Integrated design concept in civil engineering education

The current difficulties in the Construction Industry have confirmed the urgent need for interdisciplinary between all the design disciplines, from engineering to architecture. The requirement for high levels of building efficiency and the optimization of the building process is making increasing demands on the accuracy of designs. The project is no longer a sum of contributions, but a design methodology that combines the answers to all the different requisites of the building, an integrated design project. This multidisciplinary approach to design problems is only possible if it is present in the design process from the outset. This implicit complicity is only possible if it starts in university education, searching for a unique common language of construction. This article shows an example of the implementation of integrated project delivery (IPD) methodology to the project based learning in civil engineer education. Exploring the experience undertaken in last year's in one of the courses of the Integrated Master in Civil Engineering (MIEC) of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, the implementation of the IPD methodology along lectures and studio classes, proved to be a more efficient learning performance among students in what concerns to the understanding of the relation between the design process and the convergence of all engineering disciplines that have to work together with the architecture design practice. Therefore, the methodology implemented in the architecture course in the 2nd semester of the 2nd year (1st cycle) of the MIEC, described in chapter 3, allows students to learn the design methodology as an integrated disciplinary project and to become able to access the available work tools, from project design to construction process. As a result, the improvement in the students 'ability to acquire knowledge' was clearly visible in the increase of final grade average since the IPD methodology was implemented in the course (2010/11). Also, student's motivation for developing extra homework became higher due to their initiative and commitment. © 2016 TEMPUS Publications.