Course description
Course description
The programme begins with the common first year, which provides the basic knowledge and skills which are applicable to all engineering, such as mechanics, thermo-fluids, materials, mechatronics, communications, design and mathematics, in a novel and challenging active learning environment.
In the second year, in addition to course units in design, professional studies and management, you will begin to study the core material that provides the basic technical knowledge required by mechanical engineers. This includes such subjects as thermodynamics, fluids, materials and structures, dynamics, and control. All these topics are taught in an innovative application-driven environment, where you will use and enhance the learning skills developed in year one. For example, a typical design challenge might be a transmission system for a racing car, choosing the gear ratios to maximise acceleration. All the design challenges produce practical results.
The final two years take on a different character from that of the earlier years in that you will spend a substantial portion of your time on exercises carried out either individually or as part of a team. In the third year the emphasis on specialist mechanical material continues. Students will undertake a design activity which includes the design, build and test of a machine or process. You will undertake an individual research project. In the fourth year, you will undertake a group project and complete their formal studies with a selection of options. The core material expands to include such topics as manufacturing and project management. There is a wide range of options which may include machine tools, management, manufacturing, materials, processes, mathematics, micro-mechanics, modelling & simulation, plant monitoring, power plant, environment and many others.
Special features
There are opportunities to specialise in the third and fourth years.
Career opportunities
Mechanical engineering is the most fundamental of all the engineering disciplines. Professional mechanical engineers can work in a whole range of industries: aerospace, automobile, civil, electronics, manufacturing and the process industries. The demand for professional mechanical engineers is high and relatively stable, because it is less affected by recession in any single industry. Mechanical engineers also find many employment opportunities in other branches of engineering where their key skills play important roles. Transferable skills such as simulation, problem solving, design, management and modelling, enable a significant proportion of graduates to follow alternative careers in high level technology. Our graduates are increasingly sought after for positions in the business, management and financial arenas.
