MSc (Eng) Water, Sanitation and Health Engineering

Year 1

(Award available for year: Master of Science (Eng))

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding of:

- the public health framework - epidemiology, burden of disease, health transition and priority setting in public health;
- communicable and non-communicable diseases of relevance to public health engineering, their transmission and control;
- contextual determinants for public health engineering interventions including; levels of socio-economic development, education and knowledge, poverty, exclusion, cultural factors,governance and corruption, institutions and finance;
- strategies for effective delivery of water supplies, sanitation services and hygiene promotion to areas where access is low, including low income urban populations, slums and remote rural areas;
- selection and design of appropriate sanitation technologies including simple on-site systems (pit latrines, VIPs, arboloos), community-managed facilities, simplified and conventional networked sewerage;
- selection and design of appropriate faecal sludge or wastewater treatment services and facilities;
- selection and design of appropriate water supply interventions including handpumps, hand dug wells, springs and networked surface-water schemes;
- operation and management of water collection, treatment and distribution systems;
- management of waste collection, recycling and treatment;
- financing and cost recovery for water and sanitation goods and services; and
- management of construction.

Intellectual Skills to:
- learn independently;
- analyse and solve problems;
- think strategically;
- synthesise complex sets of information;
- understand the changing nature of knowledge and practice in the management of project environments and engineering organisations; and
- transfer knowledge and methods from other sectors to public health engineering.

Practical Skills:
- data observation and planning techniques for rural and urban water, sanitation and hygiene promotion programmes;
- analytical tools for the assessment of appropriate technologies and their effective deployment;
- design skills for selected technologies;
- presentation skills to simplify complex developmental and environmental issues for presentation to a broad audience base;
- the capability to act decisively in a coordinated way using theory, better practice and harness this to experience;
- use of concepts and theories to make judgements in the absence of complete data.

Transferable (key) skills

Masters (Taught), Postgraduate Diploma & Postgraduate Certificate students will have had the opportunity to acquire the following abilities as defined in the modules specified for the programme:

- the skills necessary to undertake a higher research degree and/or for employment in a higher capacity in industry or area of professional practice;
- evaluating their own achievement and that of others;
- self direction and effective decision making in complex and unpredictable situations;
- independent learning and the ability to work in a way which ensures continuing professional development;
- critically to engage in the development of professional/disciplinary boundaries and norms.

Assessment

Achievement for the degree of Master (taught programme) will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will involve the achievement of the students in:

- evidencing an ability to conduct independent in-depth enquiry within the discipline;
- demonstrating the ability to apply breadth and/or depth of knowledge to a complex specialist area;
- drawing on a range of perspectives on an area of study;
- evaluating and criticising received opinion;
- making reasoned judgements whilst understanding the limitations on judgements made in the absence of complete data.

Learning context

For Masters (Taught), Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate students the learning context will include the analysis of, and decision making in, complex and unpredictable situations. The structure of the programme will provide breadth and/or depth of study and opportunities for drawing upon appropriate resources and techniques.

Opportunities will be provided for students to develop:
- interests and informed opinions
- their involvement in the design and management of their learning activities
- their communication of their conclusions.

Students will be expected to progress to fully autonomous study and work.