PENG9610 Evidence-based engineering Course description

Engineers have to make many important decisions on use of tools, work processes, project organizations, technical frameworks and many other topics throughout their career. Currently, too many of these choices are based on what is fashionable and argumentation made by people with vested interested. This course has as its main goal to teach students how to be evidence-based and make better judgments and decisions in engineering disciplines. To be evidence-based means in this context to base important decisions and judgments on well-formulated decisions and questions, collection of valid, relevant and representative empirical evidence, proper analyses and synthesis of the evidence, and use of the synthesized evidence as input in properly designed judgment and decision processes.

The course will be offered once a year, provided 5 or more students sign up for the course. If less than 5 students sign up for a course, the course will be cancelled for that year.

Master's degree in structural engineering, building technology or similar field.

None.

Knowledge

On successful completion of the course, the student:

• knows how to formulate decision to be made or questions to be answered so that it can be subject to evidence-based engineering
• knows about relevant sources for collection of evidence
• knows about the most common empirical methods for creating empirical evidence
• knows about theories and models for evaluation of argumentation and empirical evidence
• knows about theories and models for synthesizing evidence, including that of systematic litterature reviews
• knows about theories and models for good judgment and decision-making

Skills

On successful completion of the course, the student can:

• formulate decisions and questions as basis for evidence-based engineering
• collect and evaluate the quality and relevance of evidence
• design empirical studies for the purpose of creating empirical evidence
• aggregate the evaluated evidence so that it can be used to support a decision or answer a question
• design proper processes for judgment and decision-making

General competence

On successful completion of the course, the student can:

• practice evidence-based engineering in work settings
• support and lead experimentation and other means of creating local evidence in work settings
• assess the need for, initiate and drive innovation in the use of evidence-based principles in engineering contexts.

Through focused seminars, in cooperation with the master's degree in structural engineering and building technology at OsloMet, a wide range of typical complex engineering issues related to analysis and design of buildings and structures are presented. Furthermore, the students are expected to present their research ideas and the results of the project at a seminar.

As example, the course can include the following specific topics:

• Design and durability of concrete, timber and steel structures.
• Rehabilitation of buildings and structures.
• Degradation of building materials. Compatibility of new materials in historic structures.
• Heat, Air and Moisture (HAM) transport through building envelopes.
• Building Physics and Climate Adaptation.
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for simulating the interaction between exterior climatic conditions, e.g. wind, and buildings/structures.
• Bioclimatic architecture, Passive building design and Building Energy Simulation (BES)
• Innovative building materials and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Seminars, project assignment (scholarly work), scientific report and oral presentation.

None.

A project assignment and an oral presentation.

Both exams must be passed in order to pass the course.

The oral exam cannot be appealed.

All aids are permitted.

Pass or fail.

Internal and external examiners. Oral exams will have two examiners.