MEng Mechanical Engineering

Katherine Penn

I chose the MEng Mechanical Engineering course because I was interested in both physics and maths at school. As I enjoy making and understanding the way things work, I felt that I would enjoy the course. The University of Portsmouth seemed very friendly and with many links to the industry around the area. I live locally and don’t necessarily intend to move away once my degree is finished, so having help to find a job locally was important to me. Another reason that made me choose Portsmouth was that they seemed very organised, communicated a lot during the application process and were very encouraging.

I was a little worried that I would not have enough background knowledge in engineering, but the way the course is set out, you get gently broken into all the different areas of engineering. It allows you to see which parts you are good at and which parts need more work. This also helps you to develop an idea of which areas you may like to get a job in later on.  When starting the course I was not sure where I wanted to end up, but now I have more of an idea of the sort of company I would like to work for, possibly within the engineering of sources of renewable energy

The facilities at the University are good.  The library is massive, you can find any book you will ever need for the course and more! The online library service is also very convenient as it saves the walk to the University Library. The Faculty of Technology’s store in Anglesea Building is very useful. You can buy everything you need for labs or drawing lessons, as well as calculators and memory sticks, all of which you wouldn’t find cheaper in town. The University has huge numbers of computers. If you need to get work done there is always one available, and almost always one in your building. The computer rooms have good printing facilities too.  The Students Union  provides good, inexpensive food and drinks and organised centres for anything, from paying for club activities to having meetings.

The University offers support for pretty much anything you could need support for.   My tutor helped me in occasions when I felt I was struggling with my work or if I simply needed a chat.  Other lecturers have been happy to help at any time outside of lectures with anything I was unsure about my work.   The Department of Mechanical and Design Engineering is very supportive in my current search for a placement year.   I receive emails nearly every day with vacancies in companies and the Purple Door department will happily check my CV and any applications I complete before I send them out. The University also provides language courses, which would be very useful to anyone, especially as placements can be abroad, and Portsmouth has good links with France and Germany in the engineering area.

I am a member of the University Equestrian Club, which means I go away to other universities and compete.  It is a brilliant opportunity to have a great day out and meet new people. The club is very friendly and lessons are cheap and good fun. It provides a good break from academic work for me

The best thing about Portsmouth is that it does not feel like a huge city, and it feels safe. The only place I have lived before Portsmouth was the Isle of Wight, a very quiet and safe place, so I would not have been happy moving straight to a city like London. Portsmouth is busy city, but it still has a community feeling which is not there in some larger cities.