Sustainability Engineering (SE)
Overview
Focus: A practice-oriented programme that turns engineers and scientists into AI-fluent sustainability leaders equipped to redesign energy, industry, cities, food and carbon systems for a thriving, low-carbon future.
- Learning Outcomes: Graduates will integrate interdisciplinary knowledge, apply AI-driven analytics, and exercise strategic management — together forming the capability to address complex, real-world sustainability challenges.
By the end of the programme you will be able to:
- Quantify and model carbon and resource flows across engineering systems using AI-enabled tools.
- Design interventions that cut emissions while preserving economic and social value.
- Navigate climate policy, green finance and supply-chain strategy with confidence.
- Lead cross-sector teams and communicate sustainability trade-offs to decision-makers.
- Complete a capstone that produces measurable, real-world sustainability impact.
- Relevance: Acquisition of interdisciplinary knowledge, AI-driven analytics, and strategic management skills to tackle complex, real-world sustainability challenges.
Curriculum Structure
The curriculum integrates three key domains:
Technical Foundations: Discipline core courses emphasize AI-driven tools for climate modelling, resource optimization, and energy systems, ensuring students master cutting-edge technologies.
Strategic Implementation: Courses cover green supply chains, international climate policies, and sustainable finance, equipping students to navigate complex regulatory and corporate landscapes.
Practical Application: A capstone project, field research at renewable energy sites or circular economy enterprises, and stakeholder simulation exercises provide hands-on experience. Students undertake a research dissertation, ideation project or internship, supervised by HKU academics or industry partners like Aecom, WWF-HK, or government agencies (e.g., EPD), tailored to their career goals – whether academic, entrepreneurial, or industrial.
Programme Requirements
To successfully complete the SE curriculum, candidates must accumulate a total of 72 credits distributed as follows:
| Component | No. of Credits | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Track | Entrepreneurship Track | Industry Track | |
| Discipline Core Courses (9-credit each) | 54 | 54 | 54 |
| Elective Courses (6-credit each) | – | 12 | 12 |
| Capstone Experience | 18 (Dissertation) | 6 (Ideation project) | 6 (Internship) |
| Total | 72 | ||
For SE curriculum syllabus 2027-2028, please refer to https://engg.hku.hk/Teaching-Learning/MSc/Regulations-and-Syllabuses
Course Selection Guidelines
- Total Courses: Candidates must complete 6 courses from List A (9-credit each).
- Capstone Experience: Candidates can choose either one of the following tracks: (i) Research Track: students should complete 18-credit Dissertation; (ii) Entrepreneurship Track: students should complete two 6-credit courses from List B and the 6-credit Ideation project; (iii) Industry Track: students should complete two 6-credit courses from List B and the 6-credit Internship.
- Electives: For candidates under the Entrepreneurship Track and Industry track, they may select up to 2 elective courses from other taught postgraduate programmes within the Faculty of Engineering, encouraging interdisciplinary learning and broader academic exposure.
- Approval: All course selections must be approved by the Course Coordinators to ensure a cohesive and academically rigorous study plan.
Focus Domains
Six interconnected domains define the programme’s scope:
How we power (Energy), make (Manufacturing), build (Built Environment), feed (Agriculture & Food) and protect (Environment) ourselves — and how we measure and price the carbon footprint across all of them (Carbon & Assessment).