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0032 - Bachelor of Engineering

NOTE: This course has been updated - please refer to the undergraduate handbook change register for details.

This course entry should be read in conjunction with information provided in the Faculty information section of this Handbook by the managing faculty for this course

Abbreviated titleBE
CRICOS Code001722B
Managing facultyEngineering
Study location and modeOn-campus (Clayton, Sunway)
Total credit points required192
Duration (years)4 years FT, 8 years PT
Students may be admitted to the degree with honours. The honours program does not require an additional year of study. Admission is based on academic merit.
Contact detailsTelephone +61 3 9905 3404, email eng.info@eng.monash.edu.au or visit http://www.eng.monash.edu.au.
Course coordinatorVisit http://www.eng.monash.edu.au/current-students/course-information.html#1

Description

Candidates for the Bachelor of Engineering choose to specialise in one of the following branches of engineering*:

  • chemical engineering
  • civil engineering
  • electrical and computer systems engineering
  • materials engineering
  • mechanical engineering
  • mechatronics engineering.

The common level one studies allow students to keep open the option of entering any of the five branches. There are limits on the number of students who may enrol in each branch and, where demand exceeds supply, students will be admitted on the basis of academic merit (results at level one). Students who do not get their first choice will be offered a place in one of their other preferences. If students wish to change branches at a later level of the course, some additional units may be required and the transition could extend the duration of the course beyond four levels full-time.

Following the completion of the common level one, students transfer into one of the branches of engineering at Clayton or Sunway. Each of the branches of engineering is outlined below and requires an additional three levels of study after the completion of level one.

* Not all branches are offered at both campuses. See the individual branch entries below for details of offerings. Intake into level two of the industrial engineering and engineering management branch ceased at the end of 2006. Continuing students should refer to the Handbook entry for the year of their first enrolment. Archived Handbooks are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks.

Objectives

Studies in this course aim to produce graduates with a foundation in general engineering and a detailed knowledge of a specialisation in one of the offered branches of engineering.

Structure

Two of the eight units in the common level one are compulsory. A student's choice of the remaining units must take into account both the amount of mathematics, chemistry and physics completed prior to admission to the course, and the branch of engineering into which the student hopes to proceed at the end of level one.

The award of an honours degree in engineering is based on academic achievement.

Requirements

The large majority of students entering the faculty have completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), and references in the following paragraphs are to the prerequisite VCE subjects. Some domestic and international students enter the faculty with equivalent qualifications, and advice about unit choice for students with qualifications other than the VCE may be obtained from the faculty administration offices. Foundation units are required for students who have not completed appropriate VCE studies:

  • if a student has completed only one of VCE units 3 and 4 of Chemistry or Physics and has not completed VCE units 3 and 4 of Specialist Mathematics, the student will be required to complete ENG1090 and one of ENG1070 or ENG1080, depending on subjects not taken at VCE
  • if a student has successfully completed VCE units 3 and 4 of Specialist Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics, the student will have space for two electives. This will enable the student to take two units from ENG1061, ENG1071 and ENG1081. Alternatively, the student may take all five of the engineering electives and one of ENG1061, ENG1071 and ENG1081.

For information about course requirements for later levels of this program, students should refer to the entries in their chosen engineering branch.

Level one

A total of eight units must be completed.

Core units

Select at least four units from:

Foundation units

Students who have not completed VCE units 3 and 4 of Chemistry or Physics and/or Specialist mathematics are required to select one or two appropriate foundation units(s) from:

Elective units

Select none, one or two units from:

Total: 48 points

Chemical engineering

Students may enter this branch of engineering at the Clayton or Sunway campus after completion of the common level one. It is recommended that students wishing to enter this branch of engineering complete ENG1010 at level one.

The core units covered at levels one and two provide the necessary background in the sciences, engineering fundamentals such as fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, and chemical engineering principles. Levels three and four of the course are designed around the core topics of mass transfer, heat transfer, separation processes, reaction engineering, chemical thermodynamics, process control, particle technology, process design, sustainability and safety. Practical work forms an essential part of many units, and considerable emphasis is placed on this aspect of the program. Process simulation software is used by students throughout the course. Management studies are introduced in later levels and a greater emphasis is placed on synthesis and design, culminating in each student completing a design project, and another major project in the final level. Students are given the opportunity to integrate a period of industrial experience or time at an overseas university with their studies.

