What do Critical Infrastructure Systems majors do?

The deterioration of the nation’s infrastructure beyond its useful life, and the rise of risks from climate change, pose major societal challenges. In order to plan for the optimal renewal of critical infrastructure, Critical Infrastructure Systems majors manage and engage in a range of value-added functions, including the high-technology based evaluation of the condition of the key lifelines of our economy, and the design and deployment of optimal holistic remediation and renewal solutions. As bridges collapse, dams breach, and water pipes burst, the scale of the diagnosis of the problems and their potential economic and safety impacts, and the identification and implementation of the optimal lifecycle renewal courses of action in maintaining and improving the country’s crumbling critical infrastructure, makes infrastructure renewal one of the great technical challenges of the 21st century. The certainty of future extreme events — natural disasters, accidents and manmade threats — the water-energy nexus, and the development of new infrastructure sectors and technologies, demand skilled resources and intelligent investment. Engineers, analysts and managers who specialize in critical infrastructure systems, evaluate, plan, engineer, build and maintain structures and infrastructure systems for future generations.