Bachelor of Engineering


General information

The Bachelor of Engineering offered by the Gippsland school is a four-year fully professional course and offers various specialisations. Students who commenced their course in 1998 or later may choose:

The following specialisations are available only for students who are completing their studies:

The bachelor degrees have a common first year, thus students do not have to select their specialty until after some study experience.
In each specialisation there are opportunities at final-year level to take electives suited to student interests. All of the engineering degree courses may be studied either full-time or part-time, or by distance education with attendance at residential schools. Residential school sessions for off-campus students are listed in the university principal dates and the university Calendar.
The Bachelor of Engineering in mining engineering may be completed by beginning two years of full-time study at Monash University Gippsland campus and completing the course at the University of Ballarat.
An outline of the course structure and content of the Bachelor of Engineering is set out in the subject lists following this section.

Bachelor of Engineering (Interdisciplinary Engineering)

The introduction of an interdisciplinary engineering branch is in line with outcomes of the recent national review of engineering education. This called for a broadening of undergraduate courses, reduced specialisation, courses which prepare students to work across specialist boundaries and to take up career options not based on traditional employment patterns. Courses are needed which are more attractive to women and develop good interpersonal and management skills, financial awareness, and an understanding of sustainable development and the implications of engineering activity for the environment.
With current offerings in a number of the major engineering disciplines, the Gippsland School of Engineering is well placed to provide an integrated teaching approach across disciplines in an interdisciplinary course. This will meet the needs outlined above and complement the more specialised emphases in the branches of engineering offered by other departments within the faculty.

Course structure

Commencing with the broadly based common engineering first level, the interdisciplinary engineering branch allows students in the later years to pursue discipline majors within an interdisciplinary framework. There is a maximum of commonality at the second level so that a choice of discipline major does not have to be made until towards the end of this level. This makes for a more informed choice which can include a double major which maximises the interdisciplinary opportunities the stream has to offer. Levels three and four allow development of the chosen discipline emphasis, but always within the context of the interdisciplinary degree.

Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics Engineering)

The structure of the Gippsland School of Engineering, containing as it does a number of the major engineering disciplines, makes it ideal for providing an integrated teaching approach across disciplines. A recent national review of engineering education, carried out by the engineering profession, concluded that there was a need for diversity in the type of engineering graduate leaving universities. Given the specialised nature of many courses, this diversity could be provided by courses that give students an ability to work across specialist boundaries.
The development of a mechatronics engineering branch of the Bachelor of Engineering degree will complement the introduction of an interdisciplinary engineering branch based around major studies in the traditional engineering disciplines. As with the interdisciplinary engineering branch, mechatronics engineering by its very nature requires an integrated, multidisciplinary approach. It is built on a basis of mechanical, electronics and electrical engineering, binding each of these disciplines not only with each other but also with computer science and software engineering. Mechatronics engineering brings together the fundamentals, procedures and techniques for the design, production and service of future-oriented machines and devices. Industries which design and produce modern products that are both up to date and economically produced, and which wish to keep abreast of modern technology, will create a ready demand for mechatronics engineering graduates.

Course structure

The course structure has been developed to maximise commonality between subjects developed for the interdisciplinary engineering branch and those developed specifically for the mechatronics engineering branch. The common subjects were developed to optimise their appropriateness for each branch without compromising the integrity of the individual branches. The common first year, which provides a broad introduction to engineering, supports the remainder of the mechatronics engineering branch. This is not only because of the multidisciplinary nature of the mechatronics engineering program itself, but because the machines and devices to be developed will necessarily be used in a wide and diverse range of industrial disciplines.
The structure and content in terms of the various disciplines and activities addressed by the branch can be identified as: mechanics, electronics, computing, mechatronics, management, industrial experience, mathematical tools, projects and broad discipline subjects.