Adoption of CDIO elements in the final year civil engineering design project

The principles of Conceive - Design - Implement - Operate (CDIO) are being adopted in the civil engineering programme at Shantou University in Shantou, People's Republic of China, where student design teams are now involved in their final year design project. In carrying out the project, students were encouraged to develop and practice teamwork skills, practical engineering and the application of integrated disciplinary and non-technical knowledge, all of which are called for in the CDIO Standards. The process and features of the project are presented in order to illustrate the adoption of CDIO elements. Problems, conclusions and suggestions are also discussed.