Content of the Master's in Humanitarian Engineering

Develop expertise in various domains of humanitarian engineering and get a full perspective on the challenges in this field.

In this Master’s, you will get exposed to three domains within the framework of Humanitarian Engineering, that will help you gain a holistic perspective to humanitarian challenges – taking into account all phases of a humanitarian crisis. The first domain, Humanitarian Aid Engineering, focuses on immediate assistance in critical situations. Think of quick solutions for water supply, communication connection, first de-mining action, and flexible and modular facilities. The second domain, Resilience Engineering, deals with long-term planning and capacity building, for example: maintenance planning, education facilities, or robust infrastructures. The third domain, Responsible and Sustainable Entrepreneurship is aimed at creating value from a socioeconomic perspective on the longer term, i.e. job creation, sustainable business models and small-scale economy planning. These three domains are the foundation of this Master’s – and you can fill up the rest of your curriculum with elective courses of your interest.

Examples of courses you will follow within this Master's
  • The course Introduction to Humanitarian Engineering introduces you to the humanitarian engineering field and humanitarian guidelines as well as the concept of appropriate technologies tailored to the needs of underserved and marginalised communities.
  • Get equipped with knowledge and skills to address immediate relief during humanitarian crises or disaster-stricken situations in the Humanitarian Aid Engineering course.
  • In the Responsible and Sustainable Entrepreneurship project course, you will work alongside external stakeholders on implementation and value creation from technology very often requiring ad hoc business models with innovative funding sources and sustainable enterprises.

This master’s puts great emphasis on challenge-based learning. This means that you will get to work on real-life projects that stem directly from the field and work together with different stakeholders throughout the entire curriculum. In the second year, for example, you have the opportunity to go on an internship and work on projects like designing sustainable water supply systems for remote communities or developing low-cost renewable energy solutions for disaster-affected areas. Through this, you will learn more about the impact of stakeholder culture – and differences in stakeholder cultures, and the opportunities and the opportunities, risks and possible pitfalls of solutions.

What will you learn?

As a graduate of this Master’s, you have acquired specific scientific knowledge, skills and values.

  • Knowledge

    After completing this Master's, you:

    • have in-depth specialised knowledge in three humanitarian engineering domains: I) Humanitarian Aid Engineering, II) Resilience Engineering, and III) Responsible and Sustainable Entrepreneurship;
    • know the implications for designing and implementing engineering solutions with short and medium to long-term problems in diverse and dynamic international, resource-limited contexts;
    • know how to assess the impact of socio-technological solutions for large and complex societal problems.
  • Skills

    After completing this Master's, you:

    • can critically reflect socio-technological solutions in humanitarian engineering from engineering and social science perspectives;
    • can apply on-the-spot methods of problem-conception considering ethical aspects related to large and complex societal problems;
    • are able to effectively communicate and discuss the value of socio-technological solutions to a wide variety of stakeholders with a diverse cultural background.
  • Values

    After completing this Master's, you:

    • have an intrinsic motivation to contribute to addressing large and complex societal problems;
    • value cross-disciplinary and international collaboration;
    • feel the urge to create a societal impact with appropriate socio-technological solutions addressing the needs of underserved and marginalised communities.

Related master's

Not sure if this Master’s is exactly what you’re looking for? Maybe another related master’s at UT suits you better:

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