Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) or MEng

What you'll study

Programme overview

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 Mechanical Engineering and related programmes in Aerospace 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.

Year 1 (FHEQ Level 4)

In Year 1, not only do you study the technical topics such as 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:

• Mathematics
• Materials and Statics
• Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics 1
• Electronic Instrumentation 1
• Experimental and Transferrable Skills
• Design and Component Production
• Solid Mechanics 1

Year 2 (FHEQ Level 5)

Year 2 provides you with a comprehensive range of mechanical 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, for which you will need to draw upon the knowledge you have gained throughout the programme.

Modules include:

• Design
• Control
• Solid Mechanics 2
• Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics 2
• Electronic Instrumentation 2
• Numerical and Experimental Methods
• Mechanics of Vehicles and Machines

Professional Training placement (optional)

Professional placements are an important aspect of all our programmes. They allow you to gain ‘real-life’ hands-on experience that you cannot learn 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.

Companies that participate in the scheme include 2H Offshore Engineering, Air Products, Bentley, Vauxhall Motors, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce plc, APPlus IDIADA (Spain) and INA Walzlager Schaeffler KG (Germany).

Year 3 (FHEQ Level 6)

In Year 3, if you are a BEng student, you will study core modules, including an extensive group design project, 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 ‘Sailing yacht keel design’. If you are an MEng student, emphasis is placed on further development of your selected technical specialisation and managerial expertise.

Modules include:

• Design
• Advanced Stress Analysis
• Control and Dynamics
• Turbomachinery and Aircraft Propulsion
• Engineering Management
• Final-Year Project (BEng only)
• Numerical Methods and CFD
• Modern Vehicles Systems Design
• Engineering Materials

Year 4 (MEng only, FHEQ Level 7))

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 in collaboration with industry. You also benefit from multidisciplinary design work with students from other engineering disciplines in order to simulate an industrial engineering context.

Modules include:

• Mechatronics
• Advanced Manufacturing Systems
• Strategic Management
• Research Project
• Final-Year Project
• Multidisciplinary Design Project
• Fracture Mechanics and FEA

MEng and BEng transfer

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.

Professional recognition

Our programmes are fully accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and so provide you with the best and fastest route to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.

Professional Training

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.

Teaching

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 mechanical 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.

Assessment

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.

Facilities

Specialised facilities include:

• An engine test cell with three diverse engines
• Six wind tunnels, including an environmental wind tunnel, unique within the UK, and high-quality instrumentation
• Mechatronics and robotics laboratories
• A specialist medical engineering laboratory

Career opportunities

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.

Graduate prospects

Graduates over the last few years entered employment in roles such as:

• Mott MacDonald – Graduate Engineer
• QinetiQ – Research Engineer
• Rolls-Royce – Graduate Trainee
• Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) – Project Support Engineer

Taster Courses

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.

• Come to an Open Day
• Build your own prospectus

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.

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