THE IMPORTANCE OF CHEMISTRY IN ENGINEERING STUDIES TO INCORPORATE THE SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPT

The subject of Chemistry belongs to the basic module for the 1st year of Civil Engineering. It is a 6-ECTS subject, taught in the first semester by teachers from the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering. This subject is intended to provide students with those principles of Chemistry that are relevant to Engineering. Hence, the methodology, problem-base learning (PBL), is focused on developing the required skills to apply those principles. In particular, the contents of this subject are selected to introduce and enhance students understanding the structure and properties of matter as well as the changes, both physical and chemical changes, occurred within it. These aspects are of great importance in order to address other subjects of the Bachelor, such as Materials Science (2nd year) and Environmental Engineering (3rd year), as well as the works that civil engineers will carry out in their future work. Among the specific competencies that students must acquire, the knowledge of the essential principles of the structure of matter to gain understanding of properties and performance of materials and apply them for materials and environment technologies is a relevant one. Furthermore, a clear understanding of the underlying principles of the physical and chemical processes that chemical substances undergo and, thus, the consequences of those processes for different applications is of great importance in order to determine the most sustainable processes and materials.