The programme is divided into two key phases. In the first, the taught programme, students engage in lectures, tutorials, and individual coursework throughout the autumn and spring terms. The second phase, during the summer term, focuses on independent research for the dissertation, which can be undertaken at Imperial College, a Partner Research Institute, university, or in collaboration with industry. Many projects involve data collection or field studies abroad, with past locations including China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Malta, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania.
The programme strikes a careful balance between the challenges of developing and developed countries. It places a strong emphasis on selecting the most suitable technologies, taking into account economic feasibility, environmental impact, and the local construction and operational capabilities.
Syllabus
Modules by course
Select from the modules linked in the left hand column below to scroll directly to their description.
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MSc Environmental Engineering
(course code H2UM)
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MSc Hydrology and Water Resources Management
(course code H2UP)
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MSc in Environmental Engineering with Data Science
(H2UMD)
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Autumn term modules
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CIVE70040 Chemistry and Microbiology for Environmental Engineering
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70023 Containment Engineering
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70041 Environmental Analysis
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70042 Environmental Fluid Mechanics
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Compulsory |
Compulsory |
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CIVE70XXX Computational and Statistical Tools for Environmental Analytics
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Compulsory |
Compulsory |
Compulsory |
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CIVE70046 Urban Hydrology and Urban Drainage
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Compulsory |
Compulsory |
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CIVE70039 Catchment Hydrology
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70024 Hydrogeology and Groundwater
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70044 Meteorology and Climate Change
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70116 Statistical Modelling
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70111 Machine Learning
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Compulsory |
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Spring term modules
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CIVE70049 Design Project Environmental
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Core |
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CIVE70053 Sustainable Resource Management
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70055 Water and Wastewater Treatment
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70057 Water Supply and Distribution Systems
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70047 Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment
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Elective |
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CIVE70050 Environmental Management in Developing Countries
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Elective |
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CIVE70031 Contaminated Land and Groundwater
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Compulsory |
Compulsory |
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CIVE70051 Hydrology Design Project
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Core |
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CIVE70045 Rainfall-Runoff Modelling and Flood Hydrology
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70054 Sustainable Water Management
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70052 Stochastic Water Resources Management
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70056 Water Quality Engineering and Ecohydrology
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70122 Data Engineering
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Compulsory |
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CIVE70088 Design Project: Data Science – Environmental
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Core |
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Summer term
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CIVE70058 Research Project - Environmental
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Core |
Core |
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Module details and descriptions
Autumn term modules
CIVE70040 Chemistry and Microbiology for Environmental Engineering
In this module, you will gain insight into the importance and role of chemistry and microbiology in environmental systems. It will introduce the underlying principles that influence environmental processes and contribute to delivering environmental engineering solutions. Specific topics include the fundamentals of bonding and reactions to explain the speciation of chemicals in the environment, analytical techniques used for their detection in different environmental media, characteristics and behaviour of microbial groups and associated microbiological principles applied in treatment processes, and risk assessment of chemicals and contaminant transfer. The module covers fundamental concepts in chemistry, including the structure of atoms, elements and molecules, bonding, chemical equations, and chemical reactions. It explores the chemistry of water, its physical and chemical properties, its behaviour in the environment, and its role as a solvent, reaction medium, and transport medium. Organic chemistry topics include the structures, properties, bonding, and reactions of carbon compounds, as well as the significance of organic molecules and their interactions with environmental media. Biological chemistry focuses on functional groups, bonding, and reactions of molecules essential to living organisms. Analytical chemistry introduces key techniques, data collection, data quality, and data interpretation. The module also covers the basics of life processes, including cells, metabolism, growth, reproduction, and the characteristics and behaviour of microbial groups in environmental engineering systems. Topics include nutrient transformation processes, the scientific management and control of environmental pathogens, fundamental microbiological principles in wastewater and biodegradable waste treatment processes, an introduction to the microbiome and its association with metabolic pathways in treatment processes, and quantitative microbiological and chemical risk assessment.
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CIVE70023 Containment Engineering
Content Containment is a critical engineering practice which is widely used where waste or detritus are being discarded. Its function is critical for the protection of public health and the environment. In this module you will be introduced to key factors required for the safe containment of material, including: Waste degradation processes, the challenges of in-ground waste disposal and the geological aspects of landfill design required to limit potential environmental impacts; Properties and function of liners, barriers, landfill site hydrogeology, gas control and monitoring; Critical technical design requirements of containment systems, the legislative framework associated with containment systems.
- Assessment: written examination & coursework
- EACTS: 5; CATS: 10
- Module leader: Dr Geoff Fowler
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CIVE70041 Environmental Analysis
This laboratory module is a unique opportunity for you to undertake a number of core environmental engineering experiments which measure key environmental engineering parameters relevant for water treatment and environmental pollution assessment. These are routinely applied as environmental quality indicators. You will learn data quality assessment techniques and the importance of health and safety and risk control within a laboratory environment. Also, you will experience laboratory-based practical skills, These are important learning outcomes which readily translate to the environmental engineering sector.
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CIVE70042 Environmental Fluid Mechanics
The module will introduce you to fundamental principles of fluid mechanics and hydraulics, which are of broad interest to environmental engineers and hydrologists, and demonstrate the link between theoretical studies and their practical application in river and environmental engineering. You will learn the basic equations that are governing the flow of water and how this can be applied in the open channel, pipe and groundwater flows.
The module content is delivered through 9 lectures that combine explanations of theoretical concepts and tutorial support sessions to allow you to work through numerical practical questions during the lecture based on the taught material. You will learn how to calculate physical properties of fluid and pressure change, calculate hydrostatic forces, describe principles of fluid dynamics, and apply these principles to solve open channel and flow in pipes problems. After 8 weeks of joint lectures environmental engineers consider basic flow in the porous media, while hydrologists consider sediment transport in rivers.
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CIVE70XXX Computational and Statistical Tools for Environmental Analytics
In this module, you will learn and explore computational and statistical methods applicable to environmental analytics, with a focus on environmental engineering and hydrology. You will develop programming and computational skills necessary to perform data analyses and implement computational methods in Python, along with a solid foundation in probability theory and statistics. This will enable you to analyse both experimental and observational environmental data, make statistical inferences, and quantify uncertainty. The module includes a comprehensive introduction to Python, with a strong emphasis on its application to statistical analysis and inference. Prior knowledge of essential mathematical concepts such as differential calculus, integration, and linear algebra (vectors and matrices) is assumed.
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CIVE70046 Urban Hydrology and Urban Drainage
Module Overview and Content The module will introduce you to the basic concepts of the flow in the urban environments, and how surface runoff is managed by stormwater and wastewater systems before being discharged into the environment. You will also learn about sustainable urban water management and analysis of extreme flow events in the context of flooding.
The module content is delivered through a combination of lectures and tutorial support sessions to allow you to work through numerical practical questions in class, based on the taught material that has been delivered. We start from the basic principles of urban water cycle. You then learn about flood peak estimations using Unit hydrograph theory and Flood frequency analysis. The flow in the pipes is then explained through principles of hydraulics applied to stormwater system design and management. Then, basic principles of the wastewater and combined sewer overflow (CSO) systems are introduced. Finally, you are introduced to principles of sustainable urban water management through concept of Blue-Green Infrastructure.
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CIVE70039 Catchment Hydrology
The catchment is the fundamental unit for assessing water behaviour on the land surface. This module provides the essential theory to describe, quantify, and model the storage and movement of water on and within the land surface and its interaction with vegetation. It covers techniques for measuring these processes and explores how they are influenced by landscape topography, geology, and climate. The module explains the hydrological cycle at both global and catchment scales, introduces the concept of the catchment water balance as key to understanding hydrological functioning, and details how its various components can be measured. It examines how soil properties control infiltration and runoff, how parametric models represent unsaturated flow, and how physical factors such as energy fluxes and diffusive transfer influence evaporation and evapotranspiration. The module also demonstrates how climate affects catchment behaviour, using examples from tropical humid, arid zone, and cold region hydrology. The foundational knowledge gained will be applied in many other modules throughout the course.
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CIVE70024 Hydrogeology and Groundwater
Geology provides the canvass on which a hydrological picture is painted. Understanding rocks and their role in shaping the structure of the landscape is fundamental to understanding a catchment’s hydrological response. The module will enable you to explain the key concepts in hydrogeology related to the movement, storage and quality of groundwater. You will derive models to explain the behaviour of groundwater and use them to manage this important water resource.
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CIVE70044 Meteorology and Climate Change
This module introduces the atmospheric processes that govern the Earth's climate and control surface water fluxes in the hydrological cycle. It provides a synoptic overview of the Earth's energy budget as a driver of planetary-scale motion and atmospheric instabilities, including climate change, its possible causes, and natural climate variability. The module offers detailed insights into the synoptic and local processes that drive rainfall generation at different spatial and temporal scales and introduces meteorological measurements and computer simulations for weather forecasting and climate change projections. Topics covered include the atmosphere and global energy balance, radiative heat transfer, sensible and latent heat fluxes, global energy budget, atmospheric motion, and seasonal variability. It explores atmospheric and planetary motion, the drivers of global atmospheric circulation, major wind belts, and the role of oceans in the global energy cycle. The module also examines atmospheric moisture and precipitation processes, including water storage, condensation, droplet and cloud formation, and precipitation mechanisms. It introduces global and regional climate models, covering global circulation modelling, regional climate modelling, and statistical weather generators, alongside meteorological measurements conducted in situ and via remote sensing.
