wwwdev@monash.edu.au
Thu May 25 16:42:33 EST 2000
Auth: S Steele, ITS Web and Internet Facilities
Copyright © Monash University 1999 - All Rights Reserved - Caution
Candidates
for the BE degree at Clayton may choose to specialise in one of the five
branches of engineering offered on this campus: chemical engineering, civil
engineering, electrical and computer systems engineering, materials
engineering, and mechanical engineering. The common first level of the course
enables students to keep open all options of entering any of the eight
engineering branches available at Monash. Students are assisted in making a
choice of branch by their experience of the various first-level engineering
subjects and by a series of career lectures which are offered early in second
semester and which review the eight branches of engineering available.
All core subjects at level 1 are offered in both semesters at Clayton, but most
elective subjects (including Group A subjects ENG1901, ENG1801 and ENG1701) are
only offered in one semester. Once level 1 students have chosen their subjects,
the semester in which they take a particular subject is determined by a
computerised timetabling procedure. Alteration of subject enrolment without
penalty is permitted for two weeks at the beginning of each semester, subject
to class size limitations.
As
described above, at the beginning of level 2, students may enrol at Clayton in
chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical and computer systems
engineering, materials engineering or mechanical engineering. As a result of
limitations on teaching resources, there are limits placed on the numbers of
students who may enrol in some of these engineering branches. These quotas are
determined annually by Council. When there are more applications for a
particular branch than there are places, admission to the branch is on the
basis of academic merit. In recent years, these quota restrictions have had to
be applied to places in electrical and computer systems engineering, including
places for BSc/BE candidates, and mechanical engineering. Students who are not
successful in enrolling in the engineering branch of their first choice will be
offered a place in one of their lower preferences.
If a student wishes to change the selected branch of engineering at a later
stage of the course, some additional subjects may be required in order to make
the transition. This could extend the duration of the course beyond four years
full-time.
In the following section, the nature and content of the BE courses in each
engineering branch on the Clayton campus at second, third and fourth levels is
briefly outlined. Information about the Bachelor of Computer Systems
Engineering, the Bachelor of Environmental Engineering and double-degree
programs involving the Bachelor of Engineering is then provided.
Chemical
engineering is concerned with the economic design, operation and management of
process systems in which materials are changed in composition or physical
state. Chemical engineering has its foundation in chemistry, physics and
mathematics; its operations are developed from knowledge provided by these
disciplines and by other branches of engineering, applied sciences, biological
sciences and economics.
Historically, chemical engineering has been closely associated with the
development of the chemical and process industries. Today, many chemical
engineers find employment in the fine and heavy chemical, the petroleum and
petrochemical, the mineral and metallurgical, pulp and paper, and the food and
biochemical industries. Chemical engineers are becoming increasingly involved
with pollution control, the protection of the environment and with energy
conservation and conversion.
The Department of Chemical Engineering offers a four-year (eight-semester)
course which is sufficiently general to enable graduates to enter any of these
fields. The aim of the first four semesters is to provide a necessary
background in mathematics, physics and chemistry and such engineering subjects
as electrical engineering, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, materials science
and an introduction to chemical engineering.
The final four semesters of the course are taken almost entirely within the
department. The course is designed around the core topics of mass, heat and
momentum transfer, kinetics, thermodynamics, process control, environmental
engineering, process design and safety.
Management studies are introduced and a greater emphasis is placed on synthesis
and design culminating in each student completing a plant design project. Each
student undertakes a major research project. Technical electives also form part
of the final two semesters.
Practical work forms an essential part of all subjects administered by the
department and considerable emphasis is placed on this aspect of the program.
Problem solving using computers is an integral part of this course.
Civil
engineers work in branches such as structural engineering, soil engineering,
rock engineering, dam engineering, hydraulic engineering, engineering
management, highway engineering, traffic engineering, public health
engineering, water resources engineering, town planning, and coastal
engineering. In any of these branches, a civil engineer may work in the
functional areas of research, investigation, design, construction or operation,
and the undergraduate course in the Department of Civil Engineering prepares a
student accordingly. The areas of structures, geomechanics, water, management
and transport are the major areas of civil engineering activity and form the
basis of the department's organisation and teaching.
The intention of level 2 is to develop 'sub-professional' skills, ie the
ability to design commonplace engineering artefacts in the context of suitable
theoretical treatment. At the same time, students gain some appreciation for
the breadth of civil engineering. Theory is developed in parallel with the
applications (problems). The theoretical insights are further developed in
levels three and four, as more complex scenarios are considered.
