MS Projects from Partnership with City Government

This paper describes graduate student projects that were conducted through cooperation between University of Minnesota Duluth and the City of Duluth. While graduates students at the University of Minnesota Duluth can complete a traditional thesis-based MS, they also have the option of completing additional course work and a MS project. The graduate projects are designed to be realistic engineering problems that allow students gain and apply higher level civil engineering analysis and design knowledge. This paper describes two of these projects resulting in three MS projects. The first project determined a method of using fine dredge material from the harbor as engineered fill using locally available additives. The second project focused on transportation and structural issues in a neighborhood revitalization. These projects were evaluated using recently developed graduate student learning outcomes. The MS projects from this partnership were successful in meeting the graduate student learning outcomes when compared to MS projects from other sources.