Projet intégré, séminaires et excursions en ressources en eau et en sol [ LBIRE2217 ]

iCampus

Common courses of BIRE. Mandatoryfor  the water resources and soil option section of the program.
Additional courses: Hydraulics of open and irrigation channels; drainage and soil conservation.

Project
The integrated project on soil and water resources aims combining different knowledges, skills and competences acquired in previous courses of the program, for i) analyzing and understanding a real-case soil and/or water management problem; ii) identifying and documenting possible technical solutions of the management problem, taking into account the administrative and legal boundary conditions; iii) selecting and designing the most promising solutions; iv) estimating the costs of the  proposed solution. The soil and/or water problem that is submitted to students complies with the complexity of a real case operational engineering study, but also with the time that can be allocated by the students to the project. The proposed solution is delivered in a written report and an oral presentation targeting a non-specialized public. 

Seminar
1 ECTS: Seminars given by professionals from the soil and water sector. Both experts from the public and private sector present seminars.

1 ECTS: Seminars given by students on a subject related to soil and water management, encompassing the environmental, economic , social and legal aspects of soil and/or water management. Suggested topics : European legislation on integrated water management. Integrated water management in Europe and in developing countries . Framework directives on water and soil protection . Managing multi-purpose dams. Water and public health in the tropics. Etc ...

Excursions
Professional visits of soil and water engineering works in Belgium and possibly abroad.

a. Contribution de l'activité au référentiel AA (AA du programme)

M1.4 ; M1.5 ; M2.2 ; M2.3 ; M2.4 ; M2.5 ; M4.1 ; M4.2 ; M4.3 ; M4.4 ; M4.5 ; M4.6 ; M4.7 ; M5.1 ; M5.3 ; M6.1 ; M6.2 ; M6.3 ; M6.4 ; M6.5 ; M6.6 ; M6.7 ; M6.8 ; M8.3

b. Formulation spécifique pour cette activité des AA du programme

Integrated Project (5 ECTS ) Only for BIRE / 7E

At the end of the project, the student :

-       is able to integrate his knowledge and engineering skills with technical, legal and economic aspects for designing an engineered solution of a complex soil and/or water management problem;

-       is able to adopt, during the planning and execution of the project, professional project management skills. This involves the development of skills allowing to  define tangible project results and to propose appropriate project methodologies, resources and activities;

-       is capable of working in a team, of executing  the proposed activities as scheduled , and , in case implementation problems occur, of proposing alternative solutions;

-       is able to present the project results, with the specific technical rigor of a  bio- engineers ;

-       has developed the ability to work in a project team , requiring initiative and organization to support and implement a project ;

-       has the ability to justify and defend the approach and the chosen solutions;

-       was initiated in some legal and technical aspects related to soil and water resources management .
 

After the seminars (2 ECTS) , the student :

-       will have been confronted with the complexity of  soil and water resources management and engineering,  through seminars given by professionals of the sector;

-       will have raised awareness of the environmental, legal, economic and sociological aspects of soil and water resources management programs, both in temperate and tropical regions

-       will have raised awareness of the functioning of enterprises and organizations working in the soil and water sector ;

-       is able to perform a SWOT analysis in relation to a project;

-       will have increased his skills in communicating project results;  and  

-       will have strengthened his capability for doing teamwork.
 

After  the excursions or study tour (2 ECTS BEER / IBAR and 7E / 7A) , the student:

-       will have been faced to a series of problems and case studies related to soil and water engineering

-       will have been faced with different actors and stakeholders of soil and water management  of the public and private sector;

- will have strengthened his technical writing skills.

Project:
- Multi-criteria evaluation of project report (quality of the  technical solutions, quality of the report, ...) and the oral presentation and defense of the project (quality of the presentation and quality of the answers to the questions posed by the jury).
 

Seminars:
- Professional seminar. SWOT sheet: For each expert seminar, the student makes a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats presented by the subject expert) of the seminar. The analysis is written in a report of  2 to 3 pages per seminar.
- Student Seminar. Multi-criteria evaluation. Scientific, technical and formal quality of the  presentation, quality of responses

Excursions:
- Report of trips and / or field trip.

Project: During the first week of the semester , the course structure is introduced , student groups are formed , the specific problems of the project is introduced , the expected results are explained, and the various actors and stakeholders are introduced. Following a site visit and / or meetings with key stakeholders , students themselves define detailed project activities to be undertaken, as well as an execution plan. From the third week onwards, students implement the project execution plan. Regular meetings  (weekly) with supervisors and tutors allows monitoring the project progress. In week 14 students submit their report. The project is presented and defended orally during the examination session.
 

Seminars : Presentations by professionals: A specific soil and/or water engineering or management problem is presented by the professional expert. Presentations by students in student group: A specific soil and/or water engineering or management problem is presented, based on a literature review.
 

Excursion or study tour : Tours in Belgium (5 days) and possibly abroad ( one week ) to discover the many aspects of soil and water resources engineering and management.

Project

A practicalsoil and/or water management case study (flooding problem, mudflow problem, soil erosion problem, etc...) is submitted to the students. The students are forming a project team ( a group of 3-5 students)  to propose an engineered solution for the problem. The project involves individual work, team work, and regular meetings with tutors and, in some cases, other professionals of the sector. The project report is due the last week of the semester. The project results are defended orally during the examination session.

Seminar
During the first 7 weeks, external professionals present seminars during 2 hours. During the last 7 weeks of the semester, students present topical seminars. Topical seminars are presented in groups of 2 to 4 persons.

Excursion
Visits to various sites in Belgium and possibly abroad

-       Avademecum of the course, describing the details of the program, is available on iCampus.

-       For the project,a shared data directory is available on iCampus.

-       For theseminar, a copy of the slides is available on iCampus.