Level 3 is designed to develop 'core professional' skills. It includes a
management subject, engineering investigation, rural road and water
engineering, two structural subjects, a water subject and a geomechanics
subject. The water and geomechanics groups share a groundwater subject.
The level 4 year is seen as a year of specialisation. Each student must take
both a project and an interfaculty subject (six credit points each) and four
civil engineering electives (4 x 6 = 24 credit points) The remaining 12 credit
points may be taken anywhere within the university, as long as it does not
substantially duplicate a subject already studied. Some of the electives are
multidisciplinary.
The overall aim of the course is to prepare a well-rounded professional poised
for employment in any of a wide range of civil engineering occupations and
eager for continuing education to remain abreast of latest developments in his
or her discipline.
The
undergraduate course has been planned to provide students with a broad
scientific training in fundamental studies which are related to various
branches of electrical and computer systems engineering.
Electrical and computer systems engineering is a profound, diverse and complex
profession, closely linked with the pure and the applied sciences, with an
ever-increasing emphasis on scientific ability.
The title of the course reflects the increasing importance of computers in many
branches of engineering and in society at large. Furthermore, employment
prospects for engineers with computer expertise continue to grow.
The electrical and computer systems engineering course up to the end of the
fourth semester is similar to the other courses at Clayton. The aim of the
first four semesters of the course is to provide a fundamental training in the
basic sciences of physics, mathematics and chemistry, and in electrical and
computer systems engineering, applied mechanics and thermodynamics. The
lectures in the fifth and sixth semesters cover such basic subjects of
electrical and computer systems engineering as circuit theory, electromagnetic
theory, control systems, electronics, computer systems engineering, and the
first of two engineering management subjects. In the seventh and eighth
semesters, students complete their core studies, including the second
management subject. Each student must complete a number of stream-dependent
core subjects and is able to select further stream elective and free elective
subjects. Each student must also undertake a thesis project. The remaining 28
credit points of the course is composed of elective subjects. The course
structure acknowledges the breadth encompassed by electrical and computer
systems and offers subjects covering a wide range of topics.
The selection of elective subjects should be made in consultation with staff of
the department and must be approved by the head of the department.
Where possible, thesis projects are related to the research work of the staff
of the department, so that students learn how to work at the 'frontiers of
knowledge'. Considerable emphasis throughout the course is placed on lab work
in the well-equipped departmental laboratories.
The
dominant role that materials have played throughout history is evidenced by the
designation of eras such as the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. In the
future, materials will continue to play a dominant role in developments both in
technology and in society itself. This arises because of the critical
importance of energy on the one hand and the need to conserve materials on the
other. The fact that most methods of producing energy economically are
materials-limited will mean that increasing attention must be given to
developing new materials with improved properties. So far as conservation is
concerned, more emphasis must be given to materials selection, corrosion and
protection, as well as to the expanding field of recycling of materials.
Materials engineering is concerned with the extraction, manufacture,
fabrication and economic utilisation of materials for use in a wide range of
technologies. Materials engineering enhances traditional fields such as
metallurgy, corrosion engineering, ceramic engineering and polymer (plastics
and rubber) technology. The work of the materials engineer follows on from that
of the mining engineer and chemical engineer with respect to the utilisation of
metals, ceramics, polymers and composites. Since materials are of basic
importance in all other branches of engineering, materials engineers are
required to collaborate with engineers in other disciplines. They may also be
involved with chemists, physicists and economists. Their general awareness of
the broad spectrum of engineering often leads to managerial
responsibilities.
A materials engineer may become involved in the investigation of the structure
of a material by techniques such as electron microscopy or X-ray diffraction,
the development and evaluation of new materials for new processes or
applications, the investigation of methods for shaping and fabrication, or
materials selection and evaluation of service performance. Trained materials
engineers participate in all stages of development of a new product or process,
from the original basic research in the laboratory, through the development,
pilot plant or prototype stages to full-scale production. Because of this wide
range of employment situations, a career in materials engineering is equally
attractive to both men and women.
Following completion of the common first level, students are introduced at
level 2 to fundamental aspects of the structure of materials and its
relationship to engineering properties, along with further training in
mathematics and other essential skills.
