Very cool! I've used some of AutoCAD's Civil 3D with the terrain modeling and point clouds. It's been a long time though.
River and flood analysis | AutoCAD Civil 3D Features
I do mostly structural/mechanical design these days for fire training structures, but I do have to create foundation layouts to set them on, which requires soil analysis, and some grading topo stuff. I don't need to get as in depth for it as what you're doing here though, so through the past 10 years or so the civil side of things has passed me by.
What is this class called? What type of degree?
Edit: Just saw the rest of your post. LiDAR - Never heard of it, but that's pretty awesome.