General academic skills#
The following academic skills are indispensable for future civil engineers, but also for successful completion of our MSc programme. Obviously, we will work on their further development during the MSc programme, but it is expected that in the undergraduate programme these skills have been obtained on a basic level.
Reporting – you are capable of writing a well-structured, concise and accurate description of a design or research activity, pitched at the right audience, using correct written English, with clear narrative, conclusions, recommendations and abstract. Scientific references, literature review, methodology, figures, tables should be according to scientific standards.
Presenting – you should be able to communicate and present a design, a research, a plan or results orally in a convincing manner, in correct spoken English, supported by clear, well-structured and preferably visually attractive presentation material, and be able to answer questions about your work and defend the methodology, conclusions and findings. You should be able to give a clear advice based on your work.
Sketching – it is helpful if you are able to express concepts, designs, models or experimental set-ups in clear sketches, to support communication and convey ideas to colleagues, clients or decision-makers.
3D-modelling, CAD, BIM – you should be capable of using on an elementary level 3D drafting software such as AutoCAD, Revit, Civil 3D, Rhinoceros 3D, Tekla BIMsight, Trible Connect or comparable.
Programming – you are skilled on a basic level in using at least one programming language to code and solve repetitive or labour-intensive tasks in the seven container subjects. Python and/or Matlab are the most helpful, but also C++, C#, JavaScript, Visual Basic .NET, or other languages can be useful.
Clear calculation – you have learned how to set up and elaborate a calculation in such a way that it is understandable for yourself, for colleagues, and for controlling authorities, by making clear the assumptions, boundary conditions, intermediate steps and outcomes in a clear manner, using clarifying text, graphs, sketches and tables to explain what you are doing.
Problem analysis and schematisation – you are able to analyse complex problems, and come up with useful schematisations to simplify or structure the complexity, identifying the most important variables, possibly useful models or solution approaches and think of strategies to reach a solution.
Integral design – designing is a higher cognitive skill that is necessary to develop and create original, functional and new solutions that go further than existing knowledge and past experience. Being able to come up with a good design for a given new context is a necessary quality of any engineer.
Stakeholder analysis – as a civil engineer, you will be working in a complex environment where many stakeholders often have conflicting interests. You have learned how to analyse which stakeholders can be relevant and to take into account and weigh their various interests in a balanced manner.
Project management – civil engineering projects are complex, expensive and usually completed under time and budget pressure. You have learned how to manage the complexity and order projects using clear planning, communication, delegation of responsibilities, milestones, monitoring of progress, budget, and timely delivery.
Ethics – Ethical attitude and sensitivity on various fields and scales (inter-personal, corporate, financial, social and environment-related) are important characters trait both in your studies and future career. It is helpful if you have developed these already in your undergraduate degree.