Rationale of the Graduate Program
The rationale behind the program is to enhance the theoretical and practical knowledge of the students and prepare them to enter the professional field of Civil Engineering with the required level of competence by including more analytical and design course in the program
This had been achieved at that time by developing a curriculum of five-year duration. Another way to tackle the problem and achieve better results would have been to give advanced courses at a post graduate level. The problem now as before is that the training at the undergraduate level, no matter how comprehensive it might be, lacks the most important element of a postgraduate training, which is enabling the graduates to be capable of identifying the essence of an engineering problem, converting it into a suitable model and solving it independently.
The most important rationale for developing a postgraduate program is therefore the development of skilled human resource that is capable of handling more complex civil engineering problems with little or no guidance whatsoever, supervising the designs of yet inexperienced engineers working in a project team and thereby acquire skills of professional leadership. Such trained manpower is known to be instrumental to the effective implementation of national development programs.
Other rationales include:
- Development of Faculty members that are capable of running a sustainable post graduate program
- Enhance research activities through joint efforts of Faculty staff and post graduate students, whereby staff members mostly play the role of identifying research topics and guidance and thus get the time they need for working on many research topics at the same time.
Objectives of the Graduate Program
i. To train Structural Engineers who are equipped with the necessary advanced theoretical backgrounds to handle the design of special structures such as high rise buildings or bridges with special features made of reinforced concrete, pre-stressed concrete, steel or composite steel and concrete construction.
ii. To produce qualified Structural Engineers who are capable of providing services and consultancy to the construction industry with regard to structural problems.
iii. To train Structural Engineers who will be in a position to check the structural design of other engineers after some years of experience in design and construction.
iv. Producing skilled manpower (instructors) for emerging universities.
Admission Requirements
The applicant must have a B.Sc. Degree in Civil Engineering or its equivalent and meet the admission requirements of the school of Graduate Studies. He/she must also pass the entrance examination administered by the school. Regarding applicants from other related disciplines, the Chair and School Academic Council (SAC), by consulting senior instructors in the area, will rule on the eligibility of such candidates and the candidate must take bridge-courses.
Duration of Study
In general, the programs are designed to be a two-year full time studies i.e. the total duration of the study is 2 years for both MSc and MEng programs. But it is also possible to offer both programs in continuing education (evenings, or weekends, summer etc.) depending on the need.
Graduation Requirements
Degree Options
The master programs shall offer the following two degree options:
- Master of Science Degree (MSc)
- Master of Engineering Degree (MEng)
The requirements to obtain MSc degree are:
- Successful completion of all of the first 6 modules which constitute 35 Credit hours
- Successful completion and defense of a Master’s thesis work
The requirements to obtain MEng degree are:
- Successful completion of all of the first 6 modules which constitute 35 credit hours
- Successful completion of one elective course in the 7th module which constitutes 3 credit hours
- Successful completion of a graduate project work which constitute 3 credit hours
