MEng or BEng Business Automotive

Engineering (mechanical, automotive and design)

Why mechanical, automotive and design engineering?

Because you like to know how things work and you want to make them work better – faster, more quietly, more cleanly, more efficiently. You like the challenge of real, practical problems and finding new and innovative solutions to them.

Engineering is a diverse, wide-ranging profession. Graduates from mechanical and automotive engineering have followed challenging careers in aerospace, the automotive industry, power production, robotics, project management, consultancy and investment banking. Their projects range from the small scale to the large and complex: from the design of a toy to the development and testing of a jet engine.

Why mechanical, automotive and design engineering at Sussex?

Our Department achieved a grade 5 (recognising research of national and international excellence) in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).
The MEng and BEng programmes in Automotive Engineering and Mechanical Engineