Engineering at Waikato set to grow

Engineering at Waikato set to grow

Image caption: The university’s school of engineering will offer civil and environmental engineering programmes from B Semester.

The University of Waikato has had engineering courses on offer since 2002, and from B Semester 2016, will be adding civil and environmental engineering to the mix. B Semester begins July 18.

The new programmes have been developed to produce graduates with the skills and knowledge to address New Zealand, and the world’s, growing environmental and infrastructure needs.

Initially aimed at a small group of students, the programmes will cover the fundamentals of engineering combined with theory and hands-on application.

New programmes

The new programmes will sit alongside the university’s five existing engineering programmes - chemical and biological, electronic, materials and processing, and software, all of which have full accreditation from the Institute of Professional Engineers of New Zealand (IPENZ) and means Waikato’s engineering degrees are professionally recognised in 13 countries and regions, including Australia, the UK and the USA.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley says offering civil and environmental engineering is an example of the university providing students with the skills they will need to address the world’s future needs.

“As a university we’re focussed on addressing skills-shortages and finding solutions for some of the world’s big problems, particularly in land-based industries,” he says. “By now offering the full suite of engineering programmes, we’re in an excellent position to contribute to these solutions globally.”

Environmental and civil engineering

Environmental engineering develops and evaluates options, assesses methods, designs equipment and systems and develops regulations and controls to solve issues of water quality, water supply, waste reduction and disposal, soil and air quality management and control of noise.

Civil engineering addresses the challenges in urban and rural infrastructure including construction, seismic retro-fitting, energy recovery, water/waste management, power generation, road networks, dams, bridges and agriculture and forestry development.

The University has been planning the expansion of its engineering offerings since the announcement of a significant gift from the Glenice and John Gallagher Foundation to fund a professorial chair in engineering. It is also currently recruiting for the newly-created Dean of Engineering position.

ENDS

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