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CIVE70116 Statistical Modelling
This module will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of statistical modelling fundamentals from a theoretical and applied viewpoint. It will develop the relevant theory, methodology and computational techniques required for you to formulate and implement statistical models to represent real-world phenomena. The course will also teach you how to program statistical models in the R programming language using both R and the RStudio graphical user interface (GUI). A pre-requisite for this course is that you must have a sufficient background in mathematics, including algebra, matrix algebra, and multivariate calculus.
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CIVE70111 Machine Learning
This module will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of machine learning concepts and their application to civil engineering applications. It will cover the three principal subfields of modern machine learning, (i) supervised learning, including regression and classification, (ii) unsupervised learning methods, such as clustering, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, and Bayesian networks; and (iii) reinforcement learning and its applications in uncertain and sequential problem contexts. Application examples will be drawn from a broad range of civil engineering applications. The module will also teach you how to implement machine learning models using the Python programming language, using common numerical analysis libraries (such as NumPy), and specialised tools, such as skikit-learn and PyTorch.
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Spring term modules
CIVE70049 Design Project Environmental
This module provides an opportunity to undertake design work in a small project group, developing insight and skills in the design of environmental engineering processes. It enables students to apply knowledge gained in lectures and general reading to a real-world problem, emphasizing the need for engineering judgment, empiricism, and an integrated approach. Students will work effectively within a team to deliver a multi-faceted engineering process design. The module involves preparing an outline design for a complete drinking water or wastewater treatment process, with a design brief document providing the scope and context at the module's commencement.
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CIVE70053 Sustainable Resource Management
On successfully completing this module, you will be able to create an appropriate team and allocate tasks for conducting an outline engineering design, develop the scope and depth of analysis required from a design brief, undertake a basic design of one or more unit water and/or wastewater treatment processes, incorporate broader environmental and sustainability aspects into the design, and effectively present the design outcomes in both written reports and oral presentations.
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CIVE70055 Water and Wastewater Treatment
This module will provide you with a basic description of the principal conventional unit processes and their engineering design in the treatment of drinking water and municipal wastewater; and will cover the fundamental scientific principles governing the performance and design of the treatment technologies are included. The module details the variety of raw water and sewage qualities, and the prevailing legal standards/regulations applying to the quality of drinking water and sewage effluent/ sludge discharges. This core module serves as a foundation for the Design Project module (CIVE70049) and is complementary to the Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment module (CIVE70047).
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CCIVE70057 Water Supply and Distribution Systems
This module provides an understanding of the operation, modelling, and control of water supply systems to ensure their resilient and sustainable function in a changing world. Water distribution systems are large-scale infrastructures that are complex, difficult to characterise and control, and subject to aging, deterioration, water quality degradation, and capacity shortages. With nearly 60% of the world’s population soon to be urban dwellers, the rapid growth of cities presents unprecedented challenges, particularly in providing clean water and sanitation. Key areas covered include the operational management of water supply networks, the principles behind their design, modelling, and control, and a system-level approach to solving complex engineering problems in the water industry using mathematical optimisation.
- Assessment: written examination and coursework
- EACTS: 5; CATS: 10
- Module leader: Dr Ivan Stoianov
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CIVE70047 Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment
This elective module extends and deepens the scope of the core module Water and Wastewater Treatment (CIVE70055). It covers the background to water quality, standards and regulations, and more specialised unit processes of softening, ion exchange, oxidation, adsorption and membrane systems. The module also covers the fundamental basis and advanced simulation methods of aerobic treatment processes, and methods of advanced effluent treatment for higher discharge standards and effluent re-use, and sludge management options. This module runs in parallel with CIVE70055 (Water & Wastewater Treatment) with approximately 50% coverage of drinking water treatment topics and 50% wastewater treatment.
- Assessment: written examination and coursework
- EACTS: 5; CATS: 10
- Module leader: Dr Po-Heng Lee
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CIVE70050 Environmental Management in Developing Countries
In this module, you will gain insight into the interrelationships between water, waste, and health in developing countries, explore issues in tropical public health, and be introduced to epidemiology and the control of water-borne, insect-borne, and helminth diseases. Specific topics include the choice and protection of water sources, low-cost water supply and treatment, planning and design of low-cost sanitation, the impacts of air pollution, and waste management and disposal challenges. The module also examines interdisciplinary solutions for sustainable waste management, land use management, and water supply in developing countries.
