Education

The Kentucky Transportation Center has a long history of providing workshops and training courses for professionals in consulting firms and state transportation agencies. The Center supports the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet by teaching Project Management Boot Camp (PMBC), an 8-day course on how a project is managed from design and construction to delivery and completion. KTC developed a condensed version, Bootcamp XPress, for consultants that work with the Cabinet. Consultant project managers are now required to attend this training before their firms can bid on Cabinet projects. The Center also developed a nationally recognized two-day course on Context-Sensitive Design/Solutions, delivering it on-site to 15 state DOTs; over 175 professionals have participated in limited-size courses offered on UK’s campus.  In addition, KTC’s Technology Transfer program offers many short courses for highway personnel employed at local agencies as part of its workforce training program.

KTC supports Civil Engineering graduate and undergraduate students by providing numerous transportation research opportunities. Emphasizing multidisciplinary research, the Center helps students and young professionals develop a broad set of skills that will benefit them as they enter the workforce or pursue graduate studies. KTC shares office and laboratory space with the Department of Civil Engineering, and many professors collaborate with KTC on research projects that deliver transportation solutions. The Transportation Education Program Manager is Dr. Reginald Souleyrette. He can be contacted at souleyrette@uky.edu.

Transportation Undergraduate Education

The University of Kentucky Department of Civil Engineering offers a concentration in Transportation Engineering or Railroad Engineering for all Bachelor of Science candidates. Students are required to take 3 undergraduate electives, of which 2 must be design courses. The curriculum for the concentrations are summarized below: For more course information, see the Civil Engineering Undergraduate Handbook or visit The Department of Civil Engineering.

Transportation Graduate Education

The University of Kentucky Department of Civil Engineering offers a Transportation Engineering degree as a Civil Engineering Specialty that may be studied up to the PhD level.

Program Objectives

• Provide students with a specialized education and research experience in multimodal freight and passenger transportation systems within Kentucky, the nation, and around the globe.
• Help students develop an understanding of the issues and complexities of transportation system planning, design, and delivery (including freight and passenger); the supporting infrastructure and resources required; and the impacts of transportation planning on the economic and social systems it serves.
• Provide students with an introduction to the knowledge and skills required for the development, implementation, and management of transportation system components.
• Cover the travel cost and fees of students who participate or present research at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., attend other regional meetings, and travel within Kentucky for program-related research.
• Award research assistantships to a limited number of students enrolled in the program who best fit the transportation research needs of the University. Depending on local transportation industry needs and student availability, some students may work part-time.

The core courses required for Transportation Engineering are as follows:

CE 531            Transportation Systems Operations

CE 533            Railroad Facilities Design and Analysis 

CE 534            Pavement Design, Construction and Management

CE 539            Transportation Systems Design

CE 631            Urban Transportation Planning

CE 633            Air Transport Engineering

CE 634            Traffic Characteristics

CE 635            Highway Safety

Courses for the remaining six credit hours will be selected by students to address special interests in transportation and/or to fulfill graduate degree requirements.  These courses will be chosen from a variety of 3 credit hour graduate electives offered through the civil engineering, geography, business administration, public policy and administration, landscape architecture, and historic preservation programs:

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE) Program

The admission requirements for the Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE) are the same as those in effect for admission to the Graduate School in post-baccalaureate status.  Students are expected to come from backgrounds in civil engineering, geography, business administration, public policy and administration, landscape architecture, and historic preservation. The MSCE program has two options: 24 credit hours plus a Thesis or 30 credit hours without a Thesis. All students must pass a Final Examination as specified by the rules of the Graduate School, which may include written and oral components.

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Program

There is no minimum number of credit hours for the PhD.  Generally, at least one year of full-time course work (or equivalent) at University of Kentucky beyond a Master’s degree will be required before the student is allowed to take the Qualifying Examination. A Major Professor, heading the Advisory Com­mittee, guides the student’s PhD work.  In addition to advising and program course and research planning, the Advisory Committee administers the Qualifying Examination, supervises the preparation of the Dissertation, and serves as the Examining Committee that administers the Final Examination and approves the Dissertation.

Access the Civil Engineering Graduate Handbook for more details about MSCE and PhD programs.