Course overview

We live in an unnatural world. In fact, almost everything that surrounds us is removed from nature. Take a look around the room you are in. Most of what you see has been made, developed or modified by people. These things have been engineered and the chances are that a mechanical engineer will have been involved in their design or manufacture. As long as there is a demand for things to be designed and made, there will be a demand for mechanical engineers.

Mechanical engineers believe that their profession is the most diverse and exciting of all the engineering disciplines. It is specifically concerned with design, development, manufacture, installation, operation and maintenance. For society, this means that mechanical engineers are using their wide range of skills to think of ways to improve the way we live, meeting the challenges of the changing world. Mechanical engineers can work in all kinds of industries finding jobs, for instance, in:

• design – turning plans into new products or revising existing ones
• research and development – continually trying to find solutions to engineering problems using new technologies when they become available
• manufacture – planning, designing and implementing new production processes
• management – project management

We also offer:

• BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering

Career focused

The entrance criteria of this degree have been designed to comply with the requirements of the major engineering graduate programmes. Competent students can have the opportunity to apply their skills to real-life practical problems as part of the department’s partnership scheme with charities, local and global organisations. Please view the 'Career prospects' section for further details.

To find out more about placement opportunities in the Faculty of Technology, please visit our Placements Office pages.

Professional accreditation

Registration as a Chartered Engineer establishes an engineer’s knowledge, understanding and competence.

This course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) under licence from the UK regulator, the Engineering Council. Accreditation is a mark of assurance that this degree meets the standards set by the Engineering Council in the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC).

It also meets the Engineering Council’s academic requirements and has been accredited for full academic exemption leading to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.

All our MEng courses have been also awarded the EUR-ACE certificates. This indicates that our MEng courses meet the European Framework Standards for fully fledged second cycle European engineering programmes.

Course content

You will be taught a wide range of topics related to engineering science and engineering design, including some computer-aided engineering (CAE). As you progress through one of these courses and gain greater knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles, you will become involved in individual and group project work. You will also have the opportunity to study a foreign language.

Year one

In the first year of all three courses you will learn the foundations of engineering science and engineering design, including some computer-aided design. You will probably have around 20 hours of timetabled activity per week, which has to be supplemented by other work in your own time. You will study the necessary mathematics and engineering science, a hands-on engineering technology appreciation unit, engineering materials and manufacturing, and communication and business. The year also includes an introduction to design where you will manufacture a product to your own design.

Year two

During your second year you will build on and broaden your knowledge gained in the first year. As your timetabled work reduces, you will be expected to work more on your own. You will study further mathematics and engineering science, further engineering materials, manufacturing and business, instrumentation and control, and computer-aided engineering. In this year you will also have to make a decision about your sandwich year.

Sandwich year (optional year in industry)

The sandwich year involves at least 36 weeks of paid work for a company. We arrange for you to apply to suitable companies, attend interviews and monitor your progress throughout the year.

Placements can also be arranged abroad if you would like the opportunity to travel.

The University has partners in Europe which assist in the organisation and monitoring of placements. The partner institutions are Ecole Nationale d’Ingenieurs de St Etienne (ENISE) in France and the University of Siegen and the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (University of Applied Science), Hamburg in Germany. This can lead to a subsequent academic exchange with the partner institution.

Whilst placements are not a requirement of these courses, we strongly recommend them as they often make a substantial difference to what you get out of the course and what you can offer when you first embark on your career. Almost 60 per cent of our students who complete a sandwich year with an employer either receive sponsorship for their final year of study, a job offer on graduation or both. If you are aiming for chartered status, this year also counts towards your industrial experience.

Year three

Major components of the third year are the individual engineering project and the group engineering business project. These give you real opportunities to develop and demonstrate your professional skills. In addition, you will undertake advanced studies in engineering science, technology and computer-aided engineering, with some choice of specialisation. A large proportion of this year is self-managed study.

Final year

Study in the final year is Master’s level. You will have a wide choice of subjects including advanced materials, manufacturing and design, energy and environmental management, structural integrity and industrial control systems. You will participate in a major group engineering project, normally linked to one of the school’s research or commercial activities such as materials and structural integrity, product design and manufacture, and dynamic systems engineering.

