Find out about the profession

Civil Engineers have historically been characterised for having rigorous training in general, which means they are highly valued professionals.

The new organisation for university studies stemming from the process for adapting to the European Space for Higher Education (EHEA) has transformed the two-hundred-year- old profession of civil engineering into a Masters for training professionals which must be taken once a degree in Civil Engineering is obtained. In particular, although there are certain professional opportunities (tor former public works technical engineers) for those who hold the degree in Civil Engineering taught at the UCLM, this is designed for students who, afterwards go on to take the Masters in Civil Engineering as they wish to have comprehensive professional skills in all areas of the discipline.

Professional opportunities for civil engineers include planning, designing, constructing and managing civil works. In this way, civil engineers are legally authorised experts for designing and constructing transport infrastructures (roads, railways, port terminals...), large structures (bridges, viaducts, individual structures on large buildings...) hydraulic works (dams, water supply works, sewage works, water treatment works...) ports and maritime works, as well as town and land planning and management.

These professional opportunities, many of which are legally exclusive to civil engineers, are frequently rounded off by other ones in non-traditional sectors such as finance, insurance, general consultancy, etc and in other posts which require skills inherent to civil engineering such as the capacity for work, managerial and leadership skills. These are the skills the Masters in Civil Engineering from the UCLM aims to provide its students, which culminate a process begun with a degree in Civil and Territorial Engineering.

The Association of Civil Engineers has compiled a list of all professional skills in a document.

OBJETIVES AND COMPETENCES

The main aim of this Masters is to train professionals to be capable of performing as civil engineers in virtue of that set out in Royal Decree 1393/2007 of 29th October and in Ministerial Order CIN/309/3009, of 9th of February (BOE No 42 of 18th February 2009), which set out the objectives for obtaining this degree and students must acquire the following skills: (basic, general, specific and those inherent to each specialism).

Competences have been defined as the set of knowledge, attitudes and skills which students who have completed their university Masters in Civil Engineering must have acquired to be capable of addressing any technical and scientific problem in civil engineering. They have been established on the basis of that indicated in The Spanish Framework for Qualifications for Higher Education included in Royal Decree 1027/2011 and Order CIN/309/209, which establishes the objectives which must be met in order to be able to perform as a civil engineer:

Masters students must acquire the following competences:

• Have scientific-technical training and a methodology for continuously recycling knowledge and carrying out the professional duties of assessing, analysing, designing, calculating, planning, managing, constructing, maintaining, conserving and exploiting in the fields of civil engineering.

• Understand the multiple technical, legal and ownership issues a public works project poses and show the ability to consider different valid alternatives, choose the optimum one and reflect it adequately, foreseeing any construction problems and using the most suitable methods and technologies, both traditional and innovative ones in order to be most efficient and nurture progress and the development of a sustainable and environmentally-friendly society.

• Have scientific-technical training and a methodology for continuously recycling knowledge and carrying out the professional duties of assessment, analysis, design, calculation, planning, management, construction, maintenance, conservation and exploitation in the fields of civil engineering.

• Understand the multiple technical, legal and ownership issues a public works project poses and show the ability to consider different valid alternatives, choose the optimum one and reflect it adequately, foreseeing any construction problems and using the most suitable methods and technologies, both traditional and innovative ones in order to be most efficient and nurture progress and the development of a sustainable and environmentally-friendly society.

• The knowledge, comprehension and capacity to apply the necessary law for performing the profession of Industrial Engineer.

• Know the history of civil engineering and training to analyse and evaluate activities that can be carried out in civil engineering.

• Know the profession of civil engineering and the activities that can be carried out in this field.

•  Know how to apply technical and managerial skills in R+D +I activities within civil engineering

• Have the capacity to plan, design, inspect and manage land transport infrastructure works (roads, railways, bridges, tunnels and urban thoroughfares) or maritime ones (port works and facilities).

• Know the problems there are in designing and constructing different parts of an airport and conservation and exploitation methods.

• The capacity to plan and manage water and energy resources including comprehensive management of the water cycle.

• The capacity to carry out land planning studies on the coast, managing and defending the coasts and environmental aspects of infrastructures.

• The capacity to design, execute and inspect structures (bridges, buildings, etc.) foundations works and underground works for civilian use (tunnels, car parks) and assessing their integrity.

• The capacity to plan, design and manage infrastructures and maintain, conserve and exploit them.

• The capacity to plan, carry out studies and design systems for collecting surface or underground water (dams, pipes, pumping stations).

• The capacity to carry out studies, land and town planning projects.

• The capacity to evaluate and condition infrastructure works environmentally in projects, constructions, restoration and conservation.

• The capacity to design and execute treatments for making water drinkable including desalination and purification. Collecting and treating waste (urban, industrial or even dangerous).

• The capacity to apply corporate management techniques and labour law.

• To have sufficient knowledge of scientific and technologies aspects of mathematical, analytical and numerical methods of engineering, fluid mechanics, continuum mechanics, calculating structures, land engineering, maritime engineering, works and developing water and linear works.