applications of flow measurement in pipes
- Discharge Through an Orifice: uses a small container with a circular orifice at the bottom that discharges material freely into the atmosphere
- Rainfall-Runoff Simulation and Hydrograph Model: designed by students as a senior project, it simulates rainfall on a rubble concrete catch basin from which runoff results and a hydrograph is determined
Computer-Aided Design Laboratory (192-205)
Location: 192-205
Computer and Senior Design Laboratory (192-208)
Location: 192-208
Environmental Engineering Chemical Wet-Laboratory (192-209)
Location: 192-209
Facilities: ENVE 434, 443, 450, ENGR 581-583
Description
EECWL is used as a teaching lab for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Current Equipment
EECWL is a 2,000 square foot space with 24 student work-stations. Each student in a class has work-bench space and access to a sink and equipment used in a particular lab. The lab is also a smart-room with a projector for lab-prep lectures and student presentations.
- Gas Chromatograph with Mass Spectrometer: used to identify hundreds of thousands of different chemical compounds
- Phase-Contrast Research-Quality Microscopes: equipped with high-quality digital cameras to allow image capture
- Ultraviolet/Visible Spectrophotometer: measures intensity as a function of the wavelength of light