Postgraduate Taught Programme: Safety and Reliability Engineering

Aims

Fully accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) and the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT).

The MSc Safety and Reliability Engineering Programme aims to provide education and training at postgraduate level for graduate engineers in the general area of safety engineering, reliability engineering, and loss prevention. Safety engineering is not a subject which is adequately covered in most undergraduate courses and so this MSc Programme brings together those topics relating to the safety and reliability of engineering products and systems, including the legislative framework, in a unified approach.

The MSc Safety and Reliability Engineering programme draws together students from all over the world, making the learning experience a truly international affair. The high regard the programme enjoys and the wide geographic spread of our graduates results in a world-wide recognition and acceptance of the degree.

The Programme can be taken on a full-time or part-time basis. For full-time students the duration of the Programme is 12 months, starting in mid September. Part-time students attend for the equivalent of one or two days per week over a period of two to three years, also starting in September.

The aim of this programme is to provide an opportunity for graduate engineers to develop a career in safety and reliability engineering and risk management. These topics are not adequately covered at undergraduate level and there is a continuing high demand for people with specialist knowledge in these areas. This is partly a result of the new legal requirements to assess and control industrial risks to people and the environment, and partly because of the need to create high integrity engineering systems in many industries – for example, in the offshore, nuclear, transport, aerospace and process industries. The needs are global.

The Programme provides an integrated approach to safety and reliability issues across most of the traditional branches of engineering, and allows students to specialise in offshore engineering, technical safety, reliability, legislations and regulations or human factors. The Programme also requires a final individual project, providing an opportunity for personal research and giving a deeper insight into particular safety and reliability problems. Each year, a large number of projects are carried out in industry placements or being supervised by industrial specialists.

For full-time students taking the MSc Programme over 12 months, a dissertation is to be prepared on work undertaken during the final individual project, which will normally be specified in collaboration with industrial partners, supervised either in the School of Engineering or in the companies, and carried out from June to September. Please note that an industry placement is not compulsory and cannot be guaranteed.

For part-time students who are sponsored by their company or who are working for a company approved by the University, a dissertation is to be prepared on approved project work carried out within that company during the second or third year of the programme.

The weighting attached to the various courses is:

• First half session: 60 credit points
• Second half session: 60 credit points
• Individual project: 60 credit points

Requirements

Our minimum entry requirement for this programme is a UK Honours degree (or an honours degree from a non-UK institution which is judged by the University to be of equivalent worth) in any branch of Engineering at a 2:1 (upper second) class or above. 

Applicants with slightly lower qualifications (e.g. a UK equivalent 2.:2 (lower second) class honours degree) may be considered if they can demonstrate they have 5, or more, years of professional experience judged by the University to be of direct relevance to the programme. Equally, the programme also accepts science graduates with two years' experience in an engineering field.

It is important when submitting an application that you ensure you have completed all the necessary sections and enclosed all the relevant documentation to ensure that your application can be processed as quickly as possible.

Even if you have been educated in the medium of English you must meet our English Language requirements. These are located at www.abdn.ac.uk/sras/international/english.shtml. This programme requires that you meet the 'Postgraduate Standard' level of English proficiency. If you are in doubt about your proficiency in English, contact the British Council office or its equivalent in your country. If your first language is not English, it is important that your proficiency in English is good in order for you to study successfully at the University of Aberdeen . Without this ability you will find great difficulty in understanding lectures, producing written work and sitting examinations.

We have one intake each year in September. Late applications may be asked to wait until the next intake should the programme coordinator feel there is insufficient time to consider the application. Prospective students who require a visa to study in the UK are advised to apply as early in the year as possible to secure a place. Applications received after 30th June from students who need to apply for a visa to study in the UK will not be processed for entry in September of that year but may be considered for entry the following year as appropriate.

It is important to note that the programmes of postgraduate study at the University of Aberdeen are very competitive and the entry requirements stated are a guide to the minimum requirements, but do not guarantee entry.

Syllabus

The taught part of the Programme consists of two half-sessions: the first running from September to January and the second from February to May. A number of industrially based external lecturers contribute to the Programme to give examples of how theoretical concepts are currently being applied in industry.

