Dr Patricia Xavier

Dr Patricia Xavier
Senior Lecturer
Engineering
Telephone: (01792) 295273
Room: Academic Office - A_121
First Floor
Engineering Central
Bay Campus

Patricia is a professional Civil Engineer specialising in water and wastewater engineering. She has worked for the Environment Agency and Ove Arup & Partners developing Flood Risk Management (FRM) schemes, Water Framework Directive (WFD) compliance projects and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS).

Patricia has been involved with Engineers without Borders and Engineers for Overseas Development (EFOD) for more than 10 years, donating her skills to work on water management and construction projects in Brazil, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

She is open to suggestions for projects in the fields of: Small-scale renewables, FRM, water supply and wastewater, projects linking ecology with engineering, international development projects.

Research:

Engineering Education Pedagogy
Flood risk management
Water supply and wastewater management
Sustainable urban drainage systems
Water framework directive compliance
Riparian zone hydrodynamics

Teaching

  • EG-168 Engineering Professional Development

    To develop fundamental engineering communication skills using standard ICT tools. These skills will be taught and developed in the context of the Swansea Tidal Lagoon. This module also introduces ethics in engineering and continuing professional development.

  • EG-3065 Civil Engineering Design Practice and Management II.

    Civil Engineering projects can be amongst the most complex projects you can find in any sphere of work. An understanding of the different elements of a project from conceptual design through to construction requires consideration of design efficiency, buildability and effective risk management. This module will cover a number of design design elements such as civils, superstructure, drainage and foundation design, together with consideration of the practicality of project delivery. The design work is linked with typical construction activities such as programming, method and site logistics to provide students with a realistic experiences of the whole project.

  • EG-D10 Team Project & Individual Dissertation

    The module is where this program ultimately culminates with the final development stages and realisation of a team based project (as defined at the recruitment stage) with individual aspects considered and assessed as a final dissertation submission. The nature of the dissertation will be dependent on the nature of the specialisation of the participant. During the period of this module, a preparatory period will be followed by participants spending (or utilising remote engineering techniques) a period of circa. 3 weeks in-country delivering the project, with support from academic team leads and other supporting staff, stakeholders or collaborators. This will be concluded with a debrief and final dissertation writing period.

  • EGA119 Engineering Skills for Aerospace Engineers

    The module will introduce students to a range of professional skills that are part of engineering practice such as group work, ethics, sustainability, health & safety and employability. Technical communication and report writing will also be introduced in the module in the context of the Bloodhound SSC. To allow students to practice these skills a statistical based analysis exercise using Excel will be undertaken. Excel, uncertainty and statistical skills will also be taught as part of the module to support the analysis exercise.

  • EGSM17 Concept Development and Application Pt1

    The module is the first of two that involve the development, synthesis and application of scientific, engineering, personal, professional and project management skills to deliver an approach to a solution of the specific group and individual projects. It will require and develop self-organisation skills and the critical evaluation of options and results, as well as developing technical and specialist knowledge around sustainable engineering solutions in the project area. Ethics, stakeholder engagement and basic project planning skills will also be developed. This module is focused on literature review, relationship development and data gathering with project stakeholders based in the UK and remotely using various communication systems, and will enable students to develop their understanding of sustainable engineering solutions and options to address challenges in the local international environment.

  • EGSM20 Concept Development and Application Pt2

    The module is the second part of two that involve the application of personal, professional, project management and both ¿library¿ and field based research skills to develop an approach to the solution of the specific group and individual projects, The participant will gain experience in working independently and in a group on the team and individually assigned element of the project, utilising basic accepted planning procedures. This second part is ¿in-country¿ (field) based and will be approximately one week in duration. During this period, participants will gather field data through community engagement to ensure key stakeholder and end user requirements are met. Consideration will also be given to impact evaluation and monitoring and a revised project plan will be developed. It will require and develop self-organisation and the critical evaluation of options and results, as well as developing technical knowledge in the chosen topic, all in a ¿real¿ field environment.

  • EGSM30 Risk and Project Planning

    This module is designed to provide students with a background to the complex issues concerning risk and project planning that are found in engineering. Risk: Successful delivery of engineering business outcomes in a developing or high risk environment requires a detailed understanding of the broader complexities involved. This will include risk analysis and preparation, and an understanding of how your project impacts local stakeholders, in particular cultural issues, local politics and vested interests. This module will explore these complexities and develop strategies to enable successful delivery by seeking to address the potential risk during the programme¿s inception as opposed to reacting to unforeseen circumstances during operations. Project Planning: Engineering projects can be amongst the most complex projects you can find in any sphere of work. A good project manager has to constantly assess and balance cost, quality and time. When this applies to a live construction project, making sure a good understanding of how the project is functioning will mean the difference between profit and loss, and a safe or unsafe environment for the workforce. This component introduces project management tools for scheduling, resourcing and logistical planning of site operations.

Calling from outside the UK?

+44 1792 295273