Study Guide

Descriptions

Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Civil Engineering
Overview
A Bachelor's degree in youth education
Name of the degree programme:
Degree Programme in Construction Project Management and Structural Engineering
Bachelor of Engineering, 240 ECTS, 4.0 years.
Mode of studying: Full day studies
Location: Myllypurontie

This curriculum gives the necessary skills for working as a construction project manager or as a structural engineer, who usually begin their career in planning tasks and working as a site engineer and advance into corresponding expert or management tasks. In the coming years they will have a lot of work opportunities in both constructing new buildings and renovation work. In addition, the retirement of current engineers increases the demand for new professionals. Sustainable development, energy efficiency of buildings, climate change, circular economy, lowing CO2-emissions, and knowledge based data management and data models provide many practical challenges for civil engineers in the near future.

The purpose of the Degree Programme in Construction Project Management and Structural Engineering is to train construction professionals with the ability to work in a variety of building industry jobs. The graduates have wide expertise and a general understanding of the theory, practice and methods in their field, as well as a deep understanding of their area of specialisation.

They both need strong professional expertise but also problem-solving skills, mathematical and financial judgement, teamworking and supervisor skills, good IT skills, an ability to communicate clearly, and language skills. In addition to the traditional theoretical skills required of construction project managers and structural engineers the curriculum also provides skills based on a skill requirement description prepared together with businesses and organisations working in the field of construction. The curriculum emphasises practical learning, learning by doing, problem solving skills, co-operative skills, multiculturality, thorough understanding of the major subject and specialisation. In addition sustainable development and digital skills are involved in suitable courses.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Typically these kind of construction engineers design structures for apartment buildings or business or industrial buildings, supervise work at a construction site, or are employed in maintenance and renovation projects or engage in the building of infrastructures. Typical employers are, for example, design consultants, contractors, construction product industry, the public sector and research institutes.

SKILL DESCRIPTION FOR THE DEGREE PROGRAMME
The shared parts of the degree programme emphasise basic knowledge of construction engineering and the theoretical skills required in the studies. In the beginning of the studies the students get an overview of the construction industry and the opportunities it offers. After choosing the major subject, the studies concentrate on increasing expertise in the chosen subject area. The following is a description of the main learning outcomes for each major subject.

Construction Project Management

The student
- knows the different parts of project management and central concepts
- can apply principles of project management in construction projects
- can create schedules and different forms of schedules for different kinds of construction sites
- know the theoretical bases of quality management and quality assurance and can make a quality assurance plan
- can produce quantity calculations based on items to be used (planning stage), and understands the principles of target price and design management
- can calculate a cost estimate and make a bid based on it, as well as determine a target cost estimate and monitor costs
- can choose the best working method in order to achieve top quality taking into account time and cost factors
- knows the most common building service systems and how to install them
- knows relevant legislation, contract types, contract document types and principles of procurement
- knows contract documents used in design phase, can produce documents required by the contract documents to be used on the site
- understands different types of contracts and the differences between them
- understands the role of logistics in the functioning of a construction company and production
- knows the principles of occupational safety and can apply them
- can co-operate with different parties and is proficient in negotiation and communication situations
- knows the basics of using and maintaining a real estate
- knows the principles of life cycle planning from the point of view of cost management and environmental protection.

Structural Engineering

The student
- knows the rules, standards and regulations related to structure design
- knows the characteristics of building materials and can take these into account when designing structures
- understands the statics, mechanics and functionality of structures
- can determine different loads of a building and its structures and divide these to different structures based on the statical functionality of structure
- can calculate forces related to structures
- can dimension structures based on the loads in such a way that the structures are sufficiently secured against failure and harmful deformation
- knows old building methods and structures to the extent needed in renovation projects
- can take into account heat and humidity physics of different structures
- can take into account demands related to occupational safety when designing structures
- can design healthy and safe structures
- can produce documents needed in the construction work, such as drawings, specifications and models
- can co-operate with different parties and is proficient in negotiation and communication situations.


STUDY PATH
The studies include the following modules
95 ECTS Degree programme studies
60 ECTS Major subject
10 ECTS Innovation project
30 ECTS Minor subject and freely chosen studies, either one minor subject of 30 ECTS or 15 ECTS of alternative studies and 15 ECTS of freely chosen studies
30 ECTS Practical work training
15 ECTS Bachelor's thesis
240 ECTS Total
Schedule and themes by terms:
1st term Orientation to study program, including 30 ECTS of Degree programme studies
2nd term Orientation to study program, including 30 ECTS of Degree programme studies related to professional expertise
3rd term Orientation to major subject, including 30 ECTS of Degree programme studies related to professional expertise
4th term Towards professional expertise, includes 30 ECTS of studies in major subject
5th term Deepening professional expertise, includes 30 ECTS of studies in major subject
6th term Innovation project, includes the innovation project (20 ECTS) and 10 ECTS of professional studies
7th term minor subject or alternative studies/freely chosen studies, total 30 ECTS
8th term Bachelor's thesis 15 ECTS and 15 ECTS of professional studies

MAJOR STUDIES, OPTIONAL STUDIES AND INTERNSHIP
The specialisation major subject options of the Degree Programme in Civil Engineering are Construction Project Management and Structural Engineering.

As an optional minor subject, the students can specialise in subjects offered by
1) Construction field and related programmes
2) Studies offered by other degree programmes

Internship training can be undertaken during terms or partly during the summer period.