First Half Session

• Fundamental Safety Engineering & Risk Management Concepts
• Statistics & Probability for Safety, Reliability & Quality
• Fire & Explosion Engineering
• Offshore Oil & Gas Production Systems

Second Half Session

• Advanced Methods for Risk & Reliability Assessment
• Applied Risk Analysis & Management
• Process Safety & Reliability
• Human Factors

Individual Project

For full-time students taking the MSc Programme over 12 months, a dissertation is to be prepared on work undertaken during the final individual project, which will normally be specified in collaboration with industrial partners, supervised either in the School of Engineering or in the companies, and carried out from June to September. Please note that an industry placement is not compulsory and cannot be guaranteed.

For part-time students who are sponsored by their company or who are working for a company approved by the University, a dissertation is to be prepared on approved project work carried out within that company during the second or third year of the programme.

In addition to the above, a number of lectures are given by practising safety and reliability specialists.

Assessment

Assessment is by continuous assessment and/or written assignment.

Teaching

Students are taught by staff from the Departments of Engineering, Mathematics, Psychology and Environmental and Occupational Medicine of The University of Aberdeen, and from the School of Mechanical and Offshore Engineering at The Robert Gordon University. In addition, a number of industrially based external lecturers contribute to the Programme to give examples of how theoretical concepts are currently being applied in industry.

Funding

Prospective students should visit the University's Postgraduate Funding Database, the University Funding Pages.and the College's Funding Pages.

University of Aberdeen Alumni Discount Scheme
The University of Aberdeen is very pleased to offer a 20% discount on postgraduate tuition fees for all alumni who have graduated with a degree from the University of Aberdeen. The Alumni Discount Scheme applies to both home and overseas students, and applies to the self-funding element of the postgraduate tuition fee. This is the element of tuition fee which you are paying yourself and does not cover the element of tuition fee which is covered by a scholarship, funding body, your employer, a company, or any another source of funding. The Alumni Discount applies only to the tuition fee element and does not apply to any other costs such as additional programme costs or research costs. More Information can be here.

Other Sources
The University of Aberdeen also has a list of International Scholarships & Bursaries.

Petrofac/Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowships for the Enhanced Graduate Engineer

The Enhanced Graduate Engineer is achieved through a combination of an appropriate full-time Masters’ level second degree education coupled with additional learning and development opportunities provided by Petrofac, including where possible a company sourced major project, a mentor and work placement. In certain cases the company may offer post-graduation employment. All Fellows will be expected to attend a Petrofac familiarisation visit. The scheme is focused on high calibre graduate engineers who are interested in pursuing a non-research career in the oil and gas industry and those who are still undecided. [More Information]

OPITO is offering two OPITO Piper Alpha Memorial MSc Safety Scholarships. The scholarships are open to all students wishing to commence the full time MSc in Safety and Reliability Engineering in September 2011. (Please note that the scholarships are not open to students wishing to commence the part-time programme). In addition, the scholars’ dissertations must address the issue of ‘safety in the oil and gas industry’. 

Each scholarship is valued at £6,000 for the one year duration of the postgraduate degree. The scholarships will contribute towards the students’ fees and maintenance costs.

The dissertation of the scholarship recipient obtaining the highest mark will receive a further £500.

[more information]

Talisman Postgraduate Scholarship 

Talisman Energy (UK) Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc; a large, independent, oil and gas company, headquartered in Calgary, Canada. In the UK, Talisman is the fourth largest producer of oil and the second largest operator by number of oil fields.

The scholarship is valued at £15,000 for the one year duration of the MSc degree course. This will cover UK/EU postgraduate tuition fees, and will provide a maintenance stipend.

To be considered for the Talisman MSc Scholarship you will need to have applied to the University of Aberdeen for a place on one of the eligible MSc degree programmes starting in September 2012.

[more information]

Careers

There is a large demand for people with qualifications in safety and reliability engineering - in almost all branches of industry and within the regulatory bodies. This demand is likely to continue, and indeed increase, as more effort is put into assessing the safety and reliability of advanced and complex engineering systems and of ensuring that existing facilities can continue to be operated safely and economically.

People with research experience in safety engineering are also in demand and there are good opportunities for subsequent study leading to the award of MPhil or PhD, both in Aberdeen and at other Universities.

It is worthy of note that most graduates from this MSc Programme have found immediate employment, and at salaries well above average for engineering graduates, allowing for age and experience.

Fees

Information on tuition fees, including the current fee level, can be found on the University Registry website.

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