Course syllabus for Dare to build, civil engineers

Course syllabus adopted 2022-02-14 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameMod att bygga, civilingenjör
  • CodeACE160
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPSEB
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyArchitecture and Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • DepartmentARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
  • GradingUG - Pass, Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 22115
  • Maximum participants20
  • Open for exchange studentsNo
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0119 Project 7.5 c
Grading: UG
7.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

  • Robert Jockwer
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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Aim

Sustainable development is inherently cross-disciplinary and urgent. Thus, there is a need for integrated and transformative solutions fostering collaborations and shared learning between disciplines such as architecture and civil engineering.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a multi-disciplinary practice-based learning environment, where students are involved in the CDIO methodology (conceive, design, implement, operate) to realize a project into built results. This provides students relevant skills to enter their working life, such as effective communication across disciplinary borders, putting one's knowledge and abilities into a real context, and having the capacity to handle complex problems both in a technical design process as well as in a building process.

The course aims therefore also at developing the necessary skills to engage with local community members to create a built environment that fosters social inclusion and addresses the most important local needs as well as the larger issues we face today. It is important to lift these issues out of theory and into practiced based examples, showing that real change can be simultaneously made and learned.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

Knowledge and understanding (Technical)
1. Be able to identify, model and plan the relevant demands and design situations of a structure.
2. Be able to develop a conceptual design and critically review, develop and implement technical solutions to solve engineering tasks in a multi-disciplinary team using a holistic, systematic approach.
3. Identify and explain the structure of a project life cycle in relation to the CDIO methodology.
4. Identify, describe, and formulate strategies for the monitoring and maintenance of a structure.

Abilities and skills (Project based)
1. Be able to examine and judge the performance of a structure against planned situations and uses.
2. Be able to work in multidisciplinary project teams, lead project work and present results throughout all phases of the CDIO process in the project life cycle.
3. To motivate different proposals with reference to scientific, or experience-based, knowledge and value-based arguments.
4. Develop effective strategies and conditions for effective teamwork in order to deliver projects successfully.

Ability of assessment and attitude (Collaboration)
1. Explore the role of engineers in collaboration with/contrast to the architects and vice versa in the planning and construction process.
2. Reflect on the professional role of architects and engineers, including critical thinking, professional ethics and the needs for life-long learning.

Content

Every year, the projects (if possible) are started in the Autumn within the design studio Design and Planning for Social Inclusion (MPDSD) with a preparatory co-creative and co-design process together with involved stakeholders and the local communities.
In the architects’ course of Dare to build in study period 3, the projects are carried on into a working group composed of students and teaching staff which, in a collaborative way, develop further the design, preparations and pedagogics for the building phase.
Finally, the building phase in study period 4 in this course DARE2build, civil engineers (in collaboration with the course Dare to build, architects) provides the moment when the students from different disciplines implement and build the designs and concepts in a specific local context and together with the respective local community.

This course is integrated in the CDIO framework, focusing most heavily on the Implementation phase. The different phases are structured and modified as follows:
(re)Conceive - Developed through a participatory process within the design studio Design and Planning for Social Inclusion (MPDSD), in the Autumn and reconceived by Dare to build students.
(detail)Design - During the Study Period 3, in the design studio Dare to build, architects, participants further develop the details and redesign some elements of the project, and all necessary preparations for the construction phase, such as necessary material for the building permits, scheduling schematics, building site logistical plans, etc. In this phase all partners are involved in order to guarantee the exact feasibility of the implementation phase.
Implement - During the Study Period 4 and in collaboration with the course Dare to build, architects, a reassessment and eventual modifications of the design is done through the lenses of the collaboration of architects and engineers and the actual construction of the building is planned, executed and finished. All necessary building documentation is produced in order to sustain an informed and competent building process.
(plan to)Operate - The completed built project gets handed over to the stakeholders and local community, in a guided presentation and exhibition of the result (including possibly an inauguration event of the built project). All necessary final documentation for the operability of the project is produced and completed.

Organisation

The assignments will be described by the course description and the project brief, introduced at the first day of the course and further carried out in groups with different working tasks. Analysis, synthesis and application of knowledge and skills from previous courses is converged and achieved here through professional and staff led co-creation, interdisciplinary and practice-based workshops, tutorials, seminars, study visits, design work and practical construction work in the project.

Literature

Lists of (compulsory and) reference literature will be included in the course description.

Examination including compulsory elements

The project is reviewed and evaluated through various oral and written assignments. Most of which will be group-based project tasks and include a reflective statement regarding the learning experience. The groups review and critique the work of each other (in a reflective and multi-disciplinary way). A final written individual reflection and conclusion is handed-in for individual examination.
Literature reviews and seminars around the topics of transdisciplinary collaborations between architects and civil engineers, ethical concerns and other complex challenges that the course and the project evolve around, are also part of the examination. 

To pass the studio the following is required:
• Attendance and active participation at lectures/seminars
• Active participation in group work, presentations and cross critics
• Delivery of course assignments of sufficient quality (fulfilling the requirements regarding content and presentation of the assignments, and in alignment with the course learning outcomes)
• Attendance and active participation in construction of the building

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.