• Charles Sturt University will offer a new four-year stand-alone engineering degree starting in 2022
• The Charles Sturt program and degree already meets the Australian Council of Engineering Dean’s (ACED) recent report recommendations for a re-balancing of the theory-practice components of professional engineering education
• Charles Sturt student engineers graduate with real-world experience, a professional industry network and the skills industry needs

Charles Sturt University’s engineering program continues to lead the way developing graduates that are equipped with real-world experience, diverse technical skills, and entrepreneurial acumen that will meet the rapidly changing needs of the world.

In addition to the innovative Bachelor of Technology (Civil Systems)/Masters of Engineering (Civil Systems) program the university will also offer a new four-year stand-alone civil engineering degree in 2022 that will enable students to complete the course with 12 months paid work experience and an industry network.

Dr Reza Mahinroosta, Course Director and Senior Lecturer in engineering in the Engineering program in the Charles Sturt School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering, said, “The new four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours) is a continuation of Charles Sturt’s innovative approach to engineering education.

“Since its inception in 2016, the program has been an innovative and leading engineering education program in Australia, as was recently noted in the Australian Council of Engineering Dean’s (ACED) Engineering 2035 report.”

The report recommends a re-balancing of the theory-practice components of professional engineering education, with a greater emphasis on practice, including the human dimensions of engineering.

“At Charles Sturt University, as the report notes and recommends, we already offer a ‘ … strong program focussed on exposure to professional practice (practice-based education), addressing real world complexity, and the integrated development of technical and generic competencies as authentic learning experiences’,” Dr Mahinroosta said.

“Our ‘program involves students learning via placements in authentic professional practice environments’, where they learn from our expert engineers and work alongside industry professionals.

“Our unique state-of-the-art facilities will provide graduates with the skills industry needs, and they graduate with real-world experience and a professional industry network.”

The new four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours) is a ‘hands-on’ course, with no lectures or exams.

“The course is purely designed around project-based learning and paid industry experience,” Dr Mahinroosta said.

“Students start learning from the moment they are accepted onto the program, and they build their own course using our unique ‘Topic Tree’ which encompasses nearly a thousand civil engineering topics.”

The course structure features:

• One-and-a-half years on campus at Charles Sturt in Bathurst to study foundation subjects
• One year off-campus paid work placement and online study
• One-and-a-half years on campus study; select capstone thesis and one elective

The Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours) offers career opportunities as a construction engineer, council engineer, civil engineer, commissioning engineer, geotechnical engineer, project engineer, mining engineer, structural engineer, planning engineer, environmental engineer, water quality engineer, water resources engineer.