The Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering was
founded in 1978 and at that time offered two diploma degrees, one in Civil Engineering
and the other in Architectural Engineering. In 1995 the College of Engineering and
Technology (CET) (and the Civil and Architectural Engineering Department) at Palestine
Polytechnic University (PPU) began accepting students in a bachelor programs in
Engineering. Now, the Department offers programs of study leading to the Bachelor
of Engineering degrees in Building Engineering, Surveying and Geomatics Engineering,
and Architectural Engineering.
Building Engineering program is unique in concentrating on
buildings from the structural, architectural, electrical, and mechanical aspects.
The aim of the program is to produce buildings engineers that can serve their local
communities in all aspects relating to the design, construction, maintenance, and
rehabilitation of buildings.
Surveying and Geomatics Engineering program concentrating
on state of the arts methods and equipment in classic and advanced surveying and
geodetic engineering. The objective of the program is to provide the local communities
with graduates able to deal with all aspects relating to plane and geodetic surveying,
Global Positioning System (GPS), Photogrammetry and digital Photogrammetry, and
remote sensing.
The objective of the five year Architectural Engineering program
is to prepare the student with fundamental engineering competence in the analysis
and design of building and their systems. Additionally, the program provides graduates
with a broad education which will help prepare them to meet the challenges and opportunities
of life in general.
The civil and architectural programs (Building, Surveying
and Geomatics, Architectural) at College of Engineering and Technology give students
a broad educational background in the undergraduate level including preparation
in the basic and applied sciences, engineering analysis, design and practice and
a sequence of courses in the huminities and social sciences.
The Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering has
the following laboratories and workshops:
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Soil Mechanics Laboratory
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Asphalt Laboratory
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Geodetic & Land Surveying Laboratory
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Photogrammetry Laboratory
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GIS & Remote Sensing Laboratory
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Construction Material Testing Laboratory
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Architectural Workshop
All laboratories are will equipped with the necessary equipment
and supervised by trained technicians.
The number of faculty members has also grown during the period.
While there were only four when the Department was founded there are now 15 full
time faculty members. Further increase is expected in the near future. The Department
is keen on promoting extra-curricular activities involving both the students and
faculty. The Department strives towards establishing strong ties with the local
community and private institutions.
Building Engineering Program
The growing demand for the provision of new facilities in
buildings requires special qualifications and skills to carry through the various
stages of building erection i.e. design, supervision and execution. It is true that
safety, economics and speed are the major requirements in any building project.
Also, mechanical and electrical facilities are basics in all buildings projects.
Therefore, to facilitate various stages of building project execution especially
in the absence of the electrical and mechanical engineers, a certain qualification
that combines the four fields of engineering related to building technology is of
great importance. This has motivated the College of Engineering and Technology to
prepare a detailed study for a B.E program in Building Engineering. The program
is supposed to cover the four fields of engineering required for building construction
i.e. civil, architectural, and mechanical and electrical engineering.
Surveying and Geomatics Engineering
Surveying and Geomatics Engineering includes the science of
making measurements to determine the relative positions of points on or rear the
earth’s surface (surveying) and the science of making accurate measurements from
photographs or other types of imagery (photogrammetry). Surveying principles and
techniques are utilized in all phases of construction in order to determine distance,
direction, difference of elevation, and relative position. Surveying serves primarily
as tool of civil engineers. Without surveying there could be no orderly determination
of the physical characteristics of a project site, no intelligent basis for design,
and no means of translating drawings into an airport, a dam, or a highway. Photogrammetric
and geodetic engineering is highly specialized field of surveying. It advances our
knowledge of the earth and of outer space by developing new and highly accurate
surveying techniques.
From this point of view, Surveying and Geomatics Engineering
program was established in 1998 under the Civil and Architectural Engineering Department
of College of Engineering and Technology to provide the Palestinian communities
with qualified surveying engineers to contribute in this field of study. Since its
establishment, the Civil and Architectural Engineering Department has successfully
provided the Palestine Government and private sector with many top quality surveying
engineers.
Architectural Engineering
Teaching in Architectural Engineering program at Department
of Civil and Architectural Engineering Department started in 2002.The study plan
of the Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture is composed of 173 credit hours,
requiring a minimum of five years for completion. Eight weeks of summer
practical training is also required. Emphasis in the curriculum is given to architectural
design. Study of the local environment, user’s behavior, and associated technical
as well as humanity subjects are also included in the study plan.
In these five years, the student is required to express an
opinion on the world, to become involved and influence by his/ her acts the proceedings
of our existential surroundings. Additionally, the student is tested for his/ her
personal interpretation of Social, Economic, Political and Cultural Phenomena, for
his/ her level of involvement and ability to observe the world we live in. All of
this, while acquiring the ability to convey all of the abstract, conceptual insights
into a concrete, discussable, rational knowledge, i.e. the ability to design architecture
plans. The instruments in this manner, aside from the theoretical, conceptual discussion,
are all of the conceptual, theoretical and historical subjects that form a most
substantial basis for any act of planning.
The majority of the matters discussed in the Department of
Architecture relate to the most important and relevant issues that concern Palestinian
society. A re-discussion of development towns, the perception of constructed space
in a country that almost lacks free space, crowdedness, systems of residence, social
and cultural seams in old and new cites alike, and the development of a constructive
thought for the physical space still available.
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