About the Department
The Civil Engineering programme is designed to train engineers that would be capable of analysing, designing, constructing and maintaining physical facilities for the development of the environment. The facilities of interest include structural systems, water supply, wastewater systems and transportation systems. The programme is planned such that its products would have been thoroughly trained in structural analysis and structural design, surveying and highway engineering, soil mechanics and foundation engineering, water systems designs (water works, wastewater works, dams and various hydraulic systems). This, of course, is a set of standard Civil Engineering core courses. But in addition to this, it is intended to train engineers that would be truly literate. Indeed, this is in the expression of the philosophy of the Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. In this connection, the programme includes courses in Applied Electricity and Applied Electricity Laboratory, Technical Report Writing, Industrial Economics, Management Principles, and so on.
The first two years (after the preliminary year) of the Civil Engineering Curriculum are devoted to studies in mathematics, fundamental engineering courses including Engineering Drawing, Surveying, Thermodynamics, Engineering Mechanics, Workshop Technology and Applied Electricity; as well as a number of more advanced courses such as Strength of Materials, Geology, Materials for Civil Engineering Construction, etc. The remaining two years are devoted to courses in structures, transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering and environmental engineering. Electives are provided in the final year, so that students can opt for additional grounding in structures, transportation, environmental engineering, and geotechnical engineering or, indeed in combinations there from.
A great deal of emphasis is laid on linkage with industries especially through the Student Industrial Work Experience Schemes (SIWES). The aim of the industrial training scheme (SIWES), as envisaged by the Department, is to introduce the student to a real-life situation of an industrial environment. During the industrial attachment period the student is to appreciate how and why certain decisions (both technical and managerial) are taken under given conditions. He or She is to learn to relate his/her lecture hall knowledge to the practice in the industry and thereby appreciate the difference between theory and practical implementation.