Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2
engineering, should pay a profound of attention to basic concepts that are needed for process
innovation in construction, or more specifically, for industrialized, integrated and intelligent
construction. Furthermore, innovation potential and creative thinking must be stimulated, not only in
the technological context, but also in the process context.
This chapter discusses the way the section Design & Construction Processes, at the Delft University
of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, is trying to realize this, i.e. trying to educate
construction professionals who are aware of the concepts of industrialized, integrated and intelligent
construction, who are innovation-minded and creative thinkers who can help construction companies
and organisations with their necessary innovation processes.
80
Objectives
The objective that this chapter addresses is to identify how to prepare students for their future role as a
construction professional who is not only a valuable designer, engineer or construction manager, but
who is also able to initiate and lead future innovations in the context of industrialized, integrated and
intelligent construction. In short: this chapter addresses the question how students must be educated in
order to prepare them for their role as construction professionals in a sustainable society.
Background
The context of the work presented here is the Civil Engineering study, as offered by the Faculty of
Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CiTG) at Delft University of Technology (2009).
The Civil Engineering study is structured as follows. In the BSc stage there is a three year study
programme in which mainly basic subjects are taught, including mathematics, mechanics, design
projects and general theory of construction. Furthermore, students are introduced into the main
specialist fields of the faculty: Water, Construction, Transport and Earth. In the first half of the third
year, students can choose a minor program in an area of their interest. Apart from this minor program,
there are few possibilities for elective courses in the BSc program.
In the MSc stage, students choose a specialization track and must follow a two-year program of that
specialization. Examples of MSc specializations at civil engineering are Hydraulic Engineering,
Water Management, Building Engineering, Structural Engineering, and Transport & Planning. In
addition, there are some inter-faculty or cross-faculty specializations, for example Construction
Management and Engineering and Offshore Engineering.
In practice, this broad BSc curriculum is characterized by an emphasis on fundamentals, especially
mathematics, and on “hardcore” engineering courses such as mechanics, structural dynamics,
hydraulic engineering etc. The MSc stage is much more specialized and the character of this stage is
highly dependent on the chosen specialization.
However, students need to learn more than hardcore engineering courses in order to become valuable
engineers. Students also need to learn design skills, management skills and ICT skills. Probably more
significantly, they need to develop an innovative and creative attitude towards the engineering
profession. This chapter discusses how our group tries to develop these skills and attitude for our
students, within the limitations of the curriculum.
Vision
The main motivation for curriculum development by our group is formed by the needs of the
construction industry for adapting to inevitable changes required by transitions in the BC industry.
According to our own observation, the success of construction projects usually does not depend on
technical or technological factors, but on human and organizational factors. Therefore students should
be educated as engineers who not only can solve difficult technical problems, but who are also able to
cope with the human and organizational aspects of construction – now and in the future based on this
transition of the Dutch BC industry (Table 1).