Section:
Transition from Another Major
Way
to go! Civil and Environmental Engineering is clearly the greatest major
on Earth. You made a wise move in choosing CEE over that dead-end major
of Underwater Basket Weaving (or whatever it was you were studying). Most
students tend to agree that the path you took to get into CEE is the most
difficult (no path of least resistance for you, huh?). Congratulations
on your acceptance.
Since you've been at Cal for a few years and you've successfully completed most of your lower division work, we don't need to offer you advice on adjusting to life at Cal. About the only additional advice we can give you is to get involved in civil engineering activities, such as ASCE or WEF, if you're not already.
On the right is Jody Cruzan, a senior in CEE who used to be a biology major. You see her here testing the resonant properties of concrete prisms to approximate the modulus of elasticity and, therefore, the amount of micro-cracking that has occurred due to sulfate attack (OK, who fell asleep in CE 60?). Non-destructive testing is important in this application because these samples can be tested multiple times over the course of several years. Jody is doing this work in the chemical durability of concrete as a summer job while taking a couple of classes.
Jody says, "You still have to look at...."