Mechanical Engineering

Year 1

You will develop basic knowledge and understanding of fundamental principles in Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering as well as practical, organisational, study and IT skills in Year 1. You will begin to understand the integrative nature of the Engineering design process.

Year 2

Foundations laid down in Year 1 are built on by increasing your level of knowledge and understanding. You will develop your problem solving skills and enhance your ability to interpret and critically evaluate technical data and information and their relationship to wider society.

Year 3

This year enables you to further develop your analytical skills and competence. You will also learn about and implement Project Management through studying the key principles and undertaking group project work. Your overall grade from this year counts 20% towards your final Honours classification.

Year 4

You will engage in an individual research or industrial project to integrate technical, transferable and project management skills and increase your depth of knowledge and understanding by studying further specialist modules. All your module grades this year will count towards your Honours classification.

Year 5

The MEng course is available in two versions: standard five year or fast-track. For students taking the fast-track MEng route, the final stage runs over two summers before and after Year 4 and is based on two industrial placements and block delivery of advanced Analytical and Professional Management modules where you will increase the depth of your technical knowledge and the breadth of management skills, including Corporate Social Responsibility.

Graduate Stories

Read our Graduate Stories to find out more about the course:

Graduate Story - Jack Durkacz - MEng Mechanical Engineering

Graduate Story - Matthew Craig - MEng Mechanical Engineering

Activity Summary

You will study four modules each Termwith the modules varying in contact type. Typically you will have four hours per module per week in a mixture of lectures to the whole class (between 25 and 180 students), tutorials (usually to smaller groups), laboratories, workshops and computer laboratories to learn specialist software.

Your course resources will be available on Campus Moodle, our virtual learning environment, where you can find course notes, tutorials, coursework assignments and much more.

Year 4

• Lectures - 135 students per group,10 hours per week
• Tutorial -40 - 80 students per group, 2 hours per week
• Project Supervision - 1 small group,1 hour per week
• Practical class or workshop - 40 students per group,2 hours per week

How long is a MEng Mechanical Engineering course?

A Mechanical Engineering degree can be successfully completed within 4-5 years, in which the opportunity to receive the necessary skills are obtained.

Independent Study

A total of 150 hours per 15 credit module is the norm. To get the most out of your course you are expected to spend an equivalent amount of time studying outside the timetabled classes. This could include, for example, reading lecture notes, undertaking tutorial problems, writing up lab reports or other coursework, practicing specialist software skills.

Staff Delivering on This Course

Academic staff are experienced Engineers, many with Chartered status and industry links, who have achieved or are working towards Higher Education Academy Fellowship - a professional recognition of their practice, impact and leadership in teaching and learning. Many are research-active and some feature in the annual STAR awards (Support and Teaching staff with Appreciation and Recognition) voted for by the students.

Engineering Applications Supervisors will take you through the more practical aspects of Engineering in our Flexible Learning Labs and Technicians and postgraduate research students will provide support for projects and laboratory work.

Assessment

Typically students are assessed each term:

• 3 Written exams, average time of exam: three hours

Feedback

We aim to provide you with feedback within 20 working days of submission of coursework.

Placements

On the 4 year (fast-track) course, two 10 week optional placements are offered which may be paid or unpaid.

The University has strong contacts with industry and our Placement Office staff liaise with companies offering placements and provide support to students.The Placement Officealso work with the School of Engineering to ensure that the placement content is appropriate for the MEng course.

You are expected to be proactive and will need to apply for and be successful in placement interview.

Job Prospects

Our graduates are highly sought after, and many gain employment in the global oil and gas engineering sector.

Opportunities also exist in many other areas of mechanical engineering such as aerospace, transport, marine technology, health and bioengineering.

Is Mechanical Engineering a good career choice?

Previous MEng Mechanical Engineering graduates of Robert Gordon University have gone on to pursue the following careers:

• Senior Technical Engineer
• Design Engineer
• Commissioning Engineer
• Project Engineer
• Contracts Manager
• Principal Mechanical Engineer.