The objective of the course is to develop the engineering skills necessary to address major environmental problems. Such skills will allow for the practical implementation of engineering solutions that have a strong understanding of the underlying environmental, social, and economic context. Specifically, the objectives of the course are to:
* develop a substantial engineering base;
* provide a global perspective on environmental issues;
* integrate environment/development criteria into all levels;
* develop understanding of the political, social, and economic factors in environmental management;
* develop impact assessment skills;
* develop and implement a sustainability and waste prevention ethic;
* develop good communication skills; and
* develop analytical/design skills in at least one major elective area.
Course of studies
From 1995 the Faculty of Engineering will offer a four-year degree course which qualifies students for the degree of Bachelor of Environmental Engineering. Environmental issues and sustainable development have received major attention from the Earth Summit (Rio 1992). Agenda 21, the action plan from the Earth Summit, indicated the major role which engineers have to play in the achievement of sustainability. The community's attitude to development and the environment is also changing; the development and use of resources will need to be sustainable and so additional pressure will be placed on the role of engineers in the future.
The faculty sees the need to develop an environmental engineering graduate capable of dealing with broad-based environmental problems. Graduates would have a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving not possible from single-discipline engineering courses.
The course consists of 74 per cent core, 9 per cent streamed core and 17 per cent elective streams. Students must choose either one major elective stream or two minor elective streams. The course is multidisciplinary in nature with 65 per cent from engineering, 23 per cent from science, 4 per cent from arts, 2 per cent each from economics and law, and a further 4 per cent (which cannot be strictly distributed because of its elective nature) from the last three areas .
Level one represents a broad base of science, engineering, and environment subjects designed to give students the start of a multidisciplinary education. Level two increases the engineering content which is a mixture of basic engineering subjects and more environmentally directed subjects. Mathematics is continued. Environmental policy and communications are introduced; the latter will be used to help integrate the content gained from the other units. Level three introduces more focused environmental engineering subjects and the commencement of the elective streams. Level four has a number of interdisciplinary subjects designed to add necessary breadth to the basic engineering framework, and the elective streams are completed.
There is a quota on the number of places available. Entry to the course is through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre using the course code Monash Environmental Engineering (28473 Clayton). An outline of the course structure and content is set out in the subject lists included after this section of the handbook.