Civil Engineering

This course offers a thorough and in-depth exploration of the fundamental principles, procedures, and techniques involved in engineering project management. It equips students with a comprehensive understanding of key concepts, enabling them to effectively navigate the complexities of managing engineering projects. The curriculum encompasses a broad range of topics essential for success in this field, including the project life cycle, project scheduling, project financing, quality management, and project delivery methods. Students will also delve into the intricacies of project organization, budget estimation and assessment, leadership, global culture, supply chain management, and contract management. They can gain crucial insights into effective project planning, execution, monitoring, and early warning mechanisms. Furthermore, the course emphasizes the significance of project environment, health, and safety management, highlighting the importance of maintaining a secure and sustainable work environment. It also addresses the critical aspects of project communication and information management (such as building information modeling), recognizing their pivotal role in fostering collaboration and ensuring project success. Finally, the course also dedicates attention to human resources and team building, underscoring the significance of building cohesive and high-performing project teams. 

This course aims to provide an in-depth overview of the fundamental principles of efficient operations, management, and planning of green transportation systems. Through in-class lectures, in-class discussions, homework, and group projects, we plan to analyze what transit systems can and cannot do; how to determine the optimal scale and layout of a transit system; and how to practically implement the design and operate the system.

This course gives students an overview of physical and chemical treatment systems for water and wastewater.

The course aims are to describe water and wastewater sources; explain the characteristics of water and wastewater (physical, chemical, and biological parameters); provide an overview of both national and international regulatory frameworks governing drinking water and wastewater management; discuss the fundamental principles of physical and chemical processes for water and wastewater treatment, and water reclamation; introduce water treatment processes including coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, adsorption, disinfection, softening, and membrane filtration.

In this course students are introduced to the design principles of transport systems, their application to the movement of people and goods, within the wider context of the civil engineering profession. The course covers concepts such as travel demand, value of time and the environmental of transportation, underpinned by mathematical programming and algorithmic techniques. A strong systems design thread is running throughout the course, which includes aspects of network design, optimization, and performance maximization.

In this course, students develop essential engineering skills, working in groups and using problem-based learning to find solutions to real engineering projects; are inspired and be given the purpose behind the method of turning theoretical teaching into practice; work as a group on the development of conceptual designs and to be a creative “designer”; generate ideas and carry out research to assess the feasibility of design concepts; experience hands-on modelling as ways of communicating ideas; work as a group to plan and manage the construction of a design at a 1:1 scale; develop application of geometric and parametric modelling in design; give and receive critical feedback on designs responses to the developed brief; and reflect on the role of civil engineers as designers and makers. The course is delivered across two intensive weeks during Creative Design where no other teaching takes place. 2 x 1 weeks are Creative Design weeks in which students work as groups to develop civil engineering designs across multiple design scales.

This course builds on the foundations set in the first year by further exploring the business environment in which civil engineering projects take place. It is part of the design thread through the MEng program. The course introduces the concept of risk management and the different types of risks inherent in the civil engineering industry. It also gives an overview of the organizations involved in the supply chain and the principles of project management and procurement, including ways to improve performance, worker safety, and the environmental impact.

In this course students learn about fundamental soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering; analyze soil origin, composition and variables used to classify soils and assess their state; learn basic concepts related to the one-dimensional flow of water through soils; explain the purpose and basic design principles of building foundations and retaining walls; become familiar with soils, rocks, and the use of geological maps and sketches in desk studies; appreciate the importance of developing a detailed understanding of ground conditions in successful civil engineering; and recognize major geotechnical hazards, plan appropriate site investigations, and develop safe and successful geotechnical design. 

The course provides technological insights into hydropower harnessing, with special emphasis on Icelandic conditions. Topics include hydropower potential, technically feasible hydropower, main structural components in a hydropower plant, structural design of hydropower plants, both underground (tunnels) and above ground (dams, spillways), regulations, environment, health and safety considerations over life cycle of plant, ice and sedimentation, hydro- and electromechanical components, electricity production, cost analysis of main structures and equipment, and feasibility of the power plant.

The major processes involved in energy and environmental engineering are of an interdisciplinary nature. Understanding these important processes requires a good knowledge of the fundamental science in disciplines such as microbiology, chemistry, and thermodynamics. This course provides students with an overview of these disciplines with the focus on the application to a wide range of energy technologies and the environment.

This course develops students' understanding of the fundamental principles needed to design drinking water supply and treatment works, wastewater collection and treatment systems, and their ability to develop waste and resource management strategies.