MSc Civil Engineering with Sustainability
Course summary
The Civil Engineering with Sustainability MSc course provides advanced training for engineers and professionals concerned with a future built environment that is design and operation efficient, in line with the UK’s goal, alongside with other nations, to achieve 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
The course is multidisciplinary in nature and instates in students the capability of designing systems that are resilient to the extreme climates and relax the greenhouse warming effect.
This course uses the concepts of civil engineering and adaptation to frame an understanding of the sustainability, aiming to train structural design engineers who have a fair understanding of materials and methods for designing low whole-life carbon structures.
*This course is subject to validation.
Return to campus: dual delivery
In a Covid-secure environment, enjoy learning on our state-of-the-art campuses and flex between online delivery
Find out moreState-of-the-art
State-of-the-art engineering and microanalytical laboratories
Careers
Career-focused curriculum in partnership with ICE and our Industry Advisory Board
Research
Research-informed curriculum and chance to work with the Sustainability Research Institute and to be involved in our funded live research projects
What we're researching
Our academic staff bring a huge amount of research knowledge to bear on their teaching, so you can be sure that what you study reflects the most up-to-date thinking and practice. Alongside strong academic credentials, many have extensive industrial experience as practising civil engineers.
Their expertise includes coastal and river engineering, structural analysis and design, geotechnical analysis and design, laboratory modelling and computational structural mechanics.
For example, Senior Lecturer Dr Ali Abbas has expertise in Finite Element Analysis of concrete structures. His current area of research involves studying the responses of reinforced concrete structures to seismic and impact conditions, such as earthquakes.
He brings to the department extensive practical experience in the analysis and design of structures, including modelling and experimental work. His work has been widely published in leading journals and at international conferences.
Senior Lecturer Dr Ravindra Jayaratne has worked with academics in UK, Japan, Canada and Mexico on mechanisms to counter the deadly effects of tsunamis and storm surges, while Senior Lecturer Dr Anca Ciupala is researching how to strengthen earthquake-hit buildings with fibre-reinforced polymer materials.
We’re also developing innovative technologies to promote carbon-neutrality and eco-efficiency through our Sustainability Research Institute, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Making a difference
UEL is one of the UK’s leading modern research universities. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF), 17 per cent of our overall research submission was classified as ‘world-leading’ for its quality and impact – almost double our previous REF score. A further 45 per cent of our work was considered ‘internationally excellent’.
Dr Arya Assadi Langroudi
Engineering Subject Area Leader and Course Leader
Each structural engineer on average is responsible for design of 4000 m2 of buildings per annum, resulting in about 250 kg.m-2 of carbon influx which sums to 1000 tonnes of carbon per year. A practical knowledge of sustainable design, sustainable alternative materials and the impact on economy is fundamental to future civil engineers and is provided to civil engineering professionals by this MSc course.
What you'll study
We consistently review and develop our courses and modules to ensure they are up-to-date with sector and industry graduate skills demands. Course structure, modules and options are subject to change.
- Mental Wealth Professional Life (Engineering Management) (Core)
- Applied Research and Engineering Practice I (Core)
- Circular Economy and Sustainability (Core)
- Advanced Structural Analysis (Core)
- Environmental Sustainable Engineering and Logistics (Optional)
- Environmental Impact Assessment (Optional)
- Design in Steel and Concrete (Optional)
- Highway and Railway Engineering (Optional)
- Soil Structure Engineering (Optional)
- Structural Stability and Dynamics (Optional)
- Industrial Placement (Core for MSc with industrial placement)
- Big Data Analytics (Optional)
- Machine Learning on Big Data (Optional)
- Intelligent transport systems (Optional)
How you'll be assessed
Assessment will be via a broad range of vehicles including written examinations, presentations, coursework and viva (for dissertation). You will have access to and use a number of digital tools in completing your assessment, including Microsoft Teams.
How you'll learn
Our unique teaching approach aims to promote Learning by Doing through guiding you to use observational, prototyping, computer analysis and physical simulation methods in design, in addition to teaching you the theories, engineering principles and standards.
You will be encouraged to be creative, innovative and to use advanced digital tools to shape your imaginations and translate them to specifications for structures and systems that you design.
You will have access to our many engineering and environmental laboratories (broad range of facilities available including XRD, XRF, SEM EDX, CHN Analyser, Environmental Chamber, pH/EC analyser, FTIR, ...), and will be guided by our strong team of academics throughout your learning journey and at all stages.
Teaching will be mainly through physical attendance in lectures, tutorial and practical sessions. You will also have a broad suite of online and virtual learning tools to complement your learning.
What you'll learn
You will have four core (mandatory) modules and the choice of one module from a pool of six optional modules. Your core modules cover four areas of advanced structural analysis, circular economy, sustainability, and engineering management. Your optional modules are designed to cover five themes, giving you the liberty to choose your specialist niche direction. These five themes include: Structural Engineering, Earthquake Engineering, Highways & Railways, Geotechnics, Environmental Engineering & Logistics.
Your future career
This technical MSc course will satisfies your further studies requirement in working towards acquiring your chartered membership status, as one of the three JBM stages. You will enter the civil engineering and construction sector as a design engineer or consultant. You will benefit from both having a thorough knowledge of engineering design, as well as fundamental knowledge needed in projects to meet compliance with resilience and sustainability requirements.
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal
