Computational Mechanics

The Master of Science in Computational Mechanics is designed for students who wish to develop their knowledge and competency in the field of computational mechanics with applications in solids, fluids and interdisciplinary fields. The programme also includes a component of entrepreneurship and innovation.

The goal is to provide the students with the skills for the modelling, formulation, analysis and implementation of simulation tools for advanced engineering problems, as well as skills for understanding these approaches in the broader context of business and innovation. Students will benefit from a leading group of academics and an exciting international environment. Students may take the Master's as a professional terminal degree, or in preparation for a Ph.D. degree.

Summary of study programme

The programme lasts two academic years (120 ECTS) and includes the Master Thesis as well as practical training in an industrial or applied research environment.
The first year is aimed at providing a solid background on mechanics and numerical methods. The semester consists of a set of core modules (20 ECTS) complemented by transversal and entrepreneurship modules (10 ECTS). These core modules are taught jointly at UPC and UWS.

The second semester provides extra background in computational mechanics with a series of courses amounting to 15 ECTS into important aspects of solid and fluid mechanics (i.e. plasticity, nonlinear continuum mechanics, dynamics, computational fluid dynamics). The semester ends with a Practical Training (15 ECTS) module, which is an essential element in the curriculum providing students with the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge in computational mechanics in an industrial context. Students can select to follow the first year either at UPC or UWS.

The second year is pursued in the second host institution. They are organised into minors, consisting of a set of modules emphasising, or bearing particular relevance to, a specific area in computational mechanics. The student must select a set of modules adding up to 25 ECTS. Additionally, the student will enrol on 5 ECTS in transversal skills. . The programme concludes with a Masters thesis (30 ECTS) which should help the student to deepen his/her knowledge within a particular topic of computational mechanics, usually set at the frontier of cutting-edge computational mechanics technology.

Learning outcomes

The EMMC in Computational Mechanics aims to provide the students with the skills for the modelling, formulation, analysis and implementation of simulation tools for advanced engineering problems:

• General knowledge of computational mechanics
  • Knowledge of the field of Computational Mechanics as well as advanced training in specific topics.
  • Computing skills: use existing software and knowledge of programming languages.
• Practical training/entrepreneurship skills
  • Development of innovative and enterprising spirit to carry out business activities.
  • Facilitate the creation of new technology-based (knowledge-based) SMEs.
  • Offer the possibility of working with software tools for planning and monitoring of projects.
  • Improved employability through the practical training in industry.
  • Exposure to Industry-University relationships for those MSc Theses with an industry orientated topic.
  • Understanding of the applicability and shortcomings of existing technology.
• Transversal skills
  • Integrative approach to problem solving, incorporating theoretical and practical knowledge and skills.
  • Time management, independent and group study.
  • Search and gathering of information (i.e. use of bibliographic resources, web-based search engines).
• Language/cultural skills
  • Effective integration in a multicultural environment and undertaking lifelong learning.
  • Exposure to the European and worldwide computational mechanics community.
  • Communication skills: oral presentations, clear and concise professional and scientific reporting.

Mobility

The students follow the Master's programme at two of the four partner institutions: the first year at UPC or UWS, and the second year at UPC, UWS, ECN or US different from the institution attended during the first term. Students from Spain and Uk are allowed to split the first year one semester at UPC and one semester at UWS.

The Masters programme consists two parts. It amounts to 120 ECTS credits and lasts for two academic years. Part I (first and second semesters) provides basic background in computational mechanics as well as a practical training component. Part II (third and fourth semesters) includes a series of specialised modules into a particular field of computational mechanics and a research/dissertation component.

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) is a student centered system based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a program, objectives specified in terms of learning outcomes and competences to be acquired.

The first semester provides fundamental background in computational mechanics with four core modules amounting to 20 ECTS, as well as transversal modules amounting to 10 ECTS, resulting in a final total of 30 ECTS.

The second semester provides extra background in computational mechanics with a series of courses amounting to 15 ECTS into important aspects of solid and fluid mechanics (i.e. plasticity, nonlinear continuum mechanics, dynamics, computational fluid dynamics). The semester ends with a Practical Training (15 ECTS) module, which is an essential element in the curriculum providing students with the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge in computational mechanics in an industrial context.

Practical training is an essential element in the curriculum of the students and will be developed during the second academic year (15 ECTS). Professional or R+D profiles will be provided in industry or in applied research organizations in Europe which are in close collaboration with all institutions in the consortium.This training can be closely related to the master thesis and will provide inside knowledge in computational mechanics project development and management.

The third and fourth semesters are pursued in the second host institution. They are organised into minors, consisting of a set of modules emphasising, or bearing particular relevance to, a specific area in computational mechanics. The student must choose a partner institution for the second academic year, different from that where he/she conducted the first academic year. In agreement with the local requirements of the second institution, the student must select a set of modules adding up to 25 ECTS. Additionally, the student will enrol on 5 ECTS in transversal skills (i.e. "strategic project management", "communication skills for engineers").

The Masters Thesis (30 ECTS) can be research or industry oriented. The student carries out the thesis on a topic related to one of his/her areas of specialisation. The Master thesis includes a seminar series in computational mechanics developed in each Institution during the 2nd academic year (see for instance http://www.swan.ac.uk/engineering/seminarseries/c2ec/ ). These seminars will be compulsory for senior students.

The thesis should be submitted by the end of the second academic session. Once completed, the Masters thesis will be defended in front of a local committee, with the external assessment of at least one faculty member of another institution of the consortium. The final mark of the thesis will be awarded by the Board of Studies of the Masters programme during its summer meeting.

Organizers

An international consortium of four leading European Universities in cooperation with the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE). All institutions of the consortium have a long standing tradition in the field of Computational Mechanics, with the highest standards both in research and teaching.

• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain www.upc.edu
• Swansea University, UK www.swansea.ac.uk
• Ecole Centrale Nantes (ECN), France www.ec-nantes.fr
• Universität Stuttgart, Germany www.uni-stuttgart.de

CIMNE is an autonomous international research organization specialized in the development and application of numerical methods in engineering (www.cimne.com)

A candidate must hold a Bachelor of Science or Engineering, or an appropriate science degree deemed to be a satisfactory standard for the purpose of postgraduate admission and awarded by an institution recognized by one of the members of the consortium. Candidates will be required to provide: (a) the degree classification, class rank and full academic transcript. (b) the IELTS or similarly internationally recognized English language proficiency score. (c) a complete Curriculum Vitae including additional language skills other than English and any additional information available that may relate to the potential performance of the student in the course. (d) the registration form, complete and signed.This data as well as the standing of the University awarding their degree will be used to rank students. All candidates asking for scholarship must submit their applications before January 15th.In the eventual case that a student applies to more than three EM Courses he/she will be excluded from the selection for an Scholarship.Once ranked, the Consortium will allocate available places to candidates on the basis of their ranking. In doing so, the Consortium will attempt to ensure that: candidates choice of specialisation are adhered to; that the quality of students is evenly distributed among the four partners of the Consortium; that competencies in languages other than English (i.e., Spanish, French and German) are exploited; and that well balanced (in terms of ethnicity, gender and worldwide origin) groups of between 10 and 15 students are allocated to each partner.The preselected list of third-country students asking for fellowships will be subjected to the decision of the commission. Students must check visa requirements at both the Spanish and British embassies.

Financial Support
The Consortium offers full scholarships to third-country and European students. In addition, a limited number of grants offering total or partial support to cover the course tuition fees are available.