Many places in the world engineers work under extreme conditions. It could be extreme climate: very cold or hot, very humid or dry. It could be extreme physical environment: rough mountains or soft ground. It could be extreme logistics: isolated settlement without infrastructure or remote areas with difficult access.

Common for those conditions is that you work under abnormal conditions; you cannot use standard methods and procedures. You have to adapt to the extreme condition or develop new methods and procedures:

  • How to design buildings able to withstand strong forces from heavy snow load and extreme gales, and how to design comfortable indoor climate in an energy efficient way in a harsh climate
  • How to build roads on unstable permafrost and harbors in icy waters, and how to blast tunnels in old cracking rock for hydroelectric plants or mines
  • How to treat waste water when water quickly freezes, and how to dispose solid waste when reuse and recycling are impractical and expensive
  • How to manage the logistics in remote areas with a sparsely population and very limited access

The Arctic Semester is offered by the Arctic Technology Centre (ARTEK) of the Technical University of Denmark in Sisimiut, Greenland in the spring from January to June, as 30 ECTS. The semester is mainly intended for Civil Engineering students, however students with other relevant backgrounds can also apply but should be aware that some extracurricular work can be expected. The deadline for applying for the semester is October 15, 2017.

For more information, application requirements and instructions, see the Arctic Semester webpages. Also read Chloé's experiences from the course from 2016, and the experiences of two engineering students from Canada!