Structural Engineering with Architecture

mickodd

Does anybody have any info on the Structural Engineering with Architecture course in UCD?? I'm a Leaving Cert student and can't decide between this course and one of the Civil Engineering courses in the country. Is the course challenging? Is there much Architecture involved? What subjects are studied? etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated

pljudge321

Like all the engineering course it'd be quite math and physics heavy. Its a 3 & 2 course, 3 year Bachelor of Science followed by a 2 year masters of Engineering. You can cut and run after the three years but the dgree wouldn't be worth much if you are looking to work as an engineer.

Heres the modules for the first three years.
https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/w_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.show_major?p_term_code=200900&p_cao_code=DN078&p_major_code=NAS1

Get in contact with the programme office and come in to the college for a chat, they are always happy to help, ask to speak to a current 2nd or 3rd year in the course as well as some of the lecturers can be a bit too enthused about their subject area.

Good luck.

Chet T16

pljudge321 wrote: »

Like all the engineering course it'd be quite math and physics heavy.

^^

Two of my friends are doing this course, i'm in omnibus and we share 5 out of 6 modules this semester.

bnt

This is a relatively new course - the first intake just graduated last June. The way it was sold to me, it was created in response to industry feedback: there seems to be a demand for engineers who have a handle on the History & Theory of Architecture and some Art / Industrial Design exposure. The Maths and other core subjects are shared with other Engineering programmes, especially Civil (as you might expect).

The 3+2 thing is designed to match the trends in Europe, specifically the Bologna Process. The theory is that it will be more compatible with other European universities and offer more options for overseas study. It's still early days for this, though.

bnt

There's an Engineering Information Evening coming up, if you want to talk to staff about it: 18:30 next Thursday (15/10) is the Engineering & Material Sciences building. There's a map on the UCD site if you need one - building 49 at C9.

gubbie

Maybe this isn't the case with fee's potentially on the table but the Structurals in the year that I'd started with were quite annoyed at the end of it for two reasons:

1) Free fee's gives you an free undergrad, not masters. For those in Structural, this means the first 3 are free and then they've to pay the €5,000 a year for the next two (which they really have to do otherwise they just have... well not enough!)

For those in Civil you get 4 years free and then you can pay €5,000 to do a one years masters in Structural Engineering. (Or so I was told)

It's something you have to consider if your finances are poor

2) The other thing that was really difficult for the people in my year was the availability of jobs. As part of the masters programme you have to do a job placement... problem was most people couldn't find a placement and those who could got it through contacts or worked for pittance.

Then again there's a lot more people in a civil class then a structural class so you've got more competition!

bnt

I suppose that if you're focusing on these local short-term considerations, such as the extra year of Master's costs in Ireland, then the SEA degree might not look that attractive compared to Civil Engineering. I started it because I'm taking a longer view, based on the direction industry is heading globally, and not just in Ireland.

I agree that it's not the "defensive" option. You have companies such as Happold and Arup that are up there at the forefront of architecture, that do more than just crunch the numbers on an architect's pipe dream. Designing a structure can be more than following a procedure, despite advances in computing power and the advent of the Eurocodes.

That's the way I see it, anyway. Yes, I'm probably going to have to leave Ireland to find work, but that doesn't bother me, since that's the reason I came to Ireland in the first place, ten years ago: to find work. :cool: