Research sandpits
Find out more about these interactive workshops for research staff across the University.Research

Research wins Collaborative Impact award
The Powertrain Vehicle Research Centre and Ford have won the Collaborative Impact award for their research into reduction of C02 emissions. The PraxisUnico awards showcase the very best examples of knowledge transfer from across the country.
We have a proud record of achievement in education and research in the Department. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise rated the majority of our research as "world-leading or internationally excellent."
Our research covers a full spectrum extending from fundamental investigations to applied research. Many of these activities are carried out in conjunction with industry and other universities, both in the UK and overseas.
Research activities
Our research activities cover the broad areas of Design and Manufacturing, Machine Systems, Solid Mechanics and Materials and Thermo-Fluids.
The focus of specific research projects is typically embedded in one or more of the Research Centres and Units listed below:
- Aerospace Engineering Research Centre
- Gas Turbine Research Unit
- Innovative Design Manufacturing Research Centre (IdMRC)
- Institute for Sustainable Energy & the Environment (I-SEE)
- Laboratory for Integrated Metrology Applications (LIMA)
- Materials Research Centre
- Centre for Orthopaedic Biomechanics
- Centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control
- Powertrain and Vehicle Research Centre
- Composites Research Unit
- Robotics and Autonomous Systems
- Sustainable Energy Research Team (SERT)
- Realising Transition Pathways.
Research environment
Our academic staff, research fellows, post-doctoral researchers and postgraduate students carry out internationally significant research and publish in leading international journals.
Because our teaching is research-led, undergraduate students are exposed to the latest developments in engineering and many of them have a chance to work with our research centres in their undergraduate projects.

