Mechanical Engineering with Advanced Design and Innovation

Subject in detail

Subject aims

Innovation is the process of transforming ideas into functional and marketable products. This course has been set up in recognition of industry’s need for engineering designers specialised in the creation of new products, processes and systems. The course follows an engineering design curriculum and is supplemented with the skills needed for new product and system development.

All engineering programmes are designed to enable students to:

pursue professional careers in mechanical engineering at a level which requires sound judgement, personal responsibility and initiative
develop a detailed understanding of the principles of mechanical engineering science
develop skills to apply engineering principles to produce original analyses of, and solutions to, engineering problems
focus on a broad range of specialist fields within Mechanical Engineering through selected option groupings
provide a high level of technical leadership
use initiative, effective communication and interpersonal skills.

Teaching and learning

Teaching and learning is through lectures, tutorials, students' own reading, practical exercises, laboratory work and design exercises.

The first two years of the programme lay the foundations of the common mechanical principles and give students a view of most of the important areas of mechanical engineering, including design and manufacture.

The final two years provide sufficient scope for students to study topics that are of particular interest to them in specialised areas.

Full-time group and individual project work provide opportunities to apply the lecture material to the solution of practical problems. There are also opportunities to undertake a UK or internationally based industrial placement.

Examples of year 4 individual design projects are:

creative responses in highly constrained aerospace design tasks
investigating the personal information world of the engineer
design of a water pump for the third world
design of off-road wheelchair
golf ball retrieval device
hi-tech umbrella.

Methods of assessment

Assessment is by a combination of written examination, written course work, project reports, laboratory work and oral presentation.

Units & programme structure