Areas of study

Upon entry to the branch of chemical engineering, students choose to specialise in one of three streams. Each stream involves 126 points of core chemical engineering units and 18 points of units at levels three and four (6 points at level three and 12 points at level four) from one of the following three streams.

Biotechnology

The opportunities for the application of chemical engineering skills in biotechnology are widespread - from tissue engineering to biosensor development and from development of an artificial kidney to drug delivery - from fermentation processes to biofuels and from drug development to biopolymers.

Nanotechnology and materials

Nanotechnology is literally engineering at the molecular level. Over the last two decades, the ability to manipulate matter at the molecular level has improved dramatically. This revolution will allow fabrication of an entire new generation of products that are cleaner, stronger, lighter and more precise. Chemical engineers will play a major role in this revolution.

Sustainable processing

Sustainable processing is concerned with the principles of sustainability and life cycle assessment to the development of environmentally clean technologies for product manufacturing and power generation. In this stream, students will learn how to develop processes for generating energy and for manufacturing existing and new products from renewable raw material sources.

Level two

Total: 48 points

Level three

Core units

Stream units

Select one stream from:

Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and materials
  • CHE3172 Nanotechnology and materials I
Sustainable processing

Total: 48 points

Level four

Core units

  • CHE4161 Engineers in society
  • CHE4162 Particle technology
  • CHE4164 Integrated industrial training*
  • CHE4170 Design project (12 points)
  • CHE4180 Chemical engineering project (12 points)

* Taken by selected students taking a period of integrated industrial training in the first semester of their final year. This will replace the three units (CHE4180, CHE4161 and one of the stream elective units) which form the normal first semester of the final year.

Stream units

Biotechnology
  • BCH2011 Structure and function of cellular biomolecules
  • CHE4171 Biochemical engineering
Nanotechnology and materials
  • CHE4172 Nanotechnology and materials 2
  • MTE2541 Nanostructure of materials
Sustainable processing
  • ENE3608 Environmental impact assessment and management systems
  • CHE4173 Sustainable processing II

Total: 48 points

Civil engineering

Students may enter this branch of engineering at the Clayton campus after completion of the common level one. It is recommended that students wishing to enter this branch of engineering complete ENG1020 at level one.

The intention of level two 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 at levels three and four, as more complex scenarios are considered.

Level three is designed to develop 'core professional' skills. It includes a management unit, engineering investigation, road engineering, two structural units, a water unit and a geomechanics unit. The water and geomechanics groups share a groundwater unit.

Level four is seen as a period of specialisation. Each student must take both 'Project A' and 'Civil engineering practice 4' (6 points each) and a minimum of four civil engineering electives (6 points each). The remaining 12 points may be taken anywhere within the University (including the Civil Engineering department), as long as the units do not substantially duplicate a unit already studied. Some of the electives are multidisciplinary.

Level two

  • CIV2206 Mechanics of solids
  • CIV2207 Computing and water systems modelling
  • CIV2225 Design of steel and timber structures
  • CIV2226 Design of concrete and masonry structures
  • CIV2242 Introductory geoengineering
  • CIV2263 Water systems
  • CIV2282 Transport and traffic engineering
  • ENG2091 Advanced engineering mathematics A

Total: 48 points

Level three

  • CIV3204 Engineering investigation
  • CIV3205 Project management for civil engineers
  • CIV3221 Building structures and technology
  • CIV3222 Bridge design and assessment
  • CIV3247 Geoengineering
  • CIV3248 Groundwater and environmental geoengineering
  • CIV3264 Urban water and wastewater systems
  • CIV3283 Road engineering

Total: 48 points

Level four

Core units

Elective units

Select a minimum of 24 points from:

  • CIV3203 Civil engineering construction
  • CIV4211 Project B (enrolment in this unit is by departmental approval only)
  • CIV4234 Advanced structural analysis
  • CIV4235 Advanced structural design
  • CIV4248 Ground hazards and environmental geotechnics
  • CIV4249 Foundation engineering
  • CIV4261 Integrated urban water management
  • CIV4268 Water resources management
  • CIV4283 Transport planning
  • CIV4284 Transport systems
  • ENG4700 Engineering technology for biomedical imaging and sensing
  • free electives

Total: 48 points

Electrical and computer systems engineering

Students may enter this branch of engineering at the Clayton or Sunway campus after completion of the common level one. It is recommended that students wishing to enter the electrical and computer systems engineering (ECSE) branch complete ENG1030 and ENG1040 at level one.

