Practical Concepts for Capstone Design Engineering

Practical Concepts for Capstone Design Engineering is the first and only comprehensive senior-level college textbook that provides the essential information needed to complete a successful capstone project in civil or construction engineering. Students will gain valuable insight and preparation for civil and construction engineering professional practice, and will learn how to smoothly transition from strictly academic work to solving real-world problems in the context of their capstone projects. The authors provide professional quality work examples, case studies, helpful hints, and assignments at the end of each chapter that further enhance comprehension. In addition to providing students with the key skills necessary to successfully enter the profession, they will also be well prepared for the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam upon graduation.

Frederick Bloetscher, Ph.D., P.E. LEED-AP is an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, where his focus is on management of water resources from a holistic perspective: surface, ground, storm, waste and reclaimed sources; appropriate methods for disposal of waste water products including concentrate from membrane treatment plants, the fate of ocean outfall flows, and the concept of sustainable water supplies for communities. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati and earned his Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His Ph.D. is in civil engineering from the University of Miami. Dr. Bloetscher is the President of Public Utility Management and Planning Services, Inc. (PUMPS), a consulting firm dedicated to the evaluation of utility systems, needs assessments, condition assessments, strategic planning, capital improvement planning, grant and loan acquisition, inter-local agreement recommendations, bond document preparation, consultant coordination, permitting and implementation of capital improvement construction. Previously, Dr. Bloetscher was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, and the former utility director and deputy director for several large water and sewer systems. He is the former Chair for the Water Resource Division Trustees, Groundwater Resource Committee and Education Committee for the American Water Works Association. He is a LEED-AP and holds professional engineering licenses in 9 states.Daniel E. Meeroff, Ph.D. is associate chair and professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatics Engineering at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). His area of specialization is environmental engineering, with focus on water and wastewater engineering, water chemistry, solid/hazardous waste management, sustainable building strategies, and pollution prevention and he is the founder and director of the Laboratories for Engineered Environmental Solutions at FAU. Dr. Meeroff earned his bachelor's degree in environmental science from Florida Institute of Technology and his master's and Ph.D. degrees in civil/environmental engineering from the University of Miami. In 2011, Dr. Meeroff was selected by the students for the Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching Award at FAU, and has been nominated for the Teacher of the Year award numerous times by his students. In 2014, the Engineer's Council awarded Dr. Meeroff the Engineering Educator of the Year, and the student body at FAU selected him as the Distinguished Teacher of the Year, the highest teaching honor at the university. In the field of green building design, Dr. Meeroff co-teaches the first semester of the innovative capstone design course at FAU, which is a two-semester senior-level sequence focused on the planning and conceptual design of green building construction.