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MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development

global challenges, engineering solutions
 

The MPhil programme usually includes residential field trips to visit sites across the UK that demonstrate aspects of engineering sustainability and these additional activities are not an assessed component of the course. Whilst the Course Team will endeavour to arrange these (typically in October and March/April), such trips are dependent on the prevailing conditions and constraints at the time and therefore cannot be guaranteed to take place every year.


Residential field courses are held in the Autumn and Spring each year.  The first of these marks the beginning of the course in October and is an opportunity for the cohort to get to know each other and to provide a context for the taught course.  The second field course provides a focus around which to apply skills and ideas which the students have learned during the first two terms and to work together on real problems. 

Themes of previous course have included: the relationship of roads to landscape; post-mining regeneration; petro-chemical activities in environmentally-sensitive areas; and renewable energy technologies in Wales.

Field Trip to Wales 2012

Photo credit: Cruickshank

 

Course Overview

Context

The need to engage in better problem definition through careful dialogue with all stakeholder groups and a proper recognition of context.

Perspectives

An ability to work with specialists from other disciplines and professional groups acknowledging that technical innovation and business skills also must be understood, nurtured and combined as precursors to the successful implementation of sustainable solutions.

Change

An understanding of mechanisms for managing change in organisations so future engineers are equipped to play a leadership role.

Tools

An awareness of a range of assessment frameworks, sustainability metrics and methodologies such as Life Cycle Analysis, Systems Dynamics, Multi-Criteria Decision making and Impact Assessment.