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Civil Engineering and Management
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering
Course description
Being able to manage complicated civil engineering systems efficiently is an important part of industrial practice, especially in light of the global push to reduce carbon emissions.
This course integrates a strong technical background with the fundamentals of construction management. The management aspects have a strong contextual grounding in the civil and structural engineering profession, which will be taught via directly applicable examples.
The course develops your communication and negotiation skills, and explores management and business practices in the context of designing and maintaining infrastructure. You’ll learn to address the challenges facing modern construction practices, and investigate the methods that engineers employ to make the built environment more resilient and sustainable.
You’ll also develop an awareness of the social, commercial and ethical context of your profession.
This course teaches you how to design with the least possible environmental impact. We offer a fresh perspective on solving the toughest global engineering problems, such as the causes and effects of climate change.
You’ll be taught by a mix of research-active academics and specialist construction management professionals, and learn through directed reading, lectures, tutorials, problem-solving classes and classroom discussions.
Accreditation
This degree is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) comprising of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Structural Engineers, Institute of Highway Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and the Permanent Way Institution on behalf of the Engineering Council as meeting the academic requirement for Further Learning for registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng).
To hold accredited qualifications for CEng registration, candidates must also hold a Bachelor (Hons) degree that has been accredited as partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng). See the JBM website for further information.
Candidates completing the MSc who hold an underpinning accredited Bachelor degree accredited for IEng only or a non-accredited bachelor degree will need to apply for an academic assessment to determine whether they will meet the educational base for CEng registration.
Modules
Core modules:
- Research and Professional Skills
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This module fosters best practice in engineering-related research/professional skills and delivers a range of training activities to meet the needs of professional engineers dealing with research and technological development.
15 credits - Engineering within Planetary Capacity
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It is projected that by 2050 the human population will be 10 billion, with over 75% concentrated in urban and megacity areas. It is essential that engineering solutions are developed to create and maintain an urban built environment that can meet rapidly changing societal needs, whilst being within the carrying capacity of the planet. This module will equip you with the skills to develop and analyse engineering solutions to ensure they operate within planetary boundaries.
15 credits - Management of Construction - Enabling Skills
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This module will introduce you to core management topics and skills relevant to the complex environment of the modern construction industry. Key topics addressed include: construction project management, making a business case, understanding value, risk and quality, managing resources and contracts, legal responsibilities and procurement.
15 credits - Application of Management in Construction
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This module will apply core skills taught in previous modules to real life scenarios related to the management of construction. The scenarios will include aspects of: construction project management, making a business case, understanding value, risk and quality, managing resources and contracts, legal responsibilities and procurement.
15 credits - Geotechnical Design
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This module is designed to develop (a) your understanding of the use of limit analysis in geotechnical engineering and (b) the concepts behind geotechnical limit state design and how safety and idealisations are built into design calculations to deal with the complexity of groundwater, soil behaviour and modelling issues. Through lectures, tutorial sheets, and software exercises, you will develop your knowledge of design calculations for retaining structures and foundations in the context of Eurocode 7. You will also develop your ability to use a range of state of the art engineering design concepts and tools.
15 credits - Sustainable Drainage and Green Infrastructure
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This module will introduce you to Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and Green Infrastructure. Lectures and design exercises will be used to develop your understanding of why SuDS are preferred to conventional stormwater management approaches, and to equip you with the skills to design SuDS schemes to meet relevant performance objectives. Guest lectures will raise your awareness of the inter-disciplinary aspects of SuDS, through topics focusing on, for example, urban planning, ecology and biodiversity, plant and soil processes, rainwater harvesting and evapotranspiration. The module will also include a site visit to a local SuDS scheme and discussion/interaction with an industry practitioner. Independent literature research will enable you to explore a current topic in SuDS research in detail.
15 credits - Design and Management of Sewer Systems
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This module will provide students with a high level of knowledge and understanding as to how sewer and stormwater drainage systems operate in the UK. Teaching will focus on acquiring knowledge about current and emerging regulatory, management and design practices. Students will be required to understand the environmental and sustainbility issues associated with this type of infrastructure system. Students will apply industry standard design approaches in a case study, considering hydraulic and pollution concepts to evaluate and modify the performance of the case study network to meet current regulatory requirements, anticipated future pressures whilst considering the long term sustainability of the system. Students will be expected to demonstrate their level of knowledge and understanding via application in the case study sewer network.
15 credits - Advanced Engineering Research Study
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This module represents a major element of the Masters programme, with the aim of enabling you to learn skills in scientific investigation and in running and presenting a project. You are required to submit a comprehensive (bound) report describing the individual work that you have done during the summer semester.
60 credits - Structural Analysis
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This module is designed to give you fundamental knowledge and skills related to the analysis and design of concrete and steel structural elements. Significant emphasis in this module is on the fundamental understanding of how structural members work and of the analysis behind the design codes. This helps the engineer develop a feel for the behaviour of beam and column elements that is often missing when design is based solely by using codes of practice or by the direct application of prescribed equations. This understanding will become more vital for efficient and sustainable structures into the future.
15 credits
The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.
Open days
An open day gives you the best opportunity to hear first-hand from our current students and staff about our courses.
Find out what makes us special at our next online open day on Wednesday 17 April 2024.
You may also be able to pre-book a department visit as part of a campus tour.Open days and campus tours
Duration
1 year full-time
Teaching
We use a variety of teaching methods to support your learning, including tutorials, lectures, group project work, virtual learning environments and individual research. Some modules may feature input from our industrial partners, laboratory work or site visits.
Assessment
Your assessments will include formal examinations, coursework and research projects. Regular feedback is also provided, so that you can understand your own development throughout the course.
Department
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Civil engineering is at the forefront of improving the way we live. Whether it's designing the infrastructure that keeps our day-to-day lives running smoothly - from buildings and bridges to clean water supplies - or working to meet the ever-changing needs of our society in the areas of sustainability, renewable energy and climate change, you'll be helping to create and protect the world we live in.
Our courses will make you the kind of engineer the world needs right now; forward-thinking, interdisciplinary, environmentally conscious, and capable of the kind of complex thinking our rapidly changing society needs. Wherever you choose to start your career, you'll be in demand.
We're eighth in the UK for civil engineering, according to the Times Good University Guide 2022, and the Complete University Guide 2022. Our research is internationally recognised, and we work closely with industry and government to ensure that our research has real world impact.
Entry requirements
Minimum 2:1 undergraduate honours degree (BEng, MEng, or BSc) in civil or structural engineering or another appropriate engineering or science subject.
You will need a strong background and high previous performance (equivalent to 2:1) in at least one geotechnical engineering-related module and at least one water engineering-related module.
We'll consider your application if you have appropriate professional qualifications and work experience, but you'll need a strong background in the areas covered on the course.
Overall IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component, or equivalent.
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the department.
Fees and funding
Apply
You can apply now using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It's a quick and easy process.
Contact
civilpgadmissions@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 5711
Any supervisors and research areas listed are indicative and may change before the start of the course.
Recognition of professional qualifications: from 1 January 2021, in order to have any UK professional qualifications recognised for work in an EU country across a number of regulated and other professions you need to apply to the host country for recognition. Read information from the UK government and the EU Regulated Professions Database.