In the third and fourth levels, the subjects involve aspects of both materials
science and materials engineering in which a wide treatment is given to the
properties of metals, plastics, rubber and ceramics. In the final two
semesters, special attention is given to topics such as materials design and
selection, optimisation of properties, mechanical behaviour including shaping
and fabrication, and the performance of materials in service. Practical work
forms an essential part of most subjects and a substantial research project in
a field of materials (metals, plastics, rubber or ceramics) of their own
choosing is carried out by students in their final two semesters.
Mechanical
engineering is the practice that has arisen from the need to generate, transmit
and control mechanical energy. This practice brings with it the need to study
methods of design generation, transmission and control, and increasingly to
employ scientifically and technologically based tools. Today, mechanical
engineering has as its core the interaction of people and machines and the
control of that interaction. Mechanical engineers will be found designing,
manufacturing and commissioning mobile and fixed machinery, controlling
physical environments, dominating aerospace development, exploring forms of
transportation, devising new machines and ways of controlling new machines, and
concerning themselves with all aspects of mechanical handling systems and
methods of production of anything to be manufactured. They will be found not
only in factories, research establishments or in consulting practices, but also
in the mineral resource, chemical process and agricultural industries. They
will regard their function as one of design, production, operation, consulting,
technical management, general management, research and/or development.
The undergraduate course is designed to provide a fundamental and broad
training to allow a graduate to steer a course into any of these areas as they
now exist or as they might develop in future. The course offers a sound
training in engineering design and in the physical and engineering sciences.
Comprehensive studies in engineering practices are provided in which the
analytical tools are brought to bear in a synthesis which accounts
satisfactorily for economic, organisational, managerial and human factors. A
mentor program is available to selected students to work with companies on real
mechanical design projects in hierarchical teams of postgraduate, fourth, third
and second-year students in master-apprentice relationships. The use of
computers in data reduction and in system modelling is studied. During the
final year, either a major experimental project or substantial participation
with a design team actively engaged with practising engineers is arranged. The
results are presented by thesis and orally.
The design of the course attempts also to acknowledge the interdisciplinary
nature of modern engineering and to provide the graduate with a facility for
expanding his or her own development into related fields. It provides a working
knowledge of the elements of controls, stress systems, electronic
instrumentation, microcomputers and managerial procedures.
Following on from completion of the common first level, the second year focuses
more directly on subjects dealing with the practice of engineering and on the
engineering sciences. While the course is identified at this stage as a
mechanical engineering one, there is a good deal of overlap with the courses of
the other streams of engineering.
In the third year, some subjects probe more deeply than others and encourage
more independent learning. Contact hours are reduced in these subjects, and
greater use is made of learning resources.
During the fourth year, the program allows for some choice in the subjects.
Thus the students pursue a set of core subjects but are able to select from a
number of streamed subjects. These streams, which permit some limited
specialisation, are available in the areas of fluids, energy, design,
mechatronics and as a general stream. At that stage, there is also the
opportunity to study a subject from another faculty as well as to carry out a
small independent investigation in an area of interest to the student.
Students enrolled in the second, third or fourth levels of the course will be
required to complete at least one elective subject in business or economics. A
list of approved interfaculty subjects is published in November each year.
The course provides an excellent foundation for entry into the profession or
for further study towards a higher degree. Graduates are eligible for admission
to membership of the Institution of Engineers, Australia.
Available
to existing Caulfield students only
Most high-technology plants and services are the result of achievements in
electrical engineering and its dynamic disciplines of electronics,
microelectronics and digital technology. The application of microelectronics
has resulted in the explosive development of computers, automation and
communications in recent years. These developments will continue into the
future.
Electrical engineering is an exciting and challenging area of study for women
and men, and graduates have excellent employment opportunities. Within the
branches of electrical, electronic and computer engineering there is a wide
range of choice to meet the interests and aspirations of each graduate.
The full-time, four-year degree course is strongly vocation-oriented in order
to train electrical, electronic and communications engineers who can quickly
assimilate into professional employment. The course is structured to provide a
thorough understanding of the principles and applications of the various
disciplines. In addition it is designed to develop personal qualities that are
essential for a professional engineer, such as ethics, creativity and sound
judgement to create systems for the benefit of society. The two years following
completion of the common first level cover essential studies which provide
breadth and depth of understanding of electrical, communication, power,
automatic control and computing systems. The final year is devoted to studies
at a professional level, for which elective subjects permit specialisation in
automatic control, electronics, communications, computer systems and electrical
power. Third and fourth-level projects permit students to complete substantial
engineering tasks of their choice. Computing and management subjects are
included throughout the course.
wwwdev@monash.edu.au
Thu May 25 16:42:33 EST 2000