Teaching and assessment

We have a reputation for providing a supportive and friendly atmosphere in which our students can quickly settle and enjoy their studies. All three courses offer many individual subject choices that allow you to tailor your programme to your individual strengths and interests. Staff are very experienced in providing support to students, and help and guidance are readily available through a strong system of personal and subject tutors.

You will be taught through a mixture of lectures, seminars, tutorials (personal and academic), laboratory and project work, CAE system activity and open access study. Practical experience is emphasised throughout the courses and you will be encouraged to put your ideas into practice, experience application software relating to the area of study, apply software packages and solve problems.

Assessment is carried out through a mix of formal examination, coursework, tests and presentations. It is geared towards the subject matter in a way that encourages a deeper understanding and allows you to develop your skills. The first year does not count towards your final award, allowing you to get used to the system, experiment a little and recognise your own individual strengths and weaknesses.

You will have easy access to a wide range of powerful and modern multimedia computers and associated hardware equipped with the latest software, as well as day-to-day contact with knowledgeable, enthusiastic and highly motivated staff. In addition, academic staff maintain close links with the world of work, both in Portsmouth and further afield. This ensures that our courses reflect the current and future needs of commerce and industry.

Career prospects

Placement opportunities

In the Faculty of Technology we feel that students should be given as many opportunities as possible to gain meaningful work experience and build employability skills throughout their studies to make them more attractive to future employers.

Working with other University services, the Faculty’s Student Placement and Employability Centre (SPEC) ensure students have access to a range of volunteering and work experience opportunities, including year-long industrial placements, and provide support for the different types of application processes.

An example of a role our students have taken up as a placement role:

• Undergraduate Engineer

Types of placement roles that could be relevant to this course include:

• Undergraduate Engineer
• Trainee Project Engineer
• Research and Development Engineer

To find out more about how you can gain work experience whilst studying MEng Mechancial Engineering, please visit our Placements Office pages.

Graduate roles

This course is designed for those with an interest in how mechanical devices work and how they could be improved. It builds on this interest so that you will be in an excellent position to start a career as a professional engineer.

The MEng qualification is very highly regarded and will greatly enhance your career prospects as an engineering professional or pave the way to further applied or academic research.

Facilities and features

Our resources include laboratories and a manufacturing workshop for laboratory activities, as well as project work. The School has a drawing office and four computer rooms, plus networked PCs available in laboratories. There are over 200 computers in the School, which are regularly updated through our annual programme of renewal. The School offers a number of powerful software packages used in computer-aided engineering, such as ProEngineer, AutoCAD and Geomagic. There is also an open access design studio room and a design and make workroom. You will also have access to University-wide resources, which includes our extended University Library and a wireless network.

The School of Mechanical and Design Engineering is home to the Regional Centre for Manufacturing Industry. The School is particularly proud of the outcome of the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE, 2008), which has recognised and placed MDE amongst the top research active Schools in the UK. Research at MDE has been assessed as internationally recognised at the level of 85 per cent – with 45 per cent of the research assessed as internationally excellent. The research and consultancy experience of our staff benefits these courses in the later stages through project and class contact work.

Formula Student

Formula Student offers engineering students an exceptional opportunity to develop their engineering, project management and team working skills. Working in their spare time they design, construct and test a competitive race car. Contending with over 100 teams from around the world they aim to produce the most innovative, high performance and reliable vehicle. The event itself is dramatic, with more than 3,000 students converging on the famous Silverstone circuit as teams compete for a range of prizes. Mingling with dozens of judges, scrutineers and motorsport experts, many from Formula 1, there are unrivalled opportunities to network and discover a range of career options.

Maths Café

The Maths Café is a daily drop-in facility, where any student of the University can receive help on any maths or statistics problem they encounter in their studies. We operate in a friendly, informal location which we hope will encourage students to visit us. Handouts on key topics are available to take away. Students can be shown how to use computer aided learning packages, which can be accessed from any computer attached to the University's computer network.

Entry requirements

View all the entry requirements for MEng Mechanical Engineering for the academic year 2013/14 (opens in new window).