Major study areas for Bachelor of Engineering

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Chemical engineering involves the invention, development, design and operation of processes in which raw materials are converted to useful and valuable products by chemical and physical means, with minimal environmental impact. Computer chips, toothpaste, pharmaceuticals, mobile phones, paint, plastic, petrol, paper, instant coffee and clean power, like many everyday things we take for granted, all involve chemical engineering at some stage of their manufacture. After the common first year students who choose to specialise in chemical engineering undertake units in fluid dynamics, mass and heat transfer, thermodynamics and chemical engineering principles and advanced engineering mathematics. In levels three and four, in addition to core units, students choose to complete electives from three main streams: biotechnology, sustainable processing or nanotechnology. Students also have the opportunity to undertake a final year research project in their chosen stream.

CIVIL ENGINEERING

Civil engineers design, build, maintain, manage and operate infrastructure for the benefit of society. Modern societies could not function without civil engineering. Various types of infrastructure within the civil engineering discipline include highways and railways, buildings and structures of all kinds, foundations, tunnels, airports, road systems and harbour facilities for transportation of goods and people, space stations, power generation facilities and water and wastewater treatment plants and distributions systems. After the common first year students who choose to specialise in civil engineering are introduced to basic analysis techniques in each of the four disciplines in civil engineering: geotechnical, transport, water and structural engineering. In levels three and four core units extend studies in engineering design and analysis, with increasingly complex tasks and a focus on tackling real engineering problems. In level four students undertake a thesis project in addition to core units and electives in their chosen civil engineering specialisation.

ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Electrical and computer systems engineering is an extremely diverse field, taking in bioengineering, computer systems, electronics, electrical power engineering, robotics and telecommunications. Electrical and computer systems engineering spans all scales of electrical end electronic engineering, from the fundamentals of circuits, electronic signals and signal processing; through digital electronics and systems on a chip; to the design of large scale power and telecommunication systems. After the common first year students who choose to specialise in electrical and computer systems engineering undertake core unites including signal processing, electromagnetism and telecommunications. Professional level units in systems engineering and reliability analysis, optimisation estimation and numerical methods and engineering design are studied from level three. Electives can be chosen from a range of fields including biomedical engineering, computer systems, robotics, power engineering, electronics, electro-magnetics, telecommunications and control systems. In level four students undertake a full year thesis project in addition to core and elective units.

MATERIALS ENGINEERING

Materials engineering plays a significant role in just about every industry you can imagine. It is a very broad field fundamental to all forms of engineering. Materials engineering is all about making new materials and improving existing ones. It is about making things stronger, lighter, and more functional, sustainable and cost effective. After the common first year students who choose to specialise in materials engineering are introduced to fundamental aspects of the nanostructure of materials and their relationship to both engineering properties and functional properties. Levels three and four involve aspects of both materials science and materials engineering and wide treatment is given to the properties of metallic alloys, plastics, ceramics, nanomaterials, biomaterials, corrosion and composites. In level four students complete a thesis project.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Mechanical engineering is about turning energy into motion and power. It covers the generation, conversion, transmission and use of mechanical and thermal energy, and includes the design, construction and operation of devices and systems. It also involves the behaviours of solids, liquids and gases when forces are applied and when they are heated and cooled. After the common first year students who choose to specialise in mechanical engineering study engineering practice and mechanical engineering sciences at a professional level and cover areas including fluid mechanics, engineering design, dynamics, thermodynamics and solid mechanics. At level four students undertake a full year independent project in their area of interest in addition to elective units offering scope for further specialisation.