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MSc (Eng) Railway Engineering with Project Management

Year 1

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

Learning outcomes

On completion of the year/programme students should have provided evidence of being able to:
[O1] - Demonstrate in-depth specialist knowledge and a sophisticated understanding of concepts, information and techniques at the forefront of railway engineering. This includes:
• [O1.1] - Planning: Propose and appraise route options, consider environmental issues, journey times, costs and timescales, sustainability and regulatory requirements governing engineering activities
• [O1.2] - Design: Design railway track-bed, considering passenger, high speed, tram and freight services. Consider track foundations, super-structure and wave propagation. Make decisions using incomplete information and quantify the effect of this on the design. Understand the design processes and methodologies required to generate an innovative track design (JBM guidelines for MScs, 2017 & UK-SPEC criteria B, Engineering Council 2014, www.engc.org.uk/ukspec)
• [O1.3] - Project management: Understand procurement issues, project planning and control, project cash flow and risk management
• [O1.4] - Operation: Life-cycle costs, maintenance practises, asset management strategies, condition based monitoring, signalling principles, control rooms, safety
• [O1.5] - Risk: identify and recognise sources/causes of risk, undertake a risk assessment, understand the role of risk management and its limitations
• [O1.6] - Transport resilience: Awareness of the management challenges to building resilient systems. Experience in assessing & evaluating designs for increased resilience
• [O1.7] - System integration: Interdependencies between railway sub-systems, interfaces, optimising systems, reducing costs, safety and sustainability.
• [O1.8] - Engineering analysis: Apply appropriate engineering analysis methods for solving complex problems in engineering and to assess their limitations. Have awareness of the latest developments in track, vehicle and railway signalling technology (UK-SPEC criteria A, Engineering Council 2014, www.engc.org.uk/ukspec)
[O2] - Exhibit mastery in the exercise of generic and subject-specific intellectual abilities, namely:
• [O2.1] - Combining scientific principles, mathematics and realisation to solve railway problems (QAA Engineering subject benchmark, 2015)
• [O2.2] - Identifying the limits of own knowledge and skills, and strive to extend own capabilities
• [O2.3] – Showing creativity and innovation in approaching complex problems
• [O2.4] - Learning from feedback to improve and build best practice
• [O2.5] - Presenting and discussing complex information in a succinct but precise manner
• [O2.6] - Conducting appropriate research, identifying sources of information and critically assessing their relevance
[O3] - Take a proactive and self-reflective role in working and to develop professional relationships with others
[O4] - Demonstrate awareness of the need for professional and ethical conduct in engineering. Awareness of the need to account for commercial and social contexts (JBM guidelines for MScs, 2017)
[O5] - Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research and advanced scholarship within the areas of railway engineering and, in particular, in relation to the planning design, construction, and maintenance of railway infrastructure
[O6] - Proactively formulate ideas and hypotheses and to develop, implement and execute plans by which to evaluate these
[O7] - Critically and creatively evaluate current issues, research and advanced scholarship in relation to the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of railway infrastructure

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:
• Understanding of different roles within a team and the ability to exercise initiative and personal responsibility, which may be as a team member or leader (JBM guidelines for MScs, 2017)
• The skills necessary to undertake a higher research degree and/or for employment in a higher capacity within the railway industry
• Evaluating their own achievements and that of others
• Self-direction and effective decision making in complex and unpredictable situations
• The ability to work in an informal environment as well as in a formal learning session (QAA chapter B3)
• Independent learning and the ability to work in a way which ensures continuing professional development
• Critically engage in the development of professional/disciplinary boundaries and norms
• Independent learning which will allow successful participation in continuing professional development as required for professional accreditation.

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 programme and will involve the achievement of the students in:
• Demonstrating the ability to apply breadth and/or depth of knowledge to railway engineering
• Demonstrating knowledge of the interaction of the different areas of railway engineering and how they are dependent upon one another
• Showing knowledge of the principals of project management and how they can be applied in a railway context
• Evidencing an ability to conduct independent enquiry within railway engineering
• Drawing on a range of perspectives on an area of study
• Dealing with uncertainty
• Demonstrating skills competence in areas that cover the broad range of railway engineering as a discipline
• A satisfactory demonstration of breadth, as well as depth, of knowledge relevant to the practice of railway engineering
• Ability to work independently, setting appropriate aims/objectives and workplan, in the context of the dissertation project.

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