A new engineering degree offered by the University of Greenwich will help manage dwindling water supplies as demand increases in the Thames Gateway.
Posted: Friday 8th August 2008
The School of Engineering is pleased to announce the first intake of the BEng Hons Public Health Engineering Technology degree. Students will start the new programme, available part-time and full-time, this September.
The new course will prepare graduates to develop communities that use less water, conserve and recycle the water they've got, and ensure rain water drains slowly back into the earth rather than flood or pour into drainage systems.
Fresh water levels are threatened as land is concreted over, standards of living rise and pollution gets into the water supplies. Climate change is compounding the problems. The immediate local challenge is to ensure new developments along the Thames Gateway, house-building in the South East, and the forthcoming London Olympics are built on sustainable principles.
Students will also be prepared to work in the international market where water management is also critical, particularly in developing countries where safe water, sanitation and waste management are crucial to healthy communities.
Dr Stuart Ashenden of the School of Engineering says: "There is a huge skills shortage in public health engineering. This degree, unique in the UK, has been developed with significant support from the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering, the Society of Public Health Engineers, and industry. Public health engineers usually have a background in civil, mechanical or building services engineering, and have to develop specialist skills on the job."
Martin Shouler, Associate Director at Arup, the international construction company, one of the partners helping develop the degree, says: "Climate change and the importance of managing water wisely whilst maintaining a healthy environment will require engineers and industry to find new solutions. This new degree will provide the industry with high calibre graduates equipped to meet the challenges of engineering in a changing world."
Open days for Public Health Engineering will be held at the University of Greenwich at Medway on Thursday 21 August 2008 from 2 pm until 8 pm and Wednesday 3 September 2008 from 3 pm until 7 pm.
