Course details

Summary

Civil engineers design, construct, project manage, and commission a wide range of facilities and infrastructure such as buildings, bridges, towers, dams, roads and railways, pipe networks and treatment plants. These facilities provide people with a reliable, safe, sustainable and modern environment to live in.

Electric power depends on civil engineers for the design and construction of dams, canals and transmission towers. Many towns and cities are protected against flooding or the effects of fire and earthquakes by infrastructure designed and constructed by civil engineers.

Civil engineers have responsibility for managing people, equipment, resources, time and money. Communication skills are vital, as all professional engineers need to effectively disseminate complex information to people of diverse backgrounds, by providing detailed engineering reports, presentations and taking part in public hearings and inquiries.

This is a broad field, and students may take courses to focus on a more specific area of civil engineering during their professional years of study to suit their interests.

The Master of Engineering Studies caters for professional engineers seeking advanced technical training and is a taught master's degree with no thesis requirement. The MEngSt comprises a combination of 400 and 600-level courses that enables candidates to study a broad range of topics in their general area of expertise.

The MEngSt is made up of 120 points:

• at least 75 points to be selected from courses from Schedule B of the Master of Engineering
• the remaining courses to be selected from Schedule C of the Master of Engineering.

Further study

UC offers the Doctor of Philosophy qualification in Civil Engineering.

Career opportunities

There are excellent career opportunities for civil engineers, with a strong demand for graduates in New Zealand and around the world in a diverse range of fields.

Most new graduates are employed by consultants (who design and manage), contractors (who build and maintain) or central, regional and local government (who develop and manage the infrastructure of countries, cities and communities).

Many civil engineers become experts in a specialised area of civil engineering such as structural, water, geotechnical, transportation, fire or environmental fields.

Some UC civil engineering graduates go on to run their own companies, enter into partnerships, or become researchers for government agencies or business.

Entry criteria

Candidates must normally have completed one of the following:

• Bachelor of Engineering with Honours with first or second class honours
• Postgraduate Certificate in Engineering with a GPA of 5 or more
• Bachelor of Science with Honours in appropriate subjects.

Relevance and standard of previous study is the main criteria for approval.

Students wishing to enrol in postgraduate study must have completed both the academic and non-academic requirements of the prerequisite degree. This includes practical work days, work reports, a workshop training course and a first aid certificate.

Other English language requirements: TOEFL PBT with a minimum score of 575 and TWE with a minimum score of 4.5; CCEL EAP Level 2 with a minimum B+ grade; CAE or CPE score of 176 with a minimum of 169 in reading, writing, listening and speaking; Pearson Test of English (Academic) - PTE with an overall score of 64 and no PTE communicative skills score below 58.