Career prospects | environmental and land management engineering

Employment opportunities

Hydrologists - (2.1.1.6.5)
Roles

Design, calculating the dimensions, verification, maintenance and decommissioning of complex works or infrastructures, including innovative aspects, in the fields of hydraulics, construction and transport infrastructure.
Construction management and site management.
Drafting of reports, technical reports.
Skills

Design, dimensioning and verification of water transport and distribution networks, and land reclamation works.
Design, dimensioning and verification of reservoir, diversion, catchment, hydroelectric and irrigation works.
Employment opportunities

- construction and maintenance companies for civil works, civil works and civil infrastructure facilities, control and soil protection works and systems;
- professional studios and design companies for civil, road and hydraulic works, structures and infrastructures;
- public offices for design, planning, management and control of urban and territorial systems;
- companies, bodies, consortia and agencies for the management, control and monitoring of the territory and for soil protection;
- freelance professionals and consultants;
- technical offices of public and private (municipal, provincial) bodies.

Structural and Environmental Engineers - (2.1.1.6.5)
Roles

Designing, calculating the dimensions, verification, maintenance and decommissioning of complex works or infrastructures, including innovative aspects, in the fields of hydraulics, construction and the environment, within transport infrastructures and modes of transport.
Construction management and site management.
Drafting of reports, technical reports; updating and self-training on legislation and technical-scientific developments in the sector.

Skills

Designing, dimensioning, verification of water transport and distribution networks, sewerage networks, and land reclamation and irrigation works. Designing, dimensioning and verification of diversion, catchment, hydroelectric and irrigation works.
Design of landslide support and slope stabilisation works.
Design, dimensioning, verification and monitoring of water treatment plants for drinking water and wastewater purification.
Design, dimensioning, verification and monitoring of environmental remediation works (groundwater, soil, air).
Environmental impact assessment of civil and infrastructure works.

Employment opportunities

Second-cycle degree graduates will be able to find employment in companies, public and private organisations and professional firms for the design, planning, implementation and management of works and systems for the control and monitoring of the environment and the territory, soil protection, waste management, raw materials and environmental, geological and energy resources, and for the assessment of impacts and environmental compatibility of plans and works.

Hydraulic Engineers - (2.2.1.6.2)
Roles

Designing, calculating the dimensions, verification, maintenance and decommissioning of complex works or infrastructures, including innovative aspects, in the field of hydraulics and construction, within transport infrastructures.
Construction management and site management.
Drafting of reports, technical reports.

Skills

Designing, dimensioning, verification of water transport and distribution networks, sewerage networks, and land reclamation and irrigation works. Design, dimensioning and verification of reservoir, diversion, catchment, hydroelectric and irrigation works.
Design, dimensioning, verification and monitoring of water treatment plants for drinking water and wastewater purification.
Design, dimensioning, verification and monitoring of environmental remediation works (groundwater, soil, air).
Employment opportunities

Cartographers and Photogrammetrists - (2.2.2.2.0)
Roles

Design, dimensioning, verification, maintenance and decommissioning of complex works or infrastructures in the territorial sphere.
Construction management and site management.
Design, execution and rendering of aerial and terrestrial cartographic and photogrammetric survey works.
Drafting of reports, technical reports cartography; updating and self-training on legislation and technical-scientific developments in the sector.

Skills

Design, execution and rendering of aerial and terrestrial cartographic and photogrammetric survey works.
Production of topographic maps and precision surveys for use in civil, military, urban planning, hydraulics and infrastructural contexts.
Production of digital terrain models in civil, military, urban planning, hydraulics and infrastructural contexts.
Monitoring the movement of large civil works, landslide phenomena in loose material and rock slopes.
Safety monitoring in stone quarries.

Employment opportunities

Statistical Data on Graduates

In the period 2015-2017 (last available AlmaLaurea survey) an average of 18 students per year (min. 16 - max. 20) graduated in Environmental and land management engineering at the University of Parma, with a slight prevalence of female students. The average age at graduation is 27½ years. About one third of the graduates came from the province of Parma, another third from other provinces in the Emilia Romagna region, and the remaining third from other regions of Italy. Approximately 80% had a high school diploma (predominantly scientific), while the remaining 20% came from a technical institute when enrolling on a first-cycle degree course. The average graduation grade fluctuated, again in the period from 2015 to 2017, from a low of 103.3 to a high of 107.9/110 in 2017. The regularity of studies shows a clear improvement in the last year of the observation period (61.1% of graduates completed the course within the prescribed time), and the percentage of graduates who failed to complete the course within the prescribed time beyond the first year was low throughout the period (24.5% on average). Graduation delays for 2017 averaged about 7 months. With regard to the conditions of study, in the period 2015-2017, the majority of students were highly committed to attending their degree-course course units (in 2015 and 2017, 100% of the students regularly attended more than 75% of the course units) and completed an internship or recognised traineeship during their studies in the majority of cases (the average over the period under consideration is 78.7%), and a significant part of their dissertation preparation abroad in around 10% of cases. During their studies, about 75% of the respondents stated that they had taken up employment, generally (in 51% of cases) of an occasional, casual or seasonal nature. Seventy-five per cent of graduates in 2017 stated that they had participated in at least one post-graduate training activity (in 37.5% of cases, these were traineeships in companies). Some data on the employment conditions of graduates three years after graduation can be found in the attached file.

Employment conditions of graduates three years after graduation.

Graduates' opinions

The opinions expressed by graduates of the Environmental and land management engineering degree at the University of Parma on their university experience are particularly positive. In the last three AlmaLaurea surveys (2015-2017 period), respondents stated that they are satisfied with their degree course (positive answers: definitely yes, or more yes than no) in 97.9% of cases on average (in 2015 and 2017 in 100% of cases). Identical percentages are recorded for the degree of satisfaction in the relationship with professors/instructors. The work load is deemed sustainable (positive responses) by 100% of the respondents in 2015 and 2017, by 93.7% in 2016. In the most recent survey (year 2017), 88.2 per cent of the respondents said they would enrol on the same second-cycle degree course again (this figure has been rising for the past three years). Evaluations of the adequacy of teaching facilities showed continuous improvement over the period analysed. In 2017, classrooms and laboratories are always or often considered adequate in 100% of the cases (in 2015 the figure was 89.5%); there were enough computer workstations for 88.2% of the respondents (in 2015 the figure was 63.2%). The evaluation of the quality of library services shows positive ratings in 100% of cases in 2017 (in 2015 the figure was 77%).
Graduates' Opinions, as well as Profile and Employment Status, can be found on the Alma Laurea Consortium's website, on the following web pages respectively:
- http://www.almalaurea.it/universita/profilo - http://www.almalaurea.it/universita/occupazione
Once the webpage of interest has been opened, click on 'Consult data' in the 'Profiles: query the database' box (Graduates' profiles) or 'Tables by University' (Employment status).
Then conduct a guided search by Course Type (first-level degree) -> University (Parma) -> Faculty (Engineering) -> Class (Environmental Engineering (LM-35, 38/S)) -> Course (Environmental Engineering (LM-35)).
Some graphical illustrations of the above-mentioned data can be found in the PDF document.