The Graduate Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering (PPGECAM), from the Academic Center of the Agreste of the Federal University of Pernambuco, offers, since the first semester of 2010, the Academic Master's Course. In a broader view, the Program aims to contribute to the supply of an evident lack at the regional level, configured by the need to increase techno-scientific production and training of human resources with the required qualifications to face regional challenges, solving engineering problems related to structures, materials development and environment.

The Program was approved by CAPES in December 2009, when it was considered the minimum quality standard required (initial concept 3). It has qualified teachers and the entire infrastructure of the Centro Acadêmico do Agreste (CAA) in Caruaru. The CAA was created in July 2005, and is an integral part of the UFPE Interiorization Project. The regional context in which the Campus do Agreste is located was identified from an analysis presented by the Regional Plan for Social Inclusion, carried out by the FIDEM/CONDEPE Agency, in 2003. Based on this plan, the distribution of socioeconomic inequality in the development of the territory of Pernambuco. The expectation, which has been confirmed with the consolidation of the newest UFPE campus, is that it will meet an important demand to internalize scientific knowledge and technological innovation, with the aim of strengthening and dynamizing the productive and social chains of this region.

 

In the Northeast Region, UFPE plays a very important role as an Institution that brings together qualified personnel with innovative research projects that have a high impact on local development. The demand for its postgraduate courses includes professionals from several States of the Region and the absorption of these professionals by the public and private sectors has been taking place regularly.
 

To carry out the research activities, PPGECAM relies on the existing facilities at the Technology Center (NT) of the CAA, which houses the degrees in Civil Engineering and Production Engineering, and is located on the Agreste Campus. The NT has as infrastructure to support teaching, research and extension: air-conditioned classrooms; offices for teachers with computers and accessories; sectoral library, linked to the central library on Campus Recife; 1 multidisciplinary laboratory – Laboratory of Constructive Systems - serving the areas of structures, civil construction and materials; 4 specific laboratories dedicated to research on the environment – Geotechnical, Water Resources, Sanitation and Transport Laboratories; 4 computer labs, one of which is a high-performance lab with a cluster of 20 nodes; 1 physics laboratory; 1 chemistry laboratory; etc.