Research Guides: Civil & Environmental Engineering: Open Resources

Open Educational Resources

"Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation." (UNESCO, 2018).

To learn more about finding, creating and using OER please check out UMD's OER Research Guide. More information about engineering specific OER can be found below. Please reach out to your subject specialist with further questions.

Online Labs, Videos, Tools & Software

Engineering at Alberta Materials: includes books, lab demos and more

HyperPhysics: online concept map for all areas of physics, includes full explanations with diagrams and examples

MIT OpenCourseWare: includes materials for over 2,500 classes of lecture notes, videos, problem sets, and more

Wolfram MathWorld: online encyclopedia for all areas of math with concept linking and extensive explanations

Simulations & Virtual Labs (Based on list from: Colorado School of Mines OER LibGuide):

Energy3D
Simulation tool for green buildings and power stations. Has CAD upload options and can put a building on a map to evaluate performance at that location.
Flowsquare
2D CFD software for unsteady, non-reactive/reactive flows. Designed for educational purposes to start understanding CFD simulations.
GNU Radio
Free, open-source toolkit focusing on software radios. Can link with available low-cost external RF hardware too.
LogicSim
Simulation tool for digital circuits, written in Java with most documentation in German.
Open Simulation Interface (OSI)
Designed to assist with simulations, focusing on automated driving simulators.
Reactor Lab
Free desktop app to simulate chemical reactors, can perform digital experiments and analyze data.
Verilator
Verilog/SystemVerilog simulator, which also compiles into multithreaded C++ or SystemC

Engineering & Technology Books

ASEE ELD's- Open Textbooks for Engineering
This is a growing list of open access engineering textbooks created and maintained by the American Society for Engineering Education's (ASEE) Engineering Libraries Division (ELD). Great place to find general engineering as well as discipline specific texts.