Postgraduate Courses

a) Undergraduate courses marked with [BLD] or [SPO] may be offered in the mode of blended learning or self-paced online delivery respectively, subject to different offerings. Students should check the delivery mode of the class section before registration.

b) Undergraduate courses marked with [EXP] may adopt the approach of experiential learning subject to different offerings. Students should check the delivery mode of the class section before registration.

• CIVL 5110

  Engineering Risk, Reliability and Decision

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 2160 or equivalent

  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5810

  Description

  Advanced reliability methods in engineering decision; Bayesian methods, system reliability and design, risk analysis, probabilistic observational method, Markov and availability models, random field, large-scale system simulation, decision with multiple objectives.
• CIVL 5210

  Principles of Project Finance

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Description

  In-depth discussion of principles, techniques, and models of project finance in capital-intensive infrastructure projects, including international infrastructure markets; project bankability; project agreement and ancillary contracts; risk analysis and management; financial structuring, modeling and evaluation; outsourcing; case studies of various public-private partnerships in infrastructure development.
• CIVL 5220

  BIM and Digital Construction

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Previous Course Code(s)

  CIVL 6100B

  Background

  CIVL 3210

  Description

  This course covers the principles and applications of information technology for construction management. Topics include building information modeling, database management and implementation, web-based communication and project management technologies, decision support systems, knowledge management, and data processing and analysis.
• CIVL 5230

  Finance and Operations in Civil Engineering

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Previous Course Code(s)

  CIVL 6100E

  Description

  This course introduces essential knowledge and skills in engineering financial management. Topics cover interactions of engineering, business and society, analysis of financial statements of engineering and technology companies, engineering investment, and financial and operational management.

  Intended Learning Outcomes

  On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • 1.
    Describe the key features in the interactions of engineering, business and society.
  • 2.
    Conduct financial and economic analysis of engineering investments.
  • 3.
    Analyze the financial statements of engineering and technology companies.
  • 4.
    Evaluate the financial management performance of engineering and technology companies.
  • 5.
    Evaluate the operational management performance of engineering and technology companies.
• CIVL 5321

  Structural Sensing and Health Monitoring

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Previous Course Code(s)

  CIVL 6100P

  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 4330

  Description

  This course offers a general overview of the structural health monitoring (SHM) technologies. This structure of the course can be divided into three parts: the first part presents various non-destructive evaluation (NDT) technologies for detecting damage at material and local (structural) level, including wave-based methods, thermography testing, etc; the second part introduces vibration based SHM and system identification, which exploits the accelerations of structural response for evaluating the global structural condition; the third part introduces the fundamentals and applications of fiber optic sensing technologies in infrastructure sensing and SHM. This course both equips students with the fundamental knowledge on structural sensing and health monitoring, as well as introduces the cutting-edge applications on this topic.
• CIVL 5350

  Bridge Engineering

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Description

  This course introduces the limit states design method for bridges, discusses the design philosophy and code requirements and presents examples of analysis and design of bridge super-structure components (using the limit states design method).
• CIVL 5370

  Wind Effects on Buildings and Structures

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Description

  Wind structures; wind loads; wind induced vibrations; wind codes; wind tunnel test techniques; structural monitoring; and vibration control.
• CIVL 5390

  Finite Element Methods

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Co-list with

  MECH 5930

  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 5830 or MECH 5010 or equivalent

  Exclusion(s)

  AESF 5930, MECH 5930, MESF 5930

  Description

  FEM formulation; variational and Galerkin principles for continuum; element technology; numerical integration scheme; solution of large systems of linear equations; applications to structural mechanics; fluid flow and heat transfer problems.
• CIVL 5410

  Physical-Chemical Water/Wastewater Treatment

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 3420

  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5460, JEVE 5460

  Description

  Principles of treatment for removing contaminants from drinking water and municipal wastewaters; includes equalization, neutralization, precipitation, coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, air stripping, carbon adsorption, disinfection.
• CIVL 5430

  Aquatic Chemistry

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 2410

  Description

  Chemistry applied to reactions occurring in water and wastewater, includes inorganic solution chemistry, chemical equilibrium, acids/bases, coordination chemistry, chemical kinetics, colloid chemistry, solubility and precipitation, oxidation-reduction potential.
• CIVL 5450

  Hazardous Waste Treatment and Site Remediation

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 2410

  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5410, JEVE 5410

  Description

  Regulatory aspects of the handling and disposal of hazardous wastes, and innovative technologies for hazardous wastes treatment and contaminated soils such as bioremediation, and soil washing will be included.
• CIVL 5460

  Landfill Engineering and Design

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 2410

  Description

  Practical aspects of solid waste collection methods and equipment, current available disposal techniques with emphasis on complete engineering design of landfill systems, and landfill leachate treatment will be included.
• CIVL 5510

  Hydroclimate Data Analysis and Modelling

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Previous Course Code(s)

  CIVL 6100K

  Description

  This course provides a foundation for data analysis and statistics-aided physical diagnosis in water and climate related studies. Students will have a fundamental understanding of why climate and water research needs the assistance of statistics and probabilities. The course will cover topics including robust and resistant statistics, conditional climatology and persistence analysis, parametric probability distribution, spatiotemporal analysis, and visualization etc. with real analysis examples.
• CIVL 5530

  Turbulence Processes in Hydrosystems

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Previous Course Code(s)

