What is Civil Engineering?

• What is Civil Engineering?
  • Civil Engineering at Melbourne - the modern program
  • The skills you will gain
  • Careers
  • Subjects you may study
  • The Rationale for Civil Engineering course revision
  • 2008 and the introduction of the Melbourne Model
  • More details
• Postgraduate degrees

Australian Financial Review Potholes in the road [pdf] - on the booming infrastructure sector and shortage of Civil Engineers (Peter Roberts: The Australian Financial Review, 4 July 2005

What is Civil Engineering?

Civil Engineering is an international profession that involves the planning, design, project management and construction of the built environment (eg: design and construction of buildings and bridges).

Civil Engineering provides the infrastructure for essential services (transport systems, water supply and drainage systems, ports and harbours) and in countries where infrastructure is already in place, the emphasis is on how best to upgrade and manage existing assets in a sustainable manner such that the environment is both protected and enhanced.

Civil Engineering at Melbourne - The Modern Program

In the Civil Engineering profession, it is generally acknowledged that the practice of civil engineering is becoming increasingly complex. Environmental, social, health and legal issues surrounding proposed civil projects add important dimensions that are poorly covered in a traditional civil engineering curriculum. Further, many 'generic graduate attribute skills' are not well developed in a traditional civil engineering curriculum. In addition, skill sets required for 'lifelong learning' are not well or systematically nurtured in the student.

The modern revised Civil Engineering degree program at The University of Melbourne addresses these issues with an increased emphasis on the engineering and material sciences, engineering and complex systems, an integration of the sub-discipline specialisations and more problem based learning using integrated design case studies.

The objective of the degree program is to equip graduates with a broader and deeper suite of knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to more effectively function in the highly challenging civil engineering environment of the coming decades. The changes made to the degree program will enable our students to lead into the 21st Century.

Lean more about the Rationale for Civil Engineering Course Revision.

The skills you will gain

Civil Engineers are taught many skills while at the University, including: leadership skills, problem solving skills, technical skills, planning and time management skills as well as being encouraged to use their creativity and critical thinking.

Careers

Your career opportunities include working in the following areas:

• Government instrumentalities (including local government)
• Private consulting
• Civil and Building construction
• Mining resource development
• Petrochemical complexes
• Electrical power generation
• Water control
• Transportation and urban development
• Consulting and management arms of large financial and accounting firms

You can be active in more than one field; are able to change from investigation and design to consulting, from construction engineering to design, from design to administration and management . Employment can be gained not only in Australia, but worldwide.

Civil Engineering is an increasingly challenging and rewarding career with graduates in great demand from industry. Our students have 100% employment.

Subjects you may study include

Early years

• Civil Engineering introduction provides an introductory overview of the profession
• Mathematics is very important and potential students must have a good grounding in this subject
• Computing (to gather and manipulate experimental data and solve problems through computer modelling of the system)
• Engineering Science subjects such as mechanics and materials sciences
• Engineering Statics - the starting point for the engineering sciences; learn how forces balance in the natural and built world.

Mid & final years

• Engineering Analysis Modelling and Mechanics - the theoretical basis
• Design - where you concentrate on the creative processes in engineering
• Engineering Management (including Economics) - everything from optimising engineering systems to answering the ethical problems that face today's engineers
• Design studies integrating the major specialty areas (structural engineering, hydraulic engineering, hydrological engineering, geotechnical engineering, transport engineering and engineering practices)

The Rationale for Civil Engineering course revision

Civil Engineering is a discipline that has a tradition going back thousands of years. Today, civil engineering is a discipline strongly shaped by its past-an amalgam of a practical and a theoretical body of knowledge in hydraulics, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, traffic engineering and project management. In many ways, it is trapped by its past, a prisoner of traditions that do not reflect the social and technological challenges of modern times. Recognising this, in 2001 the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) commissioned a task force that produced a document titled Engineering the Future of Civil Engineering.

A traditional civil engineering curriculum usually unfolds through a didactic lecture discourse over a four years period, covering the abovementioned sub-disciplines to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the program and the interests of the academics delivering the program. There is usually little integration between the sub-disciplines. There is usually little integration with 'sister disciplines' like chemical engineering and mechanical engineering. Often there is an almost total 'disconnect' of civil engineering from the fundamental sciences. Civil engineering in most traditional courses has become an isolated technical discipline, catering to a number of 'mature' and highly specialised technical problems (e.g. the structural framework for a building). The modern revised civil engineering degree program will address these issues.

In the civil engineering profession, it is generally acknowledged that the practice of civil engineering is becoming increasingly complex. Environmental, social, health and legal issues surrounding proposed civil projects add important dimensions that are not covered fully in a traditional civil engineering curriculum. Further, many 'generic graduate attribute skills' are not always well developed in a traditional civil engineering curriculum. In addition, skill sets required for 'lifelong learning' are not systematically nutured in the student. The modern revised civil engineering degree program will address these issues.

Following the Engineering the Future of Civil Engineering document, the ASCE assembled an eminent committee of civil engineers (including academics) to define a Body Of Knowledge (BOK) for Civil Engineers of the 21 st Century. After wide consultation in the profession, and with many educational institutions in the USA , a substantial report was submitted in January 2004.

Fifteen items were defined that described the skills and attributes needed for the practice of civil engineering. This list provides a challenge that no traditional engineering courses adequately addresses (it is noted in passing that some of these items identified overlap with generic skills attributes required of Melbourne University graduates). The executive summary of the BOK document concludes by saying:

"Increasingly, newly licenced civil engineers will possess a broader and deeper suite of knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to more effectively function in a highly challenging civil engineering environment of the coming decades."

A modern revised civil engineering degree program should address each of the fifteen items identified in the BOK, and develop in civil engineering graduates a "broader and deeper suite of knowledge, skills and attitudes".

The revised course at Melbourne University has moved beyond the "traditional" civil engineering degree. While the traditional course does adequately prepare students for a career in civil engineering, it is believed that the revised course will do this better, and prepare our students for civil engineering of the future.

Links to documents:

• The American Society of Civil Engineers - (ASCE) Body of Knowledge
• The National Academy of Engineering - The Engineer of 2020

More details

For details of the Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering) see:

• the Faculty of Engineering: Guide to Courses (2007) and specifically the sections dealing with the Bachelor of Engineering which includes the Civil Engineering stream
• ways you can study Civil Engineering from 2008
• Frequently Asked Questions website
• Future Students website

Postgraduate degrees

For information on postgraduate degrees available in this field see here.