Undergraduate Curriculum Design

The short-term goal of the curriculum design is to train students to become senior technical professionals within four years. The medium- and long-term goal is to cultivate students into comprehensive construction managers. This comprehensiveness encompasses the four major academic programs of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Electromechanical Engineering, and Management. The curriculum planning principles are as follows:

• Divided into four professional fields, with students required to take several core courses in each field.
• The teaching content of each course must be implemented according to the detailed syllabus established by the department's curriculum committee.
• Strengthen language training.
• Enhance general education in humanities and professional ethics.

Regarding course content, as it involves four academic programs, to avoid overly shallow and broad learning, teachers are encouraged to adopt the Harvard teaching method, which maximizes the use of case studies. Application-based courses, in particular, should aim toward this objective. To ensure teaching materials are up-to-date, especially for practical technical courses, we collaborate with enterprises to share faculty and research outcomes.

Whether in response to the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Operations Center or the internationalization of Kaohsiung City, language has become an essential skill. Language requirements for engineering management personnel are now a primary consideration for major operational enterprises in recruitment. Therefore, our university mandates 8 credits of compulsory English courses to ensure that graduates meet the requirements of enterprises and the times.

To enhance humanities and professional ethics, the design of general education courses must be comprehensive. General education includes Core General Education (three fields: 1. Marine Technology and Civilization Development, 2. Life Exploration and Local Care, and 3. Creativity, Innovation, and Digital Literacy) and Liberal Arts General Education (five course categories: 1. Aesthetics and Humanities, 2. Science, Technology, and Environmental Sustainability, 3. Society and Knowledge Economy, 4. History and Multicultural Perspectives, and 5. Global and Future Trends). Through this meticulously designed curriculum, we hope to achieve the short-term goals and lay the foundation for attaining medium- and long-term objectives.

Graduate Program Research Areas

Following approval by the Executive Yuan, our department established the Graduate Program in Construction Engineering Technology in the 87th academic year (1998). This program not only provides the first academic institution for those in the Greater Kaohsiung area who wish to pursue advanced studies in construction engineering but also represents a policy adjustment to address the long-standing north-centric focus.

The department currently has 17 full-time faculty members (5 professors, 3 associate professors, and 9 assistant professors), all with extensive industry-academia experience. The department is equipped with specialized laboratories, including those for engineering surveying, building environments, construction technology services, seismic damage prevention, construction materials, soil and rock mechanics, and engineering monitoring and testing. In addition to teaching, these laboratories also provide students with practical opportunities to integrate theory with practice.

The master's program is divided into two groups: Group A (Structural Engineering and Geotechnical Engineering) and Group B (Engineering Management and Building Technology). Their research focuses are as follows:

Structural Engineering Group

• Structural inspection, monitoring, and reinforcement
• Seismic analysis and design for structures
• Research on isolation and energy dissipation systems for bridges and buildings
• Load-bearing analysis, testing, and reinforcement of large structures
• Dynamic testing of structures
• High-performance concrete research
• Development of new construction materials
• Research on rebound modulus of pavement materials
• Linear dynamic feedback analysis of flexible pavements

Geotechnical Engineering Group

• Urban underground pipeline construction techniques
• Research on deep excavation construction
• Ecological engineering
• Hillside engineering and disaster prevention techniques
• Rock engineering
• Soil-structure interaction
• Seismic design and numerical simulation in geotechnical engineering
• Research on liquefaction phenomena
• Development of new geotechnical technologies
• Green construction

Engineering Management Group

• Simulation and visualization of construction methods
• Automation of construction information
• Technology transfer in engineering
• Dispute resolution models for construction projects
• Contract management
• Engineering risk management

Building Technology Group

• Open building systems, reuse of old buildings, and community participation
• Active and passive energy-saving systems in buildings and building physical environments
• Sustainable construction, building production, and recycling of construction resources