Faculty of Engineering

 

The Faculty of Engineering at Birzeit University was established in 1979 with the development of five-year programs leading to the Bachelor Degree in the fields of Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.  A fourth department, Architectural Engineering, was added to the Faculty in 1990.  An additional bachelor program in Mechatronics was launched in the academic year 2009/2010. A master program in urban planning and design was launched in the 2002/2003 academic year. However, in 2007 the master programs curriculum was revised and named urban planning and landscape architecture.  The undergraduate enrollment for 2009/2010 academic year exceeds 1400 students.

The five-year bachelor degree program in engineering consists of 160 credit hours including a graduation project (Architectural Engineer has 164 credit hours).  The faculty maintains highest standards for academic achievement and to expose students to the latest technology throughout their engineering education.  This stems from the Faculty's belief in the importance of engineers in building a strong economy based on innovation and technology transfer. The master program in urban planning and Design Landscape Architecture consist of 36 credit hours including  6 credit hours for thesis or two research seminars. This program accepts students with bachelor degree in Civil Engineering, Architectural Engineering or Urban Planning.

The Faculty members consists of 50 full time faculty members. In addition, there are 16 teaching and research assistants, 16 technicians and 4 secretaries, one administrative assistant .

The Faculty of Engineering is housed in a large building with three wings.  The main wing contains all Faculty offices, classrooms, and lecture halls. It also contains three student computer laboratories meant for use by all engineering students.  The second wing houses the laboratories, and the third wing houses the workshops.  The Faculty of Engineering buildings were donated by the Palestinian Engineering Omar-El-Aggad, and were officially opened in 1985.

 

General Basis for Admission

Most New students enroll during the first semester of the academic year; fewer are accepted in the second semester based on space availability. The Admission Committee reviews all applications in view of the general admission policies drawn by the University Council.

Academic applications must be submitted through Ritaj system before the announced deadlines advertised by the University on its own website as well as in local newspapers.

Student Classification

Enrolled Students are classified under two categories:

• Regular Students : are students registered under one of the faculties reading for one of the academic degrees offered by the University.
• Non-Regular Students : are students registered for studying or auditing certain courses but do not pursue a degree from the University.

Admission of Regular Students

The following outlines the minimum general requirements for enrollment in the University's undergraduate programs:

• Applicants must possess the General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC/Tawjihi) in the Science Stream or its equivalence (e.g. SAT, IB, or GCSE, etc., with equivalent requirements set by the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education).
• Applicants' average score in the General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC/Tawjihi) should be above the minimum set forth by the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education for eligibility to University Education.
• The admission of first year students is competitive based on student s' Composite Score calculated as the percentage average of the their GSEC/Tawjihi average score (or its equivalence), provided that student GSEC average score is higher than the minimum set by the Faculty of Engineering. The University Council sets the minimum score for each faculty at the beginning of every academic year based on the available intake capacity in the various faculties. 
• The minimum GSEC tawjihi average score accepted in faculty of Engineering for 2009/2010 academic year was 92.0

English Requirements

After admission, all applicants must take an English Placement Test administered by the University. In their first year, students are registered for English language courses based on their score in this test.

Conditions for Acceptance in Major (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical)

1. Student must obtain a minimum average grade of 70% in the following courses MATH 132 and 141, PHYS 132 and 141, and ENME 121

2. Intake capacity of departments and programs. In case of a department intake capacity constraint; selection would be based on competitive average grade of the courses in item (1) above.

Conditions for Acceptance in Architectural Engineering

1.  Student must obtain a minimum average grade of 70% in the following courses Math 132 and 141, PHYS 132 and 141, which weights 50% of acceptance grade.

2. Student must obtain a minimum average grade of 70% in ENME 121, which weights 20% of acceptance grade.

3. Student must obtain a minimum average grade of 70% in ENAR 211, which weights 30% of acceptance grade.

Conditions for Acceptance in Mechatronics Engineering

Students are immediately enrolled in the program based on their high school results; the minimum acceptable grade is announced by the admissions office at the time of enrollment.