Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing and Management

Subject in detail

Subject aims

Manufacturing and Management provides an exciting opportunity for people who want to be part of a coherent and integrated system concerned with all aspects of making products. The degree develops an understanding of those sciences and disciplines relating to manufacture and shows how they can be applied to the creation and operation of production processes in manufacturing industries. The programme emphasises the integrated nature of advanced manufacturing technology. Extensive use is made of projects and case study material to build up conceptual understanding and an imaginative approach to open-ended problems.

Management topics are an integral feature, comprising a quarter of the course. Areas such as Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain Management and Business Strategy are covered.

A special feature of the Bath programme is the project activity in the final two years. This pulls together the groundwork of earlier years into a team project, with elements of marketing, management, processes and systems being assigned to individuals.

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 research projects are:

large scale metrology for aerospace applications
manufacture of customised shoes for medical applications
design and development of self-replicating 3D printers
manufacture of shin pads
design and manufacture of carbon fibre/magnesium wheels.

Methods of assessment

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

Units & programme structure