MSc Structural Engineering

The MSc in Structural Engineering is a full-time course lasting twelve months, comprising two semesters of lectures and coursework followed by a further dedicated project period of four months for research and the preparation of a dissertation. All staff involved are research active in practical areas of the discipline, and this provides scope for interesting and up-to-date MSc research projects. The level of commitment of all staff to teaching and learning is high and the courses are taught by staff who are experts in the fields in which they lecture.

Core Modules for Year One

• Steel Structures
• Numerical Techniques in Structural Engineering
• Professional Engineering Studies
• Dynamics
• FE Theory and Practice
• Advanced Structural Mechanics
• Engineering Case Study
• Structural Engineering
• Environmental Building Studies
• Dissertation (Civil, Structural, Geoenvironmental, Water)

Optional Modules for Year One

• Big Data and AI in Civil Engineering
• Theoretical Soil Mechanics
• Building and Infrastructure Information Modelling

How Will I Be Assessed?

Achievement of learning outcomes in the majority of modules is assessed by a combination of coursework assignments, plus University examinations set in January or May. Examinations count for 60%–70% of assessments in Stage 1 of the programme, depending on the options chosen, the remainder being largely project work and pieces of coursework.

Award of an MSc requires successful completion of Stage 2, the Dissertation, with a mark of 50% or higher. Candidates achieving a 70% average may be awarded a Distinction. Candidates achieving a 60% average may be awarded a Merit. Candidates failing to qualify for an MSc may be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma for 120 credits in Stage 1. Candidates failing to complete the 120 credits required for Stage 1 may still be eligible for the award of a Postgraduate Certificate for the achievement of at least 60 credits.

What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?

As a student in this MSc programme, the skills that you will practise and develop are as follows:

Knowledge and Understanding

• Understand the multi-disciplinary nature of structural engineering and the need for the integration of knowledge from a range of engineering disciplines in the management of structural engineering challenges.
• Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the principles of steel and timber behaviour and their application in design codes
• Critically compare the engineering and mathematical approaches to elasticity
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of several cement-based composites and the use of fracture mechanics in concrete design
• Understand the causes and techniques for analysing structural motion and relate these to the design of buildings
• Understand the basis of the finite element finite difference methods and apply the methods to 2D structural problems
• Demonstrate knowledge which is at the forefront of a range of disciplines selected from structural, geotechnical, environmental and highway engineering and the management of engineering

Intellectual Skills

• Use knowledge and scientific, evidence-based methods in the assessment and solution of structural engineering challenges, often on the basis of limited and possibly contradictory information
• Deal with complex structural engineering issues both systematically and creatively
• Show originality in tackling both familiar and unfamiliar problems
• Critically review the background of a structural engineering problem and formulate a programme of work to address the issue
• Systematically undertake a significant research project in structural engineering which includes originality in the application of knowledge and the exercise of critical engineering judgement
• Collect, evaluate, synthesise and interpret qualitative and quantitative data in a variety of ways, and identify means to gain new data where needed
• Conceive, plan, execute, and communicate the results of an extended in-depth piece of individual project work
• Sustain a critical argument, both in writing and through presentations

Practical Skills

• Use appropriate mathematical and experimental methods for the modelling and analysis of structural engineering problems

Transferable Skills

• Manipulate, present and report data in a variety of ways
• Manage resources and time
• Communicate ideas, principles and theories effectively through oral, written, and physical or practical means

.This course's graduate employment record is excellent, with the majority of graduates joining engineering consultancies.

How Will I Be Taught?

A wide range of teaching styles will be used to deliver the diverse material forming the curriculum of the programme. You will attend lectures and participate in example classes. All students must complete 120 credits in Stage 1 in order to progress to the dissertation, for which they are allocated a supervisor from among the teaching staff. Dissertation topics are normally chosen from a range of project titles proposed by academic staff, usually in areas of current research interest, although you are encouraged to put forward your own project ideas.