Academics

The last 30 years have witnessed an explosion in our knowledge of the human body and our ability to treat disease. Undergraduates who choose Biomedical Engineering as a major have the opportunity to work side by side with faculty who have made important contributions to this knowledge creation. Using our perspective as biomedical engineers, we are making groundbreaking discoveries in fields like systems biology and biomedical data sciences, medical imaging and cellular and tissue engineering.

The Department of Chemical Engineering is developing solutions to some of society's most pressing challenges in areas like renewable energy and water purification, while pursuing exciting opportunities in biotechnology and biomolecular engineering that can improve medical treatments and save lives. When you decide to major in Chemical Engineering at UVA, you join a group of students who are both high performing and mutually supportive, giving you a perfect environment to grow and develop.

Shelter, transportation, clean water. With a dual focus on infrastructure and the environment, the civil engineering program develops new approaches and new technologies to better develop, monitor, maintain, and manage the essential building blocks of society. Through this work, our students and faculty make international contributions to a more sustainable future. In the process, we advance the limits of current technology, whether it’s cyber-physical systems for smart cities or nanotechnology for low-cost water purification. To ensure our solutions are fully responsive to community needs, we actively collaborate across disciplines, including public policy, business, public health and architecture.

A student in Computer Engineering can choose to study with any faculty in the departments of Computer Science and Electrical & Computer Engineering. The program allows faculty from both departments to collaborate with one another and to co-advise students in areas which cross traditional curricular lines. Computer engineers design, program, produce, operate, and maintain computer and digital systems. They generally apply the theories and principles of science and mathematics to the design of hardware, software, networks, and processes to solve technical problems. Areas of research include Energy, Medical, Networks, and Security.

With its significant strengths in the three core areas of computer science—computer systems, theory and artificial intelligence—the Computer Science Department provides its students with intensive, hands-on experiences applying fundamental computer science concepts in the real world. The process is reinforced by presenting technical education in the context of important societal issues, with an emphasis on communication skills.

Whether they see themselves designing chips for the Internet of Things or engineering next-generation photovoltaic cells, Electrical Engineering undergraduates leave UVA ready to drive the future of technology in industry or in graduate school. Starting with fundamentals courses, students learn the elements of electrical engineering not as an abstraction but as an integrated system of tools that can be applied to specific, real-world applications. Students have ample hands-on studio courses, research opportunities and projects.

Students who major in Engineering Science, administered by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, like the freedom to chart their own course. Engineering Science is an interdisciplinary degree program, which means students can create their own program that matches their interests or career goals by combining a minor in one engineering discipline with a minor in mathematics, science or another engineering discipline.

The MSE major offers students an in-depth study of the field of materials science and engineering and prepares students for careers in research, development and manufacturing.
 

We make a point of grounding our students in the fundamentals of mechanical and aerospace engineering. This positions them to make the most of the freedom and independence that is the essence of the fourth-year capstone project. Students can choose to focus on topics like aircraft design, rotating machinery, or computational methods, but the specific direction they take is theirs to choose, and many students earn national awards for their work.

The Systems & Information Engineering program places graduates squarely at the center of the data revolution. It equips them with technical skills in areas like data science, visualization, optimization and business analytics that are critical to decision-making, as well as the leadership and communication skills to direct efforts to design and improve large-scale systems. Through class projects, internships and fourth-year capstone projects, our students gain real-world, team-based experience in such areas as cloud computing, machine learning and unmanned aerial systems.