Civil engineering is a dynamic and rewarding profession. It is a discipline that uses creative problem-solving to shape skylines and improve societies around the world. Civil engineers ensure the safety and sustainability of the environment and the infrastructure that surrounds us. They protect and improve our quality of life, our social structure, our international competitiveness, and our economy.

Civil engineers are responsible for the planning, design, construction, and management of the natural and built environment. The built environment includes the nation's highways, bridges, railroads, airports, and mass transit systems. It is our sewage treatment plants, water supply systems, and reservoirs. It is our industrial plants and power-producing plants. It is our waterways, coastal areas, and ports. It is our homes, schools, and commercial complexes.

Civil engineers are responsible for ensuring that infrastructure works with the natural environment; the ground, water, and air. These responsibilities include:

As the world becomes more connected, civil engineers have more opportunities to work with international partners. More partnerships are also forming between public and private industries, offering new opportunities for civil engineers. Their responsibilities are growing to include financial, social, economic, and policy issues. Emerging technologies, like smart highways and cars, continue to transform the industry. 

As societies across the world strive for improved standards of living and economic strength, there will always be a strong global demand for civil engineers to meet the challenges and responsibilities of modern life. Civil engineers have the remarkable opportunity to rise to the challenge of climate change. With their dynamic and creative problem-solving skills and deep knowledge of the natural environment, civil engineers are well-positioned to tackle the biggest problems of the twenty-first century.