Abstract:

The teaching of the Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree and the Master Program in Environmental Hydraulics, in the field of maritime engineering, has a high practical component; it has increased since the implementation of the Bologna Process. In this context, our goal was to bring to the classrooms the methodologies followed by consulting companies to design maritime works.

For that, we set up laboratory workshops in a wave flume and a wave basin. During the practices, the students:
(1) learn how to use the lab instruments and perform measurements of surface elevation, pressure, overtopping, etc., and
(2) analyse the recorded data by means of their theoretical background and the software typically used to design maritime works.

In this way, they improve their skills to deal with and solve engineering problems. This methodology is also applied in the framework of Degree Final Projects, Master Thesis and doctoral thesis, resulting in an improvement of the quality of the academic works and their associated scientific publications.

The results observed during the early years have been highly satisfactory. Students have shown a strong interest in learning the operation of both the measurement instrumentation and the data processing software. They study with concern the problems, analyse in detail the results and show motivation for their application in the decision-making process in the field of maritime engineering. Thus, they acquire the required skills in an effective manner. This methodology also facilitates the transition between the university and the labour market.

Keywords:

Bologna Process, laboratory workshops, measurement instruments, software.