The Medical Engineering course is varied and I enjoyed the multidisciplinary project. The option for hands-on experience in the workshop is important for understanding techniques and getting your hands dirty!
Medical engineering is a major growth area in the world healthcare market. It is an interdisciplinary subject that requires you to have a thorough grounding in engineering and technology, and an understanding and empathy for key clinical concepts.
Our Medical Engineering degree programmes are designed for clinical and industrial relevance. They provide you with the necessary technical competence and industrial awareness, alongside the necessary personal and clinical skills, for this rewarding career path.
In joining our Medical Engineering programmes, you place yourself in the front line of delivering society’s future healthcare needs and aspirations – an exciting and challenging prospect.
You will study through our internationally renowned Centre for Biomedical Engineering, a key teaching and research area. As one of the longest-established medical engineering activities in the UK, you benefit from nearly 50 years’ experience of teaching and research. Our cutting-edge expertise ensures that you gain the latest techniques and knowledge.
Our medical engineering activities feature analysis of human movement; electrical stimulation for limb movement following spinal cord injury, stroke or cerebral palsy; osseointegrated implants for above-knee amputees; design of artificial (prosthetic) limbs; sensory feedback; and dielectrophoresis in disease detection. Our activities also benefit from strong collaborative links with both the UK health services and the national and international medical engineering industry.
Our degrees provide you with a firm foundation in medical engineering through accredited programmes that can lead to Chartered Engineer status. Close interaction with practising clinical and healthcare engineering professionals provides you with expert guidance as you progress through your degree.
Your lectures, tutorials and laboratory sessions are supplemented by visits to clinical and industrial centres, particularly in your final year. These degrees share a common first year with our Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering programmes. This ensures that you can communicate with engineers of different specialisations and 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 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 placement year.
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:
The programme becomes distinct and allows you to specialise, with modules including Human Biology and Biomechanics, alongside core mechanical engineering modules.
Modules include:
A salaried Professional Training placement year provides a valuable opportunity to gain a real taste of medical engineering, while enhancing study outcomes and future career prospects. We have strong and long-established links with major medical engineering-related companies and organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, QinetiQ/DSTL, Smith and Nephew, the Transport Research Laboratory and the National Health Service. Our success rate in placing students is excellent.
In Year 3, your studies cover a range of applied medical engineering areas, plus a group design project, individual research project and management studies. Recent examples of projects include ‘Tissue engineering for bone grafts’, ‘Designing a syringe pump’ and ‘Assessment of the effects of electric fields on human bone cell growth’.
Modules include:
Year 4 includes a multidisciplinary project, an extensive individual research project (in collaboration with a medical engineering organisation) and a choice of optional advanced modules. The MEng degree has been developed in conjunction with the medical engineering profession specifically for undergraduates of high academic and practical calibre who will achieve leading roles as Chartered Engineers.
Modules include:
Fully accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) as the fastest route to Chartered Engineer status (CEng).
A salaried Professional Training placement year provides a valuable opportunity to gain a real taste of medical engineering, while enhancing study outcomes and future career prospects. We have strong and long-established links with major medical engineering-related companies and organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, QinetiQ/DSTL, Smith and Nephew, the Transport Research Laboratory and the National Health Service. Our success rate in placing students is excellent.
While on your Professional Training year, you are paid by your employer (students typically earning around £14,900 per year), but are nevertheless still members of the University.
Our students tell us that the time spent in a real engineering context quite simply transforms them – into the professional engineers they want to be.
The year allows you to gain practical experience that cannot be achieved in a lecture theatre or laboratory class, and you will find that the year enhances your understanding of studies in the later stages of your degree. It also allows you to try out a specialised engineering sector, enhance your CV and build up a network of contacts, all of which stand you in good stead for your future career.
The experience gained is the underlying reason why our graduates are so employable. As one company put it: ‘University of Surrey engineers come with batteries included!’
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, through group tutorials, to working in small groups in laboratories.
You are allocated a personal tutor who guides you through the programme, advising you on option and career choices, and helping make sure you get the most from your time at Surrey.
Your communication skills, vital to professional medical engineers, are developed in communications and information technology modules, with the whole spectrum of communication media being explored, from chalk-and-talk to state-of-the-art computer software presentation packages.
Our degrees are awarded on a combination of examinations and continuous assessment, in the form of coursework, laboratory reports, projects and presentations. First-year marks do not count towards your degree, but ensure that you are making good progress.
In the BEng programme, your second and final years contribute to the final degree award. If a Professional Training year is taken, this also counts towards your degree. The MEng programme is assessed on Years 2, 3 and 4, plus the Professional Training year, if taken.
Specialised facilities include:
The University of Surrey has consistently been 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 industrial placements.
Most graduates from these programmes proceed directly to employment in the medical engineering profession. Medical engineers can work in a number of areas, for example, as clinical scientists in the NHS, in rehabilitation or as designers of medical equipment, or even in the areas of sports science or biomechanics. A significant number of our students go on to further their studies with postgraduate qualifications in medical engineering and related disciplines.
Recent graduates from our Medical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes have gone on to postgraduate studies in medicine, including PhD research, or have entered employment in roles such as:
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 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.
GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above (or equivalent).
Mathematics to full A-level (or equivalent) is required for all programmes. Physics to full A-level (or equivalent) is also required for all programmes. Where an applicant does not have Physics A-level, two other science/ technology A-levels can be considered instead.
Offers are normally made in terms of grades. Suitable candidates will be invited to an Applicant Day. During the visit to the University the candidate can find out more about the programme and meet staff and students.
Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 6.0 in each sub-skill (or equivalent).
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 | HB38 | View KIS data set | |
| BEng (Hons) | 4 years | HBJ8 | View KIS data set | |
| MEng | 4 years | HB3V | View KIS data set | |
| MEng | 5 years | HBH8 | View KIS data set |
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
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
Phone: +44 (0)1483 681 681
