Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering is a professional field that has a long and rich history, starting in Mesopotamia, Babylon, ancient Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire. Similar to the ancient times, today?s hydraulic and water resources engineering still owes quite deal of it?s existence (and certain future) to the fact that water in nature is unevenly distributed in space and time. Hydraulic and water resources engineering traditionally deals with collecting and distributing water where and when it?s needed, while protecting the population, industry, infrastructure etc. from harmful excessive waters (such as ground waters, flood waters, etc.). Therefore, traditional hydraulic and water resources engineering activities are related to water supply and wastewater (sewer) systems, irrigation and drainage systems, river training and flood protection works, dams and reservoirs for water supply and irrigation purposes. Hydraulic and water resources engineering also traditionally deals with harbors and ports, as well as river and canal navigation systems. And since the first hydro-power plant on Niagara Falls, hydraulic and water resources engineering has included the study of water-related energy production or hydro-power systems.
Modern days, however, require hydraulic and water resources engineers to extend their activities to include elements of water-related environmental engineering. Environmental engineering is a relatively new field, which generally deals with water, air and soil contamination. This area of study begins with looking at the sources and levels of contamination to finding engineering techniques to reduce or eliminate pollution and remedy contaminated sites. Thus, the hydraulic and water resources engineers, nowadays, have to deal not only with the traditional issues, such as water quantities and flows, but must also take into consideration water-related environmental issues, such as the transport and fate of pollutants in natural waters caused by chemical, biological and/or thermal waste.
Furthermore, today?s increased avareness of environmental issues and accompanying water-related regulations, continually introduces new hydraulic, water resources and water-related environmental engineering issues and tasks. Examples of such tasks include:
Civil Engineering Faculty Subotica offers the following accredited programs in the area of Hydraulic, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering:
Undergraduate studies: Hydraulic, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering program ? 4 years
Undergraduate studies offer a series of basic and applied courses in the area of hydraulic, water resources and environmental engineering (fluid mechanics, hydraulics, hydrology, ground waters, hydroinformatics, water supply and wastewater systems, irrigations and drainage, river hydraulics, sedimentation, river-training works, flood protection, wastewater treatment etc.). However, the program also offers a broad general civil-engineering education. The program includes elements of geomechanical engineering, structural engineering, construction engineering, materials engineering, transportation engineering, geodesic surveying and geology.
Master studies: Hydraulic, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering program ? 1 year
Master studies in this area offer a deeper understanding of traditional flow problems and state-of-the-art skills in defining flow fields, velocities, discharges, flow pressures and depths, etc. In addition, the master program includes the study of transport processes, such as the transport of pollutants, heat, suspended solids, etc., in ground and surface waters. Besides a theoretical background, the master program also offers practical experience in using contemporary measuring techniques and mathematical models in the area of hydraulic, water resources and environmental engineering. Thus, master studies within the Hydraulic, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Program bring the undergraduate student?s knowledge to a higher level, and also provide a transition to the PhD studies program.
PhD studies: Civil Engineering program, Area of Hydraulic, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering ? 3 years
At the Civil Engineering Faculty Subotica, PhD studies within the Civil Engineering Program offer a number of elective courses that allow candidates to choose an area of study. A student may choose from structural and materials engineering or hydraulic, water resources and environmental engineering, or a combination of the two areas of expertise. In the case that the candidate chooses to study hydraulic, water resources and environmental engineering, the recommended courses are: mathematical courses, a course on the principles of measurements; courses on viscous flow, turbulent flows, and catchments processes; a group of experimental courses; a group of theoretical-numerical courses; a sedimentation processes course and a wastewater treatment course.
Teaching and grading policies are generally the same for all courses in the area of Hydraulic, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, regardless of the program level (undergraduate, master or PhD level).
Lectures are complimented by assignments, directly related to the lecture content, which provides for the better understanding of the course material and practical experience in solving the course-related engineering problems. Problems are assigned continually during the semester, with strict completion deadlines. In general, and especially for undergraduate courses, assignments are shorter, with deadlines of one to two weeks. Master and PhD courses, besides shorter assignments, may include longer term projects. Depending on the course subject, assignments may include computational (mathematical modeling) or experimental (measurements) topics. Depending on the study level, computational (mathematical modeling) assignments are based either on application of available software (mathematical models) or require individual development of numerical procedures. Teaching staff is required to grade each assignment in a timely fashion, and if needed, provide comments or recommendations to the student. Students are required to strictly follow assignment deadlines. These requirements provide for efficient interaction between the teaching staff and the students during the entire semester, i.e. continual work during the semester.
The final course grade depends on the students work on assignments and the results of the final exam. The work on assignments is worth 50% of the final grade, i.e. the student may earn a maximum of 50 points based on assignment work, while the minimum number of points is 27.5. The remaining 50% of the final grade depends on the final exam results, i.e. the student may earn a maximum of 50 points based on the final exam results, while the minimum number of points is 27.5. The final grade is an average of assignment work and the final exam results, requiring a minimum 55 points for succesful course completion.
The teaching staff is available to students for questions and guidance throughout the week, during office hours or before, after and during lectures.