Course description
Course overview
Civil engineers design, construct, manage and improve our environment. They interact with architects to produce creative and exciting solutions to an infrastructure project.
Course content
Year 1 – BEng and MEng
In year one you will study fundamental engineering principals relating to the materials used in Civil
Engineering, studying core modules such as:
• Structural mechanics
• Hydraulics
• Materials
• Mathematics
The Architectural Design and Drawing module uses studio based learning to develop the skills and techniques required to plan and present your own solution to an architectural design brief.
Other core modules will introduce you to specialist topics in particular surveying and geology, which features a residential field trip to north Devon. You will learn basic skills in IT and computing and civil engineering in practice.
Year 2 – BEng and MEng
In year two you will apply these fundamental principals to the:
• Analysis and design of steel and concrete structures
• Prediction of the mechanical behaviour of soil
• Mechanics of fluids
The architecture and context module uses studio based learning to support you through the development of an architectural design brief for a significant project. You will also learn more about managing construction projects and surveying, for which there is a residential field trip to the south coast. Major design projects include the outline design for real life projects led by Alan Baxter & Associates, Clancy consulting and Ove Arup and Partners.
Year 3 – BEng
In year three the course becomes more applied and you study:
• The analysis and design of typical geotechnical and hydraulic structures
• Numerical analysis techniques used in structural design
• Construction law, contracts and economics
You undertake a challenging individual project related to architectural design and provide the architectural input to groups working on an intensive design module again featuring real life projects.
There are two additional modules on more specialist topics:
• Building engineering
• Architectural surveying
Year 3 – MEng
In year three the course becomes more applied and you study:
• The analysis and design of typical geotechnical and hydraulic structures
• Numerical analysis techniques used in
structural design
• Construction law, contracts and economics
As an MEng student you will also study advanced analytical methods applied to civil engineering structures and undertake an individual investigative project which is research-orientated, requires work of an original nature, is intellectually demanding and related to architectural design. You will also work in groups to prepare entries for national design competitions, in addition to providing the architectural input to groups working on an intensive design module again featuring real life projects.
Year 4 – MEng
The main focus of year four is an extensive integrated design project where you interact with leading engineers from industry to research and develop a design solution for a real and current project. This project includes elements that are undertaken both in groups and individually, addressing issues such as environmental impact and construction safety. The individual element is the detailed architectural design of a key structure in the project. The aim is to encourage you to develop more technically innovative solutions to design problems and this is supported by providing a greater depth of theoretical knowledge in geotechnical analysis, structural systems and computational hydraulics. You also undertake extended professional, industrial and business studies. There are two additional modules on more specialist topics such as building engineering and architectural surveying
Teaching and assessment
Teaching
You will be taught by a combination of lectures, coursework and projects. Much of the coursework is related to laboratory experiments, which are used to consolidate and illustrate the material taught in lectures. There is a large laboratory devoted entirely to undergraduate experiments. Teaching also uses group sessions in which your individual work is displayed and discussed. Design projects are integral parts of the course and are supported by practising engineers. Practising engineers also provide specialist lectures on a wide range of topics at all stages of the course.
Assessment
Assessment is by means of coursework, project work and examinations held at the end of each year. Continuous assessment of coursework and project work accounts for roughly 30 per cent of the marks for each year.
MEng: Only the final three years contribute to the final degree classification with equal weighting in years three and four and a lesser weighting in year two.
BEng: All years contribute to the final degree classification with increasing weight up to the final year.
Professional placement and study abroad
Placement Year (optional)
All students can opt to spend a year on an industry placement at the end of their second year. The industrial liaison tutor is in regular contact with companies and will assist students to find a suitable work placement. Students are paid for their placement year. They are visited by their personal tutor whilst on the placement to ensure that they are undertaking properly supervised work that will contribute towards the experience required for chartered engineer status. A year spent in industry on a placement is a valuable opportunity to find out how industry works and can often lead to sponsorship and future employment.
