Program #5: Architectural Engineering Program


Program Description

Throughout history, architecture was witness to the most significant reflections of culture and civilization.  In today’s world, architects are compelled to challenge critical global issues through holding responsibility of the built environment, responding to societal needs and conserving natural resources. The program is committed to offering well-rounded future generations of skilled professional architects through an education that is rooted in culture, sustained with theory and progressive with technologically advanced methods. This program is dedicated to sustain creativity with knowledge and practice.

Career Prospects

It is intended that graduates of the Architectural Engineering program will acquire critical thinking and enhance design creativity in order to take a leading role in the professional practice. Graduates will be eligible to work in architectural design firms; in design, tender documents, as well as urban design and detailed planning.   Moreover, they will be qualified for working in construction industry, building technology, rehabilitation, conservation of buildings, urban context, and physical planning. Additionally, they can be enrolled in graduate studies in universities or research centres.

Program Concentrations

The program of Architectural engineering encourages undergraduate students, in the beginning of Level 4, to participate in one of four concentrations responding to the professional demands:

  1. Architecture.
  2. Building Technology.
  3. Urban Design.
  4. Urban Planning. 

These concentrations develop abilities and specialized skills that would serve students in the workplace and beyond. The concentrations require that the student has passed compulsory and elective courses in levels 1, 2 and 3 along with the prerequisite courses needed. Students will be addressed 8 credit hours “Graduation Project”.

1. Architecture Concentration: The Architecture Concentration allows students to develop a comprehensive broad understanding of the concepts and methods for advanced design, technical and professional aspects of design of built environments.

2. Building Technology Concentration: The Building Technology Concentration introduces students to building science and technologies. It enables them to develop an understanding of building performance requirements and building construction process; starting from the design development phase and ending with the preparation phase of tender documents.

3. Urban Design Concentration: The Urban Design concentration main goal is to apply innovations to reform urban design practice to meet the dynamic new urban problems. This Concentration allows students to have a well-developed understanding of urban places and the inter-dependencies of the fabric of buildings, landscapes, public ways, social interactions and the environmental context that shape them.

4. Urban Planning Concentration: Urban planning Concentration aims to broaden students' appreciation of planning and urban theory whilst providing them with the necessary skills to engage in critical and creative problem-solving and to think critically in analytical ways across the different city scales, from strategic to local.  This concentration allows students to explore international practices in urban development policy, planning and management that address contemporary spatial, socio-economic and political transformations in cities.

Agreements with another University

The program is not yet partnered with another university.

Program Competences

In addition to the competences for all Engineering Programs (A-Level) and the competencies for the Architectural Discipline (B-Level), the Architectural Engineering Program graduate must be able to (C-Level):

  • Apply digital architecture software to produce, render, and present in design.
  • Demonstrate deep understanding of the advanced construction materials, methods and techniques.
  • Recognize different design methods and approaches.
  • Identify contemporary housing problems and apply polices, and designs.
  • Apply advanced lighting, acoustics, and smart systems techniques in design.
  • Demonstrate additional abilities related to the field of the concentration within Architectural Engineering as listed below.

Concentration

Graduate attributes

Architecture

C6a. Demonstrate comprehensive ability to design innovative architectural projects based on the most contemporary trends and theories of architecture.

C7a. Apply digital technologies and software as design aiding tools to generate parametrically designed sophisticated architectural forms and Information modelling in design.

Building Technology

C6b. Demonstrate comprehensive ability to design architectural buildings of sophisticated technical systems and advanced/mega structure systems.

C7b. Apply digital technologies and software as design evaluation and optimizing tools for architectural buildings.

C8b. Produce a full set of tender documents for complex projects.

C9b. Demonstrate an understanding of the buildings rehabilitation process needs and procedures.

Urban Design

C6c. Demonstrate comprehensive ability to design urban projects that exist in thematic/heritage context with deep responsiveness to environmental issues and problems that face the society and built areas.

C7c. Apply digital technologies and software as urban design aiding tools for geo/spatial Information modelling and analysing.

C8c. Solve the urban mobility that serve urban context that ensure its sustainability.

Urban Planning

C6d. Demonstrate comprehensive ability to analyse and solve the urban planning problems with the necessary skills to engage in critical and creative problem-solving.

C7d. Solve conflicts between the engineering systems that serve urban context and its urban values.

C8d. Demonstrate understanding of the economic forces of urban context and its dynamics

Admission Policy

To maintain the quality and excellency of the “Architectural Engineering Program”, the candidate students applying to the program, either Freshman students who have passed Level 0, or Sophomores transferred from other programs, should qualify to the program needs.

Passing the course of “Projection and Engineering Graphics” is a must for all applicant students. These students should also successfully pass an aptitude test that indicates their validity and ability to join the program. This exam will be assessed blindly by a jury of professors of architecture. The exam will evaluate the following skills and talents for each student:

  1. The Imagination skills.
  2. The ability to express visually.
  3. The ability to read images.
  4. The ability to think creatively.
  5. The ability to read and conduct basic and simple architectural drawings.

Required Courses

In order to get a Bachelor of Science Degree in this program, and to satisfy the Program Competences, the following set of courses need to be completed.

 

Code Course Title Credits and SWL Contact Hours
CH ECTS SWL Lec Tut Lab TT