New Environmental Engineering State Standards

Knowles Senior Fellow Kelly Melendez Loaiza served on the committee that developed Rhode Island’s new Career and Technical Education (CTE) standard for Environmental Engineering. Recently approved by the Rhode Island CTE Board of Trustees, this standard is now recognized statewide.

Rhode Island identified a need to update its CTE standards to reflect the changing occupational landscape and to strengthen engineering-focused education. Kelly initially joined the committee to review the existing engineering standard, but the group soon determined that substandards were needed to address different branches of engineering, including environmental engineering. The Environmental Engineering subcommittee included representatives from industry and higher education, such as the University of New Hampshire VHB, Gilbane Building Company, and Engineering Change Lab–USA. Individuals from the University of Georgia and Brown University also contributed their expertise.