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CIVE70031 Contaminated Land and Groundwater
Human behaviour has a legacy of contamination in soil and groundwater. This contamination poses a risk to water resources and the natural environment. Many of these pollutants are organic and can be hazardous even at low concentrations. In this module you will learn about the processes that govern the behaviour of pollutants in the subsurface and the mathematical models used to simulate these. You will also be taught how to undertake a risk-based assessment of a site and, if needed, the decision making process, based environmental economics, for its remediation. In addition you will benefit from having over half of the lectures given by external experts with many years of practical experience.
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CIVE70051 Hydrology Design Project
The group design project provides you with an opportunity work with your classmates on two practical hydrological problems where you will apply the concepts and theory covered during the first two terms. The projects will be led by academic and industry experts and will involve using common design tools used by hydrologists to solve practical problems, such as urban flooding design and groundwater source protection.
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CIVE70045 Rainfall-Runoff Modelling and Flood Hydrology
This module provides a thorough description of the various modelling approaches for simulating river runoff and pluvial flood risk. You will be introduced to: the concepts of lumped, semi-distributed and distributed hydrological models and their mathematical formulation; and the concepts of model calibration, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis and their formal mathematical description. The module then deals with programming and implementing all relevant methodologies using a programming language and widely used software packages.
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CIVE70054 Sustainable Water Management
Water resources are under threat due to over-exploitation driven by the challenge of feeding a global population of over 8 billion. Despite the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 6, significant challenges remain in providing clean water and basic sanitation to many people worldwide. This module explores the interrelationships between water, health, and food security in both developed and developing countries, examining how these relationships can be effectively managed and the consequences of mismanagement. Topics include irrigation and drainage in food production and soil quality maintenance, water and health in developing countries, water supply and treatment, low-cost sanitation, and land use management and water.
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CIVE70052 Stochastic Water Resources Management
Module Overview and Content In this module you will be introduced first to statistical methods used to generate data for hydrological design and hydrological simulation and then presented with methods for optimal use of available data in the management of water resources systems. Specific methods will include linear time-series models for water resources applications, the partial duration series for hydrological extremes, models for the representation of the intermittent precipitation process, algorithms for the design of storages and their operation, as well as systems optimisation techniques applies to water resources and demand.
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CIVE70056 Water Quality Engineering and Ecohydrology
This module provides an in-depth overview of water quality issues and the fundamental concepts of surface water quality assessment, modelling, and engineering. It covers the development and application of methods for modelling organic pollution, nutrients, toxins, and sediment quality in rivers and lakes. The module also explores the theoretical and practical aspects of managing catchment water quality and ecohydrological processes, along with the basic principles of ecotoxicology.
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CIVE70112 Data Engineering
In this module you will cover: Introduction to machine learning in the Python programming language; Applications of standard machine learning libraries to solve civil engineering problems; Reinforcement learning; Computer vision principles; Developer environments, version control and cloud-based computing; Visual analytics and data modelling; Database development. This module will provide you with practical experience in constructing and validating models and algorithms and the necessary advanced computational skills to enable you to apply this knowledge to solving a range of complex civil engineering problems. The module includes: (1) construction, implementation, and validation of machine learning algorithms; (2) deployment of advanced machine learning libraries to solve complex problems from a broad range of civil engineering applications; (3) coverage of different machine learning approaches; (4) the operation of developer environments; (5) database development; and (6) advanced data manipulation and data visualisation techniques. The module will be taught using the Python programming language and will build upon a broad range of established modelling libraries.
- Assessment: coursework
- EACTS: 5; CATS: 10
- Module leader: Dr Po-Heng Lee
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CIVE70088 Design Project: Data Science – Environmental
The module will provide you with an opportunity to work in a small project group to develop and apply a solution to an engineering problem using machine learning and/or statistical modelling. The objectives of the module are as follows: (1) to gain insight and skills in the formulation and solution of design and operational problems from an environmental engineering application using machine learning and/or statistical modelling; (2) to apply knowledge gained in lectures and general reading to a real-world problem to experience the need for engineering judgement, adopting an integrated approach, when formulating and solving problems using machine learning and/or statistical modelling; (3) to work effectively within a team to deliver a multi-faceted solution to a complex engineering problem under time and resource constraints; and, (4) to communicate your proposed solution in written and oral forms of presentation.
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Summer term
CIVE70058 Research Project - Environmental
In this module you will undertake a specific piece of independent research in the form of a critical review, laboratory- or field-based experimental investigation, modelling/ numerical analysis project, or a design-related project. You will learn to formulate a research question, demonstrate technical understanding of the field of engineering, science, policy or management (as appropriate) around this particular question and apply research methods appropriate for the research objective. Furthermore, you will demonstrate your ability to communicate the results to a wider audience by means of a written research paper and a visual poster.
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