  CIVL 6100A

  Description

  An introduction to turbulence, including the nature of turbulence, governing equations of turbulent flow, structure of turbulence, turbulence modeling, experimental measurements of turbulence and an introduction to computational fluid dynamics.
• CIVL 5550

  Modeling Fluid Systems

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Description

  The course focuses on the physical processes in fluid systems and their mathematical representation; includes the fundamental laws of classical mechanics and thermodynamics and how these principles are applied to fluid flow problems. The processes of waves and mixing in fluids are emphasized. The type of fluid systems to be studied varies from year to year depending on the students’ interest and can range from natural to engineered systems including fluid based renewable energy systems.
• CIVL 5610

  Urban Transportation Networks Analysis

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Background

  CIVL 3610 AND IEDA 3010

  Description

  Reviews transportation planning models and traffic analysis; examines the assignment of traffic flow on a network according to user-equilibrium and system optimal objectives; addresses formulation methods and solution techniques.
• CIVL 5620

  Travel Demand Analysis

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5620

  Background

  CIVL 3610

  Description

  Overview of transportation planning process; population/employment forecasting techniques; discrete choice models; simplified transportation demand models.
• CIVL 5640

  Discrete Choice Experiments and Data Analysis

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Previous Course Code(s)

  CIVL 6100M

  Description

  Discrete choice modeling and stated choice methods are used in many fields to study individual, household, and organizational behavior. This course covers advanced discrete choice model construction, estimation, and stated choice experimental design theory and practice.
• CIVL 5710

  Advanced Soil Mechanics

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Background

  CIVL 3740

  Description

  Selected topics from recent advances in theoretical and experimental development in soil mechanics; includes stress-strain behavior of soil, consolidation settlement, drained and undrained strength slope stability problems.
• CIVL 5720

  Advanced Foundation Design

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5720

  Background

  CIVL 3740

  Description

  Current practice of foundation design and analysis; includes design and analysis of bulkheads, deep excavation, tieback systems, tunneling in soft ground, buried conduits, lateral pile loading, pier foundations.
• CIVL 5730

  Theoretical and Computational Soil Mechanics

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Background

  CIVL 3740

  Description

  Advanced soil models and recent developments in numerical methods in geotechnical modeling, including constitutive laws, critical state soil mechanics, multiple yield surface models, finite elements for boundary value problems, diffusion and consolidation problems.
• CIVL 5750

  Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Background

  CIVL 3740

  Description

  Earthquakes and characterization of ground motions, seismicity assessment, soil dynamics and site response analysis, soil liquefaction assessment and post-liquefaction analysis, seismic analysis of slopes and embankments, lateral earth pressures and retaining systems, dynamic soil-structure interaction.
• CIVL 5760

  Geotechnical Site Characterization

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Background

  CIVL 3720 (prior to 2018-19)

  Description

  Presents state-of-the-art geotechnical site characterization methodologies; includes basic principles of site characterization planning, drilling and sampling, soil and rock description, cone penetration test, standard penetration test, pressuremeter test, dilatometer test, geophysical methods, permeability and ground water monitoring, and fundamentals of geostatistics.
• CIVL 5770

  Unsaturated Soil Mechanics and Engineering

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Prerequisite(s)

  CIVL 3740 or equivalent

  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5770

  Background

  first degree in Civil Engineering

  Description

  Fundamental principles, stress state variables, steady-state and transient flows, theory of shear strength and its measurements, soil stiffness, plastic and limit equilibrium analyses of earth pressures, slope stability and bearing capacity, critical state framework, instrumentation, engineering applications on slopes including static liquefaction of loose fill slopes, foundations, forensic studies such as slope failures.
• CIVL 5830

  Advanced Mechanics of Materials

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5330 (prior to 2024-25)

  Description

  Analysis of stress and strain; elastic and inelastic behavior of materials; formulation of BVP; beam on elastic foundations; torsion of noncircular thinwalled members; deformation of cylinders and spheres; inelastic analysis.
• CIVL 5840

  Advanced Concrete Technology

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Exclusion(s)

  CIEM 5240, CIVL 4810

  Background

  CIVL 2120 and CIVL 2810 or equivalent

  Description

  Fundamental concepts (workability, strength, dimension stability, and durability); updated concrete technology (micro structural engineering, development of special concretes); concrete fracture and modeling; nondestructive evaluation methods for concrete structures.
• CIVL 6010

  Directed Studies

  [1-3 Credit(s)]
  Description

  Specialist courses where instruction is generally on a one-to-one basis. Graded P or F.
• CIVL 6050

  Civil Engineering Seminar I

  [0 Credit(s)]
  Description

  Discussion of current research by faculty members, and guest lectures on recent advances in civil engineering. Graded P or F.
• CIVL 6060

  Civil Engineering Seminar II

  [0 Credit(s)]
  Description

  Presentation of current graduate research by postgraduate students. Graded P or F.
• CIVL 6100-6190

  Special Topics

  [3 Credit(s)]
  Description

  Selected topics of current interest. May be repeated for credit if different topics are covered.
• CIVL 6990

  MPhil Thesis Research

  [0 Credit(s)]
  Description

  Master's thesis research supervised by a faculty member. A successful defense of the thesis leads to the grade Pass. No course credit is assigned.
• CIVL 7990

  Doctoral Thesis Research

  [0 Credit(s)]
  Description

  Original and independent doctoral thesis research. A successful defense of the thesis leads to the grade Pass. No course credit is assigned.