| Unit name | Civil Engineering Systems 4 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CENGM1800 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Carhart |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Normally the successful completion of appropriate Level 2 Engineering units |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering |
| Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
This unit aims to develop a systems perspective towards Civil Engineering practice. There are four key themes covered by the unit
These, when considered in the messy problem context of projects that have a high impact on society, will prepare Civil Engineering graduates to innovate and lead change in their industry. We start the unit by building an appreciation of the issues and dilemmas facing the Civil Engineering profession (e.g. losses to national economies due to aging infrastructure and investment failure, and waste generated by construction and demolition operations, to name only a couple) and introducing the need for, and the main concepts of, systems thinking. This need is situated by our awareness that change is constant. We thus introduce students to some of the key ideas to leading business transitions in organisations. The ability to build systems models is essential to comprehending messy problem situations and we introduce students to the basic techniques, as well as how to choose specific approaches to match the problem situation and appreciating the need to accommodate differing worldviews. This follows on to the need for understanding evidence and meaningful measurements as a crucial underpinning to managing the on-going performance of organisations. No approach to understanding complex issues in Civil Engineering is complete without the ability to identify and deal with risk. The systems-based approach to risk in this unit focuses on issues of building resilient as opposed to anticipatory capability, dealing with epistemic as well as aleatory risk, and understanding the upsides of risk as a trade-off. We conclude the unit by drawing together the need for systems thinking with the four key themes into an approach to taming complex and messy problems in Civil Engineering based on Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs). Crosscutting topics that link the separate thematic areas illustrate where synergies need to be achieved for successful practice. We will demonstrate the practical application of the learning from this unit by a running case study drawn from a contemporary large-scale Civil Engineering project.
By the end of the unit successful students will be able to;
1. describe and apply a systems approach to technical and managerial thinking,
2. identify modelling issues,
3. describe and begin to use tools for the measurement of the performance of processes,
4. begin to lead change,
5. identify various forms of uncertainty, risk, hazard, vulnerability, turbulence and surprise, and their impact on decision making,
6. identify the ethical dilemmas of international business.
20 hours Lectures
100% Two hour written exam (open book)
Blanchard K, Carew D, Parisi-Carew E (2009), The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams, HarperCollins
Blockley D I, Godfrey P S (2000), Doing It Differently, Thomas Telford
Handy C B (1985), Understanding Organisations, Penguin Business
McDermot I, O’Connor J, The Art of Systems Thinking, Harper Collins 1997
Seddon, J. (2008) Systems Thinking in the Public Sector, Triarchy Press
