Civil Engineering (Academic Year 2008-2009)

Specific educational objectives
Civil Engineering deals namely with civil constructions and infrastructures. The first ones include buildings, civil constructions involved in industrial buildings and big works such as bridges, viaducts, galleries, dams etc.
The latter ones deal with road network infrastructures (roads, railways, airports and modal exchange junctions) and hydraulic infrastructures (aqueducts, lifting equipment and water distribution networks, sewerage systems, coastal works, hydraulic defence works).
Furthermore, Civil Engineering faces specific interdisciplinary issues aimed at solving some problems related to planning, operation and functioning of transportation networks present on the territory.
The Civil Engineer is responsible for both the design and the activities related to the realisation and management- during the operational phase- of works and infrastructures, in order to assure their functionality and safety.
The training of university graduate in Civil Engineering is based upon an adequate knowledge of the contents of basic sciences and engineering (theoretical and applied), paying particular attention to those having an impact from a civil viewpoint: Science and Techniques of Constructions, Geotechnics, Hydraulics and Hydraulic Works, Road Networks Infrastructures and Transportations.
Other basic engineering disciplines (Technical Architecture, Design, Electrotechnics, Technical Physics and Topography), besides vocational disciplines (economic and legal-evaluative) complete his training.
The choice of a fully fledged didactic offer, during a three-year period, largely involving all those sectors that traditionally characterise the Civil Engineer, guarantees the training of a professional profile able to identify, analyse and solve typical problems occurring in Civil Engineering, thus guaranteeing at the same time the possibility of further in-depth studies and specialisation programs needed to face complex and system-based problems.
At the end of the three-year period, the University Degree course in Civil Engineering assures the obtainment of a University Degree following a unified education path.
This path allows to access, with no educational debits, all Specialising University Degrees in Civil Engineering. It offers a training based on the scientific rigueur of the physical-mathematic disciplines, on the theoretical principles of the engineering sciences and the methodological approach of the applied engineering disciplines characterising the entire civil sector. The title is undifferentiated.
The strong presence of disciplines applicable to the design phase, besides the acquisition of specific professional knowledge, allow the engineer to obtain skills which are directly “usable” in the labour market, both in the self-employment sector and in the recruitment of technical profiles (executives or managerial staff) in the production structures or in the Public Administration. In fact, the envisaged design applications offer the opportunity to assimilate concepts and develop relational and decision-making skills.
The type of envisaged training, widely aimed at guaranteeing the graduate an adequate mastery of the general scientific methods and contents is well-suited for continuing the study cycle to get a specialising university degree, with no training debits; in any case it supplies the skills for an easy and effective learning through individual study or other training activities (university masters, continuing education, etc.). The study course can also be formulated according to further curricula, that, within the envisaged training objectives, allow for a diversified professional training. The University Degree in Civil Engineering aims at training professional profiles able to:
Translate the basic theoretical principles of the different disciplines in professional applications related to their competence field, using methods, techniques and tools that are suited to the specific situations;
Face and solve, in common situations, problems linked to design, realisation and management of civil works and infrastructures;
Know and being able to use criteria linked to safety, operativeness, socio-economic and environmental impact in the design and execution of the civil works and infrastructures related to the competence field;
Identify the basic problems of the transportation system as it regards the mutual interaction between supply and demand;
Manage projects and programmes for the operation, maintenance, updating, restructuring and divestment of buildings;
Make experiments, analyse and interpret the related data;
Be aware of one’s own professional responsibilities and ethics;
Have a knowledge of the business environment and the company culture as it regards its economic, managerial and organisational aspects;
Get decision-making and relational skills;
Have basic tools to continuously update one’s own knowledge.

Skills required for the admission (art.6 D.M. 509/99)
In order to be admitted to the University Degrees in Engineering, in general, the students should possess the following qualifications:
Basic scientific knowledge;
Oral comprehension skills;
Aptitude towards a methodological approach.
The importance of the last two points is to be particularly highlighted (oral comprehension skills, aptitude to a method-based approach), also compared to the basic scientific skills.
The lack of acquisition of some basic scientific notions during the school period- due to their absence in the study programmes- is not an obstacle for the admission to the engineering study courses, particularly when the oral comprehension skills and aptitudes towards a methodological approach are good; whereas the fact that they had already been acquired does not eliminate the need for a more detailed and careful study.
However, the essential qualification for the student’ admission to the University Degree Courses in Engineering is the basic knowledge of specific subjects, namely maths. The assessment of the students’ qualifications, to be admitted to the University Degree courses, should have the lack or presence of this qualification as discriminating factor.

Employment sectors for graduates
By tradition, the Civil Engineer has always distinguished himself for being a freelancer. Similarly, the new profile of the graduate in Civil Engineering will be able to keep this characteristic, according to his skill-levels, besides the possibility of finding opportunities as technical employee.
In this regard, the following sectors and activities can be envisaged:
Design sector, that is activities related to the design of civil works and their adjustment to the changing scenarios of the demand (design, calculation, accountancy, etc.);
Realisation sector, where professional profiles such as Building Site Engineer, Works Engineer and Inspector of public and private works work
Management sector, with particular attention to the functions of the Coordinator for the execution of the works, according to what is envisaged by the regulations in force as it regards safety in building sites;
Working as employee of public and private companies active in the sector of construction, maintenance and management of industrial plants, works and civil infrastructures;
Performing activities that are preliminary to planning and scheduling of transportation networks, organisation of services and carrying out of interventions in the re-engineering of vehicle traffic;
Working as employee of professional firms and companies dealing with the design of works, plants and infrastructures;
Working as employee of State Agencies and Administrations being responsible for designing, planning, managing and controlling urban and territorial systems;
Working as employee of Companies, Boards, Consortia and Agency that manage and control systems of works and services in the civil sector;
Working as employee (executives or managerial staff) of big companies, being operative in sectors typical of Civil Engineering.