Civil and Coastal Engineering, MEng (Hons)

Are you intrigued by the design and resilience of coastal structures like seawalls and breakwaters against sea forces? This MEng in Civil and Coastal Engineering equips you to safeguard communities from flooding and sea-level rise, while mastering port planning and construction. As a four-year integrated masters, it builds specialist knowledge for coastal projects, with our programme ranked eighth globally in Marine/Ocean Engineering by ARWU. Accredited by key institutions including ICE and IStructE, it meets requirements for Chartered Engineer status. You'll gain practical skills through facilities like the £19 million Marine Building, industry placements, and a focus on sustainable design and project management.The course begins with foundational engineering principles in maths, materials, and mechanics, progressing to core disciplines like structural analysis, geotechnics, and coastal engineering. By the third year, you'll tackle advanced topics in hydraulics and port engineering, culminating in an individual research project. Assessment combines 45% exams and 55% coursework, supported by expert staff and access to innovative labs, preparing you for careers in civil engineering with recognised professional qualifications.

In the first year of your civil and coastal engineering course you will study alongside other engineering students to learn about the fundamental principles that underpin technical subjects which are studied throughout the course. You will develop your mathematical skills and study engineering materials, structural mechanics and fluid mechanics. You will learn about generic design and computer-aided design, and work in a team to undertake a real-world design challenge. Laboratory sessions will form an important part of your learning. The second year introduces core civil engineering disciplines that comprise structural analysis and design, geotechnics and fluid dynamics. These subjects are explored in lectures, through practical activities, and field trips. You will be introduced to the special topic of coastal engineering, and you will develop essential and professional transferable skills and tools for the management of projects. At this point of the course, it is still possible to swap between our ‘civil’ and ‘civil and coastal’ engineering degrees. By taking the opportunity to spend an optional year in paid employment whilst still a student civil engineer, you will obtain recordable professional experience, build a network of industry contacts and often obtain offers of summer work, sponsorship or employment on graduation. Our placements team will support you in finding a placement, and we have an extensive network of employers across all sectors. In your third year, you will deepen your understanding of the core technical subjects in civil engineering with a particular focus on designing infrastructure solutions in a coastal context. You will immerse yourself in the execution of your individual project throughout the year. These projects will focus on a research question or a practical issue relevant to your chosen specialism and might involve the use of the COAST laboratory facilities, state of the art modelling software supervised by an academic member of staff. In this final year of the MEng programme you will build upon and integrate your earlier learning. You will develop advanced understanding of coastal engineering, hydraulics and geotechnics, extend your experience of coastal engineering into the associated field of port and harbour engineering. As a masters student you will sharpen your project management skills. The year finishes with the completion of an integrated design project that demonstrates your design, presentation and group working skills. The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.