Core modules
Humanitarian Engineering: Ethics, Theory and Practices
This module is an introduction to humanitarian engineering viewed from ethical, cultural, and practical perspectives. It is designed to enable you to reflect upon the history and meaning of Humanitarianism and Humanitarian Engineering.
An Introduction to Global Health
The module aims to give you a comprehensive knowledge and critique of key global health issues. You will be introduced to the global burden of disease and the social determinants of health.
Water and Environmental Management
The main aim of this module is to present to students a global topic such as water in its complexity and to engage them so they can discover, research and experiment the great potentialities of an interdisciplinary approach to the matter.
One Humanity; Shared Responsibility
The international community is expecting that we come together and tackle global challenges from poverty to gender quality and climate change, and to create a better world for future generations. Now it is time to turn promises into action for this generation, and uphold people’s safety, dignity and the right to thrive.
The Agenda for Humanity outlines five core responsibilities in which we must take collective action. One of the core responsibilities is 'Leave no one behind'. It is our responsibility and commitment to transform the lives of those most at risk of being left behind. This means reaching everyone and empowering all women, men, girls and boys to be agents of positive transformation. It means reducing displacement, supporting refugees and migrants, ending gaps in education and fighting to eradicate sexual and gender-based violence and increasing disaster management.
Urban Resilience, Disasters and Data
This module is aimed at introducing the topics of disaster risks and urban resilience with emphasis on the use of innovative digital technologies to gather and analyse urban data for improving disaster resilience. It approaches, theoretically and practically, the main issues involved in disaster resilience and the way in which social media, mobile technologies and the web 2.0 are related to our collective experience of disasters and crisis events.
Renewable Energy
This module aims to impart an advanced understanding of the principles of modern renewable energy technologies, including biofuels from a variety of sources, wind power, solar energy, geothermal, ocean and hydro power and ethical and practical considerations. The particular focus will be given to the limitations and restrictions in developing countries.
Specialist core modules
Sustainable Cities and Infrastructure for Emergencies
In many developing countries, basic infrastructures; housing, power, water, sanitation, information and communication technologies, and roads, are insufficient, or non-existent. Inadequate access to infrastructures is a key barrier to economic growth. It inhibits access to health care, education and markets, it is tested even more at times of emergency.
In this module students will explore the planning and conceptual design of sustainable cities and infrastructure improvements for low-income urban communities. They will also become familiar with the range of infrastructure needs for affected communities before, during and following emergencies such as technologies for security, shelter, water supply and engineering management of liquid and solid wastes.
Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Engineering
This module covers aspects including, but not limited to, key concepts of industrial ecology (industrial ecosystems, industrial symbiosis, and industrial metabolism), industrial ecology tools (lifecycle, input-output, techno-economic, and material flow analyses), sustainable engineering and design for environment, environmental impact assessment, sustainable production and consumption, resource/material efficiency and circular economy strategies (e.g. reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling), pairing disruptive digital technologies with the circular economy, sustainability in the supply chain, multi-criteria decision analysis, energy and transportation (e.g. battery systems and electric vehicles) amongst others.
Project
Students can propose their own projects or will study projects proposed by academics and industry partners individually or as a group. Guidance will be provided by the module leader and project supervisor who has expertise in the area of interest. The project aims to give you experience of working within a team and parallels the way teams formed with people with different background to tackle challenging projects like project teams formed in real life situations.
(One chosen from the list below)
- Humanitarian Law
- Design Thinking for Social Impact
- Challenges to Global Food Security
- Public Engagement
Read more about the core and optional modules offered on the Humanitarian Engineering website.Link opens in a new window
