The Success of Highly Qualified Engineers - Research Paper Example

Project study essay draft Introduction Civil engineering is an important discipline in the field of engineering. It forms the basis of all construction works involving structures, roads and the laying down of utilities. This course is offered in a number of institutions which are accreditated by the chartered institute of engineers to train engineers in the country. In this research work, we shall focus on this discipline and what has been achieved so far. Discussion Civil engineering is a professional engineering that uses design and construction as it is a physical activity and built environment which can build for example: bridges, building and roads, to get well known with this major the person must take Bachelor Degree to start his career that the highest degree for Civil engineering is PhD, which takes many years to get this degree, the places where the civil engineering can work is in factories, government and companies, in factories the civil engineer can make maintenance for the petrol drilling area and facilities, for the government he can make the roads and bridges which is the same for the companies but the differences is the name of the work, many places gives sponsor to students to study civil engineering, the reason why I chose to study civil engineering because I have a huge interest in buildings also I like doing physical things instead of sitting in the office all day, in my country they are getting developed such as in roads, building and making bridges to make the traffic goes smoother and getting ready for 2022 world cup, and another reason that why I chose civil engineering is that I have many recommendations from my family as it is a wanted major these days and will have a good career in this major also talking to many civil engineers they told me it is really good job also working outside not sitting in the office all the time. Liverpool John Moores University offers 4 years studying with foundation in order to graduate Civil Engineering as same as Northumbria University also both of them doesn’t have any optional modules to study like learning new language or taking a subject that isn’t relevant to the course, both them offers sandwich year which is taking break one year between second year and third year which is working for a whole year to a corporate or to a company and then go back to university and continue studying, also in comparing between these two university both of them offers part-time study which is taking less subject than the full-time study and also they will take much longer time to graduate depending on their effort and taking more subjects, both of the universities are accredited by institution of Structural Engineers it is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. It has 27,000 members in 105 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation for structural engineers. Although the universities have some similarities they also have differences such as Northumbria University has more modules than LJMU as Northumbria has 7 modules and LJMU has 5 modules in each year, both of them have different name of the modules but some of them are the same, LJMU focuses more on Structural analysis and design than Northumbria, LJMU has more overall satisfaction than Northumbria University which is taken from a trusted website which is Unistats LJMU has 88% overall satisfaction and Northumbria University has 71%. Professor Hassan Al Nageim who is a lecturer at LJMU is well equipped and experienced in the field of engineering. He has 22 years experience at LJMU practicing civil engineering. This makes him a very resourceful person as far as the practice of civil engineering is concerned. Professor Hassan Al Nageim is an experienced professor of Structural Engineering and has worked as a Senior consultant engineer for quite a number of years. He lectures in engineering, building maintenance management and building surveying. His research interests are in the fields of structural design and evaluation and also in materials technology. Professor Hassan Al Nageim has a very decorated academic resume with a BSc (hon.), MSc, PhD, CEng, FCIHT,and FInstNDT qualifications. He has written a book “Steel Structures: Practical Design Studies, Third Edition” published by CRC Press in 2005 and also written a journal article "Faces of Fundamentalism: Hassan Al Nageim. Structural Engineering” published by NISA in March 2015. He has also made a conference presentation on the topic “Sustainable Materials, Pavement Engineering and Asphalt Technology.” In the construction of bridges, the materials that have been traditionally used include timber, steel, stones and reinforced concrete. Construction works may also require the addition of some special elements in the structure of the bridge and in this case, the alloys of aluminum can be used (Cobb, 2014). Different materials used in the construction works normally display different characteristics in terms of strength, durability, workability, strength and the resistance of the materials to corrosion and these qualities must be taken into account while choosing the appropriate materials for use in the construction works. Stones have been used for a very long time in the construction of bridges since the ancient middle ages of the Romans and the Etruscans (Bridge Materials: Online). During these times, they were used to build arch bridges and piers that were able to last for thousands of years. These bridges could be constructed to a span of up to 150 m. today, stones are known to be cheap, easy to maintain and long lasting. They are used in the construction of surfaces. While choosing stones for use in the construction work, they must be resistant from weathering and in this case, rocks such as granite, gneiss and porphyry can be used (Bridge Materials: Online). Another material used in the construction of bridges is the iron. This material is has very good qualities in terms of its strength and durability. Iron is used to ensure that the bridges remain strong. However, iron is affected by rusting and hence there is need to curb the extent of rusting by applying appropriate measures. For the purposes of reinforcement, steel, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete can be used. They are used to enhance the strength of the bridge. Both reinforced and pre-stressed concrete are used for tensile reinforcement while steel is used for the enhancement of the tensile strength of the bridge. There has been a major debate in regard to the use of reinforced concrete and structural steel in the construction of bridges. In regard to the use of reinforced concrete, it is known that concrete that is of good quality has a high compressive strength and resistance to natural effects. Concrete is known to be strong in compression but weak in tension and as a result, cracks normally develop due to the effect of increased loads, increase in temperature and shrinkage of the concrete which increases the tensile strength. However, the tensile strength of the concrete is low and there is need to improve it (McCormac, 2014). An unreinforced beam is likely to fail when a crack develops. In order to reinforce the tensile strength, steel bars are normally embedded into the concrete and whenever the concrete starts to crack, the steel bars start to function as the supporting source of tensile strength. This way, they are able to resist any form of cracking and loss of tensile strength. Another way of reinforcing concrete is by putting the reinforcing bars at the bottom of the beam. This allows for the concrete beam to stretch hence allowing the reinforcement to increase the tension while the concrete handles the tension. This delays the cracking of the concrete. Structural steel on the other hand is known to be the material with the best strength qualities for use in the construction of bridges. Steel normally has a tensile strength of about 370 N/mm2 which is about 10 time that of the concrete. Another important quality that makes steel a very good material for use in the construction of bridges is its high level of ductility (Materials used in bridges construction: Online). Before it can break, steel will undergo deformation and will finally yield at a given level of stress. In the construction of bridges, steel with high structural strength can be used and this will reduce the difference between the tensile strength and the Yield strength (Cobb, 2014). It is advisable that steel is protected from corrosion and rusting by applying a coating of paint on the surface of the steel. This improves the durability as well as the appearance of the bridge. Conclusion From the discussion, it is evident that civil engineering is a fundamental part of the field of engineering. A number of institutions with highly qualified professionals are available to teach in these institutions and produce highly qualified engineers. A lot of things have also been learned so far and more knowledge continues to be gained in the course of learning. References Cobb, Fiona., Structural Engineer’s Pocket Book. 5th ed. CRC Press (2014). McCormac, Jack, Design of Reinforced Concrete 5th ed. JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC (2000). Materials used in bridges construction [online] Available at: http://www.aboutcivil.org/Materials%20used%20in%20bridges.html [Accessed 7th March 2015] Bridge Materials [Online] Available at: http://www.brantacan.co.uk/materials.html [Accessed 7th March 2015] Read More