Overview
Duration: 1 year full-time (taught)
Application deadline: 30 June (international) / 31 August (home/EU)
Entry requirements: First degree (UK 1st or 2:1 or international equivalent ) in Mechanical Engineering, Physics or Maths
Language requirements: IELTS 6.5 (at least 6.0 in each of the four components) OR TOEFL (internet): 92 overall, Writing 21, Listening 21, Reading 22, Speaking 23.
MSc Automotive Engineering
This programme is aimed at engineering graduates who wish to work in the automotive industry, with particular focus on the design, performance and operation of automotive powertrains and vehicle systems.
The programme produces graduates with the technical and managerial skills and expertise that are highly sought after by the automotive industry.
Learning outcomes
By studying our MSc in Automotive Engineering you will:
- Understand the vehicle design process and the operation and performance of important sub-systems
- Analyse current and projected future environmental legislation and the impact this has on the design, operation and performance of automotive powertrain systems
- Analyse in detail the operation and performance indicators of transmission systems, internal combustion engines and after treatment devices.
Collaborative working
The programme includes traditionally taught subject-specific units and business and group-orientated modular work. These offer you the chance to gain experience in design, project management and creativity, while working with students from other subjects.
Further details
Group project work
In semester 2 you undertake a cross-disciplinary group activity for your professional development, simulating a typical industrial work situation.
Individual project work
In the final semester, you undertake an individual research project directly related to key current research at the University, often commissioned by industry.
See programme catalogue for more detail on individual units.
Semester 1 (October-January)
The first semester of the Programme allows students to choose from a range of fundamental and more advanced lecture courses covering the analysis methods and modelling techniques that are used in the simulation, design and manufacture of modern vehicles and powertrains.
- Five taught units (three compulsory and two options)
- Includes coursework involving laboratory or small project sessions
- Typically each unit consists of 22 hours of lectures, may involve a number of hours of tutorials/exercises and laboratory activity and approximately 70 hours of private study (report writing, laboratory results processing and revision for examinations)
Semester 2 (February-May)
The second semester offers a distinctive project-based learning environment, focusing on your development as an engineering professional in a research and design context. You will gain analytical and team working skills to enable you to deal with the open-ended tasks that typically arise in practice in present-day engineering.
- The semester aims to develop your professional understanding of engineering in a business environment and is taught by academic staff with extensive experience in industry
- Engineering Project Management and Research Methods modules
- Group projects in which students work in a multi-disciplinary team to solve a conceptual structural engineering design problem, just as an industrial design team would operate
- Individual project preliminary work
Summer/Dissertation Period (June-September)
The full time summer project gives students the opportunity to develop their understanding of aspects of the automotive material covered in the first semester, through a detailed study related to the research interests and specialisations of a member of the academic staff. The students will often be working as part of a larger group of researchers including postgraduates, research officers and undergraduates and as such have access to the state of the art automotive test facilities within the department.
- Individual project leading to MSc dissertation
- Depending on the chosen area of interest, the individual project may involve theoretical and/or experimental activities; for both such activities students can use the department computer suites and well-equipped and newly refurbished laboratories for experimental work. The individual projects are generally carried out under the supervision of a member of academic staff. A number of industrially-based projects are available to students
- Energy and the environment
- Finite element analysis
- Internal combustion engine technology
- Mechanical vibrations and noise
- System modelling and simulation
- Vehicle engineering
- Vehicle dynamics
Our MSc graduates now work all over the world in various industries, while a number of them pursue their Doctorates in universities worldwide. Recent graduates have secured jobs as:
- Calibration Engineer, Ford Motor Company Ltd
- Product Engineer, Renault
- Engineering Consultant, D'Appolonia
Companies which have hired our recent graduates include:
- British Aerospace
- Airbus UK
- Intel
- Ricardo
- Cambstion
- Panama Canal Authority
- Moog Controls Ltd
We also encourage the best of our MSc students to continue their studies with us to PhD level.
