Areas of specialisation
At the start of their Master’s degree, students can freely define their two specialisations and put together relevant content from the wide range of courses available largely independently. A few courses among the specialisations in Construction and Maintenance Management, Structural Engineering, Transport Systems, and Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management are obligatory.
Construction and Maintenance Management
The specialisation in Construction and Maintenance Management provides students with processes and tools to plan the construction and maintenance of an economically, environmentally and socially acceptable built environment. Students taking this specialisation will become trained leaders in the following areas: 1) Infrastructure and building design evaluation, 2) Infrastructure management, 3) Building lifecycle management, and/or 4) Construction project management.
Geotechnical Engineering
The specialisation in Geotechnical Engineering deals with the issues of soil/structure interaction, envi-ronmental geotechnical engineering, foundation engineering, tunnelling into rock and loose rock, and the necessary modelling, design and construction techniques. The course also covers well-known examples of failure and key issues such as natural hazards (e.g. earthquake, landslide), chemical soil improvement and the use of advanced sensor technologies.
Structural Engineering
The specialisation in Structural Engineering focuses on design, calculation and execution, as well as the preservation of supporting structures. These structures are needed in buildings (public buildings, commercial and residential buildings, industrial buildings) and infrastructures (bridges, viaducts, galleries, open-cast mining tunnels, protective and retaining structures, towers etc.). The materials examined include concrete, steel, timber, masonry, plastics and glass, as well as combinations of them.
Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management
The specialisation in Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management covers, on the one hand, the utilisation of water, for instance by hydroelectric power plants, weirs or dams and, on the other hand, measures and structures for protecting against the negative effects of flooding. The course also covers the management of water, river engineering measures and water revitalisation.
Materials and Mechanics
The specialisation in Materials and Mechanics provides an opportunity to study the development, use and behaviour of various construction materials such as concrete, metals, timber, glass, stone, bitumen, plastics etc. The specific structure and the resulting characteristics of various materials can be studied in depth. A broad spectrum of technical aspects, research and development as well as modelling and simulation are covered.