Just before Christmas, somebody got in touch through social media asking what it is like to study first year civil engineering.  Martin Jolley, a first year BEng Civil Engineering student wrote the following about his experiences so far.

Introduction

With civil engineering being such a broad subject you have to enter the first year with an open mind about the subject knowledge you will learn. Within the first semester of Newcastle civil engineering, you have on average 18-23 hours of contact time a week, learning the basic skills of engineering of which I’ll go into more detail below.

What Modules Do I Study in First Semester?

• Structural Mechanics Here you learn about the basic concepts of physics, with the module focusing very much on truss designs, and reaction forces from moments of applied force.
• Engineering Maths This year-long module is shared across all engineering schools and builds upon A-level maths, incorporating small parts of further maths also, such as Imaginary Numbers and Matrices
• Environmental Systems This module has you think about effects (e.g. pollution) that engineering may have on water systems such as river catchments or water supply systems.
• Surveying Although its not one of the most popular modules amongst the civil engineers, surveying is a very useful tool a civil engineer can have. With 3 practical tasks through the first semester, surveying can be one of the fun modules if you enjoy hands on work.
• GIS (Geographical Information Systems) This module focuses on maps and building IT skills around map building to help plan and design engineering projects. With a computer practical session each week, GIS is a coursework-heavy module, where independent study is vital, as there is only one hour of lecture time allocated a week.
• Human Systems Demands and Impacts This is a 100% coursework module which builds upon ideas around sustainability and the people and environment that civil engineers affect with any work done.
• Design of Sustainable Engineering Systems DSES is another coursework-based module but is mostly group work and lasts all year. This module is a fantastic way to get to know people on your course and involves the design and construction of a scaled engineering piece, in a very professional manner.
• Tutor Meeting Periods These timetabled pieces aren’t lectures as such, but more of an opportunity for you to broaden your skill set and knowledge with talks from various university staff and guest lectures from engineering companies. The sessions are also used to convey information about the course from your course leaders such as guidance about preparing for exams.
• In Semester 2, I will be studying: Structural Materials; Geotechnical Properties of Rocks and Soil; and Fluid Mechanics.

What Can I Expect from The Course?

Newcastle is a great university in a great city. The one thing you can expect from the course is an abundance of opportunity in not only learning and furthering yourself now, but also improving the possibility of employment in the future. Anyone who has taken a science at A Level knows that it isn’t easy and you get out of the subject what you put into it … well civil engineering at Newcastle is no different. Much of the work isn’t easy, but at the same time its not impossible, all the work is achievable and if you go into it with the right mindset from the start, is easy to keep on top of.