Course description
Course overview
Civil engineers design, construct, manage and improve our environment. They develop our infrastructure and have a profound effect on the way we live through consideration of function, aesthetics, economics and sustainability.
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
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 also be provided with basic skills in IT and computing and engineering drawing and start finding out about the civil engineering design process 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
• The mechanics of fluids
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. BEng students can opt to transfer to the MEng course if their overall mark is 60 per cent or above at the end of year two.
Year 3 - BEng
In your final year 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 and work in groups on an intensive design module again featuring real life projects. There are four elective modules from which you choose two.
Students studying surveying take elective modules in:
• Remote sensing and geographical information systems
• Highway and transport studies
Civil engineering students can select from these and additional options in:
• Building engineering
• Environmental control and public health
• Architectural surveying
Year 3 - MEng
In year three the course becomes more applied and you will 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 and is intellectually demanding.
You will also work in groups to prepare entries for national design competitions, in addition to the intensive design module again featuring a real life project.
Year 4 - MEng
The main focus of the final year 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 as an individual and addresses issues such as environmental impact and construction safety. 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 four elective modules from which you choose two. Students studying surveying take elective modules in:
• Remote sensing and geographical information systems
• Highway and transport studies
Civil engineering students can select from these and additional options in:
• Building engineering
• Environmental control and public health
• 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.
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.
BEng - All years contribute to the final degree classification with increasing weight up to the final year.
MEng - Only the final three years contribute to the final degree classification with equal weighting in years three and four and lesser weighting in year two.
Professional placement and study abroad
Placement year after year 2
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 in finding 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 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.
