What I really enjoyed about my course was the variety of areas covered. As someone who wanted to go into the automotive industry, Vehicle Dynamics was a module I found fascinating. It stood me in good stead during my BEng dissertation, when I worked on the Formula Student car.
Our Automotive Engineering degree programmes are specifically designed to give you the specialised skills and expertise you need for a career in the commercial automotive or motorsport industries.
These programmes will give you a solid foundation in the engineering sciences, with opportunities to specialise in vehicle design, ranging from aerodynamics to chassis and powertrain development, and include modern manufacturing techniques.
Teaching is underpinned by the latest laboratory and computing facilities, and complemented by our Formula Student projects. We enhance your learning experience by ensuring that our programmes are fully up to date and offer a wide range of expertise, along with extensive research interests and collaboration with industry and commerce.
Road vehicles have become an integral part of our society. Although the first automobile was built more than a century ago, rapid advances in technology and social change have recently highlighted automotive engineering as an exciting and dynamic field, with recent developments in hybrid powertrains, materials, active control and drive-by-wire technology. Automotive engineers can therefore expect a career which is creative, varied, challenging and responsible.
Our degrees offer you choices for broad-based or specialist study, geared to the realities of industry and commerce today. Designed to equip you with the knowledge and experience required of professional engineers, teaching is delivered through lectures, tutorials and seminars, supported by practical laboratory classes and project-based work.
An advantage of our Automotive Engineering degree and related programmes in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Medical Engineering is a common first year. This introduces you to the broad basis of mechanical engineering and ensures that you can communicate with engineers of different specialisations. It also allows you the opportunity to change your degree choice.
Direct entry to the MEng programme normally requires higher qualifications, but transfer from the BEng to the MEng is possible during the degree programme, depending on academic performance. This would normally happen after Year 2. Transfer is also possible from the MEng and BEng programmes without a Professional Training placement year to ones with (and vice versa). This transfer can be made after Year 1, giving students who were initially undecided time to consider the benefits of the Professional Training year.
In Year 1, not only do you study the technical topics like mechanics, design and thermodynamics, but you also develop the key broader transferable skills of communication and teamwork. All first-year students are also given practical training in standard workshop and laboratory practice.
Modules include:
Year 2 provides you with a comprehensive range of automotive engineering subjects, supported by extensive laboratory work, which will prepare you for your Professional Training placement year. You also have the opportunity to work in a team on a design project,which will be based on the Formula Student car, for which you will need to draw upon the knowledge you have gained throughout the programme.
Modules include:
Professional placements are an important aspect of all our programmes. They provide you with the ‘real-life’ hands-on experience that you cannot gain in a lecture theatre.
In Year 3, if you are a BEng student, you will study core modules, including an extensive group design project, again based on the Formula Student car, an individual project and management modules, plus a number of optional modules. Recent examples of projects include ‘Formula Student engine development’, ‘Robot Martian Rovers’ and ‘Force-Feedback Design for a Formula 1 Simulator’. If you are an MEng student, emphasis is placed on further development of your selected technical specialisation and managerial expertise.
Modules include:
In Year 4 (MEng only), you study theory and application to a greater depth and breadth. As part of your programme, you carry out an extensive individual research project. You also benefit from multidisciplinary design work with students from other engineering disciplines in order to simulate an industrial engineering context.
Modules include:
Fully accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) as the fastest route to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
Professional placements are an important aspect of all our programmes. They provide you with the ‘real-life’ hands-on experience that you cannot gain in a lecture theatre. In addition to applying and enhancing skills as you study, you will find the Professional Training placement year invaluable towards the later stages of your studies and in your career development.
The enhanced interpersonal and management skills which you also learn during the year are highly valued by employers and provide you with an even greater head start in the jobs market. This optional year also provides an opportunity to earn a salary (typically £14,900 per year), as while you are on your placement, you are paid by your employer but are still a member of the University. Many students are offered subsequent employment by the firms with which they spend their placement year.
Companies that participate in the scheme include Bentley, Vauxhall Motors, Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Delphi Diesels, Torqueleader, APPlus IDIADA (Spain), Airbus (UK and France) and INA Walzlager Schaeffler KG (Germany).
We recognise that each student is an individual with a unique academic background. We attempt to meet these differences with a blend of teaching methods, ranging from lectures and group tutorials to small class groups in laboratories, plus the development of online teaching resources.
You are allocated a personal tutor to guide you through the programme and advise on option and career choices, helping you get the most from your studies with us.
Your communication skills, vital to professional automotive engineers, are developed in communications and information technology modules where you explore the whole spectrum of communication media, from chalk-and-talk to state-of-the-art computer software presentation packages.
Degrees are awarded on a combination of examinations and continuous assessment, in the form of coursework, projects, laboratory reports and presentations. Our students generally find this combination helps them to plan their time more effectively.
Year 1 marks do not count towards your degree but allow us to see that you are making good progress. For BEng programmes, your final degree class is based on Years 2 and 3, plus the Professional Training year, if taken. MEng degrees are assessed on Years 2, 3 and 4, plus the Professional Training year, if taken.
Specialised facilities include:
Our graduate employment record is truly outstanding. The University of Surrey is consistently at or very close to the top of the league table for graduate employment. This is due to the professional focus of our degrees, with accreditation by professional institutions, and the quality of our Professional Training year scheme.
Most of our graduates proceed directly to employment in an engineering profession, with an average starting salary of £25,000. Typical careers span a wide range – professional mechanical engineering, general engineering and manufacturing.
Employers include some of the most famous names in engineering, aerospace, energy, telecommunications and research. A small but significant number of students take higher degrees at Surrey and elsewhere.
We run taster courses for Year 12 students each July. Living on-campus, you learn about what engineering is, what it has to offer and what you need to know to be successful in the field. Please contact us for further details.
Graduates over the last few years entered employment in roles such as:
Come to one of our Open Days, when you can tour the campus, speak to students and academic staff, see our student accommodation and ask as many questions as you like. In the meantime, order a personal prospectus – tailored to only include the subjects that interest you.
Mathematics A-level and Physics A-level (or equivalent) is required.
GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above (or equivalent).
Other qualifications will be considered on an individual basis.
6.5 IELTS minimum overall
6.0 IELTS minimum in each sub-skill
We offer intensive English language pre-sessional courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.
| Award | Course Length | Professional Training | UCAS code | KIS code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEng (Hons) | 3 years | H330 | View KIS data set | |
| BEng (Hons) | 4 years | H331 | View KIS data set | |
| MEng | 4 years | H332 | View KIS data set | |
| MEng | 5 years | H334 | View KIS data set |
* Subject to validation
We offer a range of bursaries, scholarships and other financial support.
See course information for students applying to start in September 2013.
BEng (Hons) / MEng
MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
BEng (Hons) / MEng
Phone: +44 (0)1483 681 681
