Digital Civil Engineering MSc

Program Overview

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Overview

Civil Engineering is a highly important and ever-evolving profession, involving the design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of crucial infrastructure facilities, upon which modern life depends.

In recent years, the nature of civil engineering work has changed rapidly, with an increased interest in areas such as smart buildings and motorways, building information modelling and the use of sensors and robotics.

Nowadays, engineers require strong computational skills in addition to technical engineering knowledge, in order to provide suitable engineering solutions to meet the infrastructure needs of society.

This programme will equip you with a solid understanding of the applied computational tools in civil engineering, which can be applied to many real-life engineering problems. After graduating, you will have the skills and knowledge to operate in an increasingly digital world, to design, construct and manage complex infrastructures tackling the 21st Century challenges.

The programme is ideal for those with a civil engineering degree/background, who are interested in pursuing a career in digital civil engineering.

The programme is delivered jointly by the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering and the Department of Computer Science, where an emphasis is placed on providing a supportive environment that will equip students with the knowledge and learning skills to tackle the future challenges in industry.

Program Outline

What you will study

All module information is for 2022 entry, and is subject to change.

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First year

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Core

Statistical Applications of Industrial Big Data

Modelling and Optimisation

Industrial Big Data Analysis and Mining

Building Information Modelling

MSc Project

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Option

Software Development

Big Data Visualisation

Advanced Geotechnics

Water and Wastewater Treatment

Transportation Studies

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Learning and assessment

Teaching and learning methods have been selected to engage students in developing their fundamental knowledge and understanding through formal learning opportunities such as lectures, seminars and tutorials and informal and social learning through team-working in projects and competitions.

Study with us will include formal lectures (including those from the Visiting Professors and guest speakers from industry), but these will always be interactive and two way. We want to develop students’ understanding of the vast array of opportunities open to today’s professional engineer and therefore we look to incorporate aspects of real-world engineering problems and solutions where possible. To this end we make use of case studies, practical demonstrations, and also provide an array of resources and background information from which students can deepen their comprehension.

Opportunities will be provided for students to engage with industrial experts, through activities such as visiting guest lectures and organised site visits. The Department of Civil and Structural Engineering also liaises closely with professional institutions such as the

IStructE

and

ICE

, providing many networking and development opportunities for our students.

To support accessibility, clarity and comprehension, all teaching material is provided online in advance of the teaching sessions, allowing students to customise the display of information and their learning experience as a whole. Throughout the programme, lots of opportunities are provided for students to design their own solutions and to express their own ideas, choosing from a variety of tools and methodologies. An emphasis is also placed on the importance of planning and goal setting, allowing students to forge a learning pathway that is suitable for their needs, while respecting the requirements of programme, and the needs of others, when working within a team.

All students are allocated a personal academic tutor, with whom they meet regularly to discuss and receive guidance on their learning and development. The University also operates a wide range of support services covering areas such as disability, counselling, faith advisors and careers.

In the same way that our teaching and learning strategy is designed to prepare students for the world of work, academic research or entrepreneurship, our assessment methods incorporate a wide range of different methods designed to meet the needs of industry and the accrediting bodies, in addition to preparing students for a potential academic research career.

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Official programme specification

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Career support

The University is committed to helping students develop and enhance employability and this is an integral part of many programmes. Specialist support is available throughout the course from Career and Employability Services including help to find part-time work while studying, placements, vacation work and graduate vacancies. Students are encouraged to access this support at an early stage and to use the extensive resources on the

Careers website

.

Discussing options with specialist advisers helps to clarify plans through exploring options and refining skills of job-hunting. In most of our programmes there is direct input by Career Development Advisers into the curriculum or through specially arranged workshops.

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Career prospects

This MSc is particularly suitable for civil engineers who would like to specialise in the more digital aspects of this subject.

They may work in the design/construction/maintenance of large-scale structural/infrastructure projects, which demand advanced data handling/programming/optimisation skills.