The first three levels of the course provide a broad foundation in electrical and computer systems engineering and in the physical sciences such as physics, chemistry and mathematics. At levels three and four, students, while completing their core units and a management unit, are able to choose from a large number of electives in electrical power systems, computer systems, control engineering, electronics, telecommunications engineering, biomedical engineering and robotics. These units build upon material studied in earlier levels. Electives comprise approximately 37 per cent of levels three and four.

The design and thesis projects at level three and four build self-reliance and planning capabilities in both individual and team-based environments. Projects are often related closely to the department's exceptionally strong research and collaborative industry programs within its research centres.

Level two

Total: 48 points

Level three

  • ECE3022 Wireless and guided EM, or ECE3051 Electrical power engineering
  • ECE3062 Electronic systems and control or ECE3073 Computer systems
  • ECE3091 Engineering design
  • ECE3092 Systems engineering and reliability analysis
  • ECE3093 Optimisation estimation and numerical methods
  • 18 points of electives from the ECSE elective list below

Total: 48 points

Level four

Core units

Select the two units not already taken from:

  • ECE3022 Wireless and guided EM, or ECE3051 Electrical power engineering
  • ECE3062 Electronic systems control or ECE3073 Computer systems
  • 18 points of electives from the ECSE elective list below

Total: 48 points

ECSE electives

Elective units are selected from the following units. Note that not all units will be taught in any year, and many will be offered only in alternate years. One of the elective units may, with the written permission of the head of department, be a unit chosen from elsewhere in the University, provided the unit does not substantially duplicate material already studied.

  • ECE4012 Applied digital signal processing
  • ECE4023 Radio frequency electronics
  • ECE4024 Wireless communications
  • ECE4032 Advanced control
  • ECE4033 Industrialisation processes
  • ECE4042 Communications theory
  • ECE4043 Optical communications
  • ECE4044 Telecommunications protocols
  • ECE4045 Network performance
  • ECE4053 Electrical energy - generation and supply
  • ECE4054 Electrical energy - power converters and motor control
  • ECE4055 Electrical energy - power electronic applications
  • ECE4058 Electrical energy - high voltage engineering
  • ECE4063 Large scale digital design
  • ECE4064 Electronic test technology
  • ECE4074 Advanced computer architecture
  • ECE4075 Real time embedded systems
  • ECE4076 Computer vision
  • ECE4077 Advanced computing techniques
  • ECE4081 Medical instrumentation
  • ECE4084 Biomechanics of human musculoskeletal systems
  • ECE4086 Medical imaging technology
  • ECE4087 Medical technology innovation
  • ENG4700 Engineering technology for biomedical imaging and sensing

Materials engineering

Students may enter this branch of engineering at the Clayton campus after completion of the common level one. It is recommended that students wishing to enter this branch of engineering complete ENG1050 in the level one.

At level two, students are introduced 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 units 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. At level three students are able to take an elective unit from the wide range of units offered by other faculties. 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 units and a substantial research project in a field of materials (metals, plastics, rubber or ceramics) is completed in the final two semesters.

Level two

  • ENG2091 Advanced engineering mathematics A
  • MTE2541 Nanostructure of materials
  • MTE2542 Microstructural development
  • MTE2544 Functional materials
  • MTE2545 Polymers and ceramics I
  • MTE2546 Mechanics of materials
  • MTE2547 Structure-property relationships in materials
  • MTE2548 Biomaterials I

Total: 48 points

Level three

Core units

  • MTE3541 Materials durability
  • MTE3542 Microstructural design in structural materials
  • MTE3543 Microstructure to applications: the mechanics of materials
  • MTE3544 Management and practice in materials engineering
  • MTE3545 Functional materials and devices
  • MTE3546 Polymers and ceramics II
  • MTE3547 Materials characterisation and modelling

Elective units

Select one elective unit from:

  • MTE3590 Materials modelling
  • MTE3591 Composites, thermosets and elastomers
  • MTE4593 Materials and the environment
  • MTE4594 Engineering alloys processing, design and selection
  • MTE4595 Corrosion - mechanisms and protection methods
  • MTE4596 Biomaterials II
  • one inter-faculty elective*

Total: 48 points

Level four

Core units

  • MTE4525 Project I
  • MTE4571 Materials engineering design and practice
  • MTE4572 Polymer and composite processing and engineering
  • MTE4573 Processing and engineering of metals and ceramics

