More than just an engineering discipline, it plays a key role in economic growth by responding to various social challenges such as urbanisation, environmental issues, and infrastructure development. This highlights the importance and academic value of the discipline and emphasises that it is essential for sustainable development.
About the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Before I explain what the School of Construction and Environmental Engineering is all about, I would like to briefly outline what an academic discipline is. I have always wondered why there is such a thing as an academic discipline, because if you look at a real construction site, it seems that the work seems to run smoothly regardless of the discussions of the engineers involved. It is not the discussions of academics that matter to the site; it is how effectively the budget can be allocated, how quickly the necessary labour can be supplied, and how well the construction can get around the red tape that gets in the way.
But this is not to say that academia is irrelevant or unnecessary, as it has an important role to play that is often unseen: it is the foundation for practice, and is essential to ensuring technical and economic stability in the long term. For example, a small crack or design error that is invisible to the eye has the potential to cause a major accident over time, which is why an academic approach is essential to preventing and solving problems that field experience alone cannot solve.
If academics ignore errors, draw incorrect conclusions, and use them as the basis for design or construction, it’s a recipe for disaster. In other words, scholarship is knowledge that can be relied upon. Because scholars have remained sufficiently critical and constantly tested the validity of their knowledge, it has become knowledge that can be relied upon. As a result, scholarship has provided us with technology that can be better used in the real world.
The non-uniqueness of building and environmental engineering
Before I actually started studying in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, I didn’t really know what it did, because the name ‘Civil and Environmental Engineering’ doesn’t really describe what it is. The main reason for this is that the discipline is very broad. It’s a combination of disciplines, the most central of which is civil engineering. However, urban engineering, transport engineering, and environmental engineering are also important disciplines within the department.
Each of these fields seems to be a separate discipline, because the subjects they deal with are so different: built structures (civil engineering), social structures with large populations in a limited space (urban engineering), spatial movement of people and cargo (transport engineering), and technical responses to pollution that threaten human survival (environmental engineering). I was very disappointed to see this in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I felt that it was nothing more than a collection of unimportant branches of engineering under one umbrella.
But I soon realised that this was too simplistic: although each discipline deals with different problems, they are actually closely related. For example, civil engineering and urban planning must be considered together when building structures in a city, while urban infrastructure and environmental aspects also play an important role in ensuring that transport systems operate efficiently. Understanding these connections has helped me realise how comprehensive and important the field of civil engineering is.
Economy and C-E
For an economy to grow, it needs to accumulate vast amounts of capital. Capital is a technological product that enables people to do difficult things they couldn’t do before. Capital allows people to fly, drink clean tap water, and move quickly between locations. Capital leads people to better lives, so the accumulation of capital drives economic growth. But when capital is accumulated, we call it investment. A strict definition of investment is called ‘gross fixed capital formation’, but a simpler definition is the accumulation of capital.
What is important here is the impact of the built environment on economic growth. If you look at the Bank of Korea’s 2014 National Accounts, you’ll see that more than half of Korea’s investment is in construction. This is true for other countries as well. Economic growth in any country in the world is closely linked to infrastructure.
Investment is the key to economic growth, and when that key is strongly linked to the construction sector, it means that we in the Department of Building and Environmental Engineering are doing something important at the centre of the economy. I can give a few examples of why building and environmental engineering is important for economic growth. Growing economies often have side effects, such as urbanisation and pollution. Urbanisation means that people are living in smaller spaces, which creates new social and technological challenges. Keeping cities and transport systems running efficiently and protecting the environment requires specialised responses, all of which are the responsibility of civil and environmental engineering.
Closing thoughts
This has been a lengthy description of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and as you might expect, I had some initial regrets about choosing it. However, over time, I have come to understand the importance of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, which has been fundamental to my growth. I think you can tell enough about who I am as a person by reading my post. Civil and Environmental Engineering is more than just technology, it is an essential discipline that lays the foundation of our economy and society. This was an important lesson that helped me grow into a better engineer.
