This course involves conducting a Preliminary Design (and/or Scheme Assessment) Report for an engineering project. This will include the project coordination and technical considerations of a major design and students will need to consider social, economic and environmental impact with associated construction, and safety and occupational health issues throughout the entire project lifecycle of the proposed project.
The course will focus on key elements of design and systems thinking. The prime teaching interface between staff and students will be the design workshops, which will run under a simulated design office environment.Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:• Apply engineering knowledge and problem solving capabilities to deal with the investigation of an open ended, complex, real or synthetic civil engineering problem within professional design office.• To understand and apply the process of engineering design to the preliminary design phase including cost estimates, consulting fees and project implementation plans.• Undertake a research component relevant to the project brief and subsequently apply the findings of the research to help solve the engineering brief.• Prepare and deliver professional practice standard of reports and presentations.• Develop and apply a range of interpersonal and personal competencies relevant for engineers working in multi-disciplinary project teams.• Apply key aspects of safety in design to mitigate project delivery risks and ongoing operation and maintenance consideration, taking a whole of life perspective.• Assess and integrate stakeholder requirements including Treaty of Waitangi and Resource Management Act requirements.• Critically reflect on own performance and develop/execute personal improvement plans.
The philosophy adopted is based on the premise that engineers’ contributions in society often stem from an ability to apply knowledge in innovative ways to solve difficult (sometimes called wicked) problems. Engineers are a profession of people with problem solving skills, who develop solutions and designs that can be implemented, and thus need to be pragmatic to meet stakeholders’ objectives and address multiple technical, commercial, health and safety, ethical and health and safety considerations. This is rarely done in a linear fashion and requires numerous iterations, with the application of advanced levels of knowledge from a range of specialisations, with engineers working in collaboration in multi-disciplinary teams. This course brings these elements together in order to develop the competencies needed to be effective engineers.
There are both group and individual components and deliverables for this course.
Students will be operating in teams who undertake a level of preliminary investigation that would be done before a fully detailed design. At the end of the course each team will deliver a professional quality preliminary design report with drawings, cost estimates, environmental impacts and support this with an oral presentation and interview. Individuals in each team of 7-10 students will be undertaking complementary distinct roles such as geotechnical, traffic, environmental, water, construction and structural specialists. Each team will act as a group of consulting engineers undertaking an open ended preliminary investigation and design with the assistance of technical specialist advisors and a staff member as your nominal client.
Students will also need to individually complete research on areas related to the project as well as provide formal reflection on learnings obtained throughout the course.