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 Civil 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 civil engineer. Usually civil engineers begin their career in planning tasks and working as a site engineer and advance into corresponding expert or management tasks. In the coming years civil engineers 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. Increasing energy efficiency and managing building life cycles with information models are also new challenges that will offer a lot of work opportunities. The purpose of the Degree Programme in Civil 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.

Civil engineers 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 civil 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.

This curriculum describes the three main subjects of the degree program, which are:
Infrastructures
Structural Engineering
Project Management of Construction.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS
Civil engineers typically 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, engineering offices specialised in design or consultation, construction companies, the 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.

Infrastructures
The student
- knows the main agents in the field of infrastructure construction
- knows central sources in the field such as InfraRYL
- knows the procurement process and has an overall understanding of relevant legislation
- understands the importance of city planning for infrastructure construction, knows the different levels of city plans, and understands the environmental impact assessment procedure
- can design basic plans and interpret complex plans
- can put together information from various design documents
- can read, for example, a longitudinal section and a design map together and get the information required in construction work from them
- can take basic measurements and mass calculations
- can determine the correct dimensioning of road structures
- knows the basics of special structures (bridges, sustaining walls)
- knows how to position elements in the same plan (e.g. piping and cables)
- can implement street and road structures according to the construction plan
- knows materials used in road construction and their properties
- knows how crushed gravel roads are maintained in the summer and in the winter
- knows technological solutions for paving streets and roads
- understands how winter maintenance requirements influence the design and building of roads
- understands soil and rock mechanics and knows different blasting methods
- understands how weather conditions influence construction
- knows most common repair construction methods for bridges and roads
- knows the occupational safety regulations related to tasks common in infrastructure construction (such as road safety and blasting)
- can schedule a construction project
- knows the basics of construction economics (measurements, units, costs and can form a budget estimate based on these)
- can monitor costs and take corrective action
- can use indexes developed for the field and understands their impact.

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 statical 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.

Project Management of Construction
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.

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 SUBJECTS AND CHOOSING THEM
The specialisation options of the Degree Programme in Civil Engineering are Infrastructure Construction, Structural Engineering, and Project Management of Construction.
As a minor subject, the students can specialise in subjects offered by other degree programs.
Possible minor subjects are:
• Construction and Real Estate management
• NZEB (low energy construction)
• Material and coating technology
• Industrial engineering and management
• Study abroad.

Major subject
All students in the Degree Programme of Civil Engineering follow the same courses during the first year and the first term of the second year.
After this the students choose their major subject from the following three options:
• Infrastructures
• Structural Engineering, or
• Project Management of Construction.
From the beginning of the fourth term the students will follow courses related to their major subject.
The major subject includes also some courses that are common to all students in the degree programme, but the emphasis will vary depending on the major subject.
When choosing study paths and subjects, students should take into account that in order to work in various positions, such as a designer or site manager, the student has to have completed certain study modules required by the legislation.

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