Water, Waste and Environmental Engineering (MSc)

This Master's degree is designed for students who wish to practice across a broad range environmental engineering and apply new sustainable risk management strategies for complex environmental problems. Water, waste and environmental engineering has been traditionally referred to as public health engineering in the United Kingdom.

In this postgraduate course, the technical aspects of both natural and engineering environmental systems will be covered. There will be broad interdisciplinary subjects synthesizing knowledge from a wide spectrum of science and engineering, expanding the content of public health engineering, which in the UK has traditionally been responsible for developing the infrastructure for managing water and waste. 

Students will develop engineering skills and be able to design, develop and apply concepts for water and waste as a resource based on environmental sensitivity and be competent in planning, modelling, design, construction, operations, maintenance and control of both engineered and natural water and earth resources.  

Students who select this postgraduate programme will gain a skill set that will enable them to progress in the fields of:

• Environmental engineering
• Desalination and water reuse
• Water resources engineering
• Hydraulics and hydrology
• Environmental fluid hydraulics
• Environmental remediation
• Waste management 
• Other specialities valued in both the private and public sectors.

The MSc in Water, Waste and Environmental Engineering will incorporate solid waste management, contaminated land treatment and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) with emphasis on management of the earth's resources. 

The programme will explain the relationship between different earth resources including:

• Hydrosystems, both 'engineered': hydro-power plants, water/wastewater treatment plants, sewers, and 
• 'natural': rivers, lakes, wetlands, irrigation districts, reservoirs etc.,
• Solid wastes
• Brownfield land
• Geo-derived primary resources and their sustainable management.

Outcomes

The aims of the programme are to:

• Show you how to design, implement and manage sustainable, risk-reduced eco-friendly solutions for reducing the environmental impact of exploitation of earth's resources in the context of environmental engineering-related issues facing global societies
• Provide you with the skills to further your careers in these areas
• Support you in understanding the innovative and pioneering approaches in this field and to be able to apply them to the solution of real-world problems in developing novel industrially-relevant solutions.

Full time

Year 1

Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.

• Environmental Engineering and Sustainability (15 credits)
• Individual Research Project for Civil and Environmental Engineering (60 credits)
• Information Technologies for Environmental Engineering (15 credits)
• Research, Planning and Communication (15 credits)
• Waste Management and Remediation Technology (15 credits)
• Desalination and Water Reuse (15 credits)
• Development Engineering for Water and Sanitation (15 credits)
• Water and Wastewater Engineering (15 credits)

Students are required to choose 15 credits from this list of options.

• Hydrosystems Engineering and Management (15 credits)
• Strategy & Management (15 credits)

Part time

Year 1

Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.

• Environmental Engineering and Sustainability (15 credits)
• Information Technologies for Environmental Engineering (15 credits)
• Waste Management and Remediation Technology (15 credits)
• Desalination and Water Reuse (15 credits)

Year 2

Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.

• Individual Research Project for Civil and Environmental Engineering (60 credits)
• Research, Planning and Communication (15 credits)
• Development Engineering for Water and Sanitation (15 credits)
• Water and Wastewater Engineering (15 credits)

Students are required to choose 15 credits from this list of options.

• Hydrosystems Engineering and Management (15 credits)
• Strategy & Management (15 credits)

Assessment

Project work, assignments and laboratory exercises in addition to substantial written examination of course materials will occur in most modules. The Environmental Engineering Research Project will require submission of a substantial final report/dissertation. Assessment of this module will involve participation in a poster and seminar presentation and a final oral examination.

Careers

Postgraduate students from this programme will find such employment opportunities as engineers, scientist and technical managers in the private sector (engineering design firms, engineering consultancy, project management, risk management and waste management), in the public sector (environmental protection engineering, regulations and standards, local government) and in non-governmental sectors (NGOs, environmental advocacy) or may wish to pursue further qualifications such as a PhD within the Faculty of Engineering and Science at the University of Greenwich to become even more specialised. 

Employers of environmental engineers include engineering consultancies (such as AECOM, Atkins, Mott MacDonald Group, Hyder), government agencies (such as Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and NGOs (such as Oxfam, Engineers without Boarders, Water Aid).

Visit the Water, Waste and Environmental Engineering (MSc) page on the University of Greenwich – Medway Campus website for more details!