Elective units

Select a minimum of 24 points from:

  • ENG4700 Engineering technology for biomedical imaging and sensing
  • ENG4616 Schools technology studies project
  • MTE4526 Project II
  • MTE4592 Advanced ceramics and applications (annual)
  • MTE4593 Materials and the environment (2009, 2011)
  • MTE4594 Engineering alloys processing, design and selection (2009, 2011)
  • MTE4595 Corrosion - mechanisms and protection methods (2009, 2011)
  • MTE4596 Biomaterials (2010, 2012)
  • MTE3590/4590 Modelling of materials (2010, 2012)
  • MTE4591/3591 Composites, thermosets and elastomers (2010, 2012)
  • MTE4597 Nanomaterials (annual)

Total: 48 points

* All inter-faculty electives must be approved by the course adviser.

Mechanical engineering

Students may enter this branch of engineering at the Clayton or Sunway campus after completion of the common level one. It is recommended that students wishing to enter this branch of engineering complete ENG1020, ENG1030 and ENG1040 at level one.

Specialisation in the field of mechanical engineering begins at level twoof the program and focuses more directly on engineering practice and the engineering sciences. At level three, engineering science and practice studies are extended to a professional level and students are increasingly encouraged to learn independently and to make use of the learning resources available to them.

During level four, students undertake an independent full-year project in an area of personal interest. The results of this are presented and examined by thesis. In addition, students complete one professional practice core unit plus four engineering electives offering scope for specialisation. An inter-faculty business unit completes the final level.

Level two

Total: 48 points

Level three

Total: 48 points

Level four

  • MEC4401 Project I
  • MEC4402 Project II
  • MEC4404 Professional practice
  • 24 points of level four mechanical engineering electives

Plus one 6-point inter-faculty (commerce) elective selected from the following:

Note:

(i.) The Faculty of Business and Economics DOES NOT grant supplementary assessment for failed units.

(ii.) Approval must be sought from the Director of Teaching and Learning to take any unit not listed above.

Total: 48 points

Mechatronics engineering

Students may enter this branch of engineering at the Sunway* campus after completion of the common level one. It is recommended that students wishing to enter this branch of engineering complete ENG1020, ENG1030, ENG1040 and ENG1050 level one.

At level two, units focus on providing fundamental knowledge across the wide range of disciplines that form the basis of mechatronics. Thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, electronics, mechanics, programming and digital electronics are some of the topics covered at level two.

At level three, further fundamental knowledge is introduced together with units that build on these fundamentals to cover areas of mechatronics to a professional level. These specialised areas include mechatronics and manufacturing, and power electronics and drives.

At level four, students undertake further units that draw together a wide range of fundamental knowledge in a mechatronics context such as robotics. Level four of the course allows for specialisation in wider areas of mechatronics through the selection of three elective units. Students have the opportunity to study a unit from another faculty as one of their electives and to undertake a substantial independent investigation in their chosen area of engineering interest. There is a strong emphasis on project work throughout the mechatronics course. As well as project units in second, third and fourth level many other units contain a strong project/design element.

* This branch of the Bachelor of Engineering ceased intake into level two at the Clayton campus at the end of 2005, but will continue to be offered at the Sunway campus as part of the Bachelor of Engineering. Students seeking to undertake mechatronics engineering at Clayton campus should consider applying for a course transfer into the Bachelor of Mechatronics Engineering.

Level two

Total: 48 points

Level three

Total: 48 points

Level four

Elective units

  • 18 points of approved elective units* from within the faculty (6 of the 18 points may be taken as an inter-faculty elective)

Total: 48 points

* All elective units must be approved by the course director.

Award(s) received on completion *

Bachelor of Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering in the field of Mechatronics Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering in the field of Chemical Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering in the field of Civil Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering in the field of Electrical and Computer Systems

Bachelor of Engineering in the field of Materials Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering in the field of Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) in the field of Chemical Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) in the field of Civil Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) in the field of Electrical and Computer Systems

Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) in the field of Materials Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) in the field of Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (with Honours) in the field of Mechatronics Engineering

* Where more than one award is listed, or in the case of double degrees, where more than one award is listed for one or both components of the double degree, the actual award/s conferred may depend on units/majors/streams/specialisations studied, the level of academic merit achieved (eg in the case of 'with honours' programs), or other factors relevant to the individual student's program of study.

13 October 2017 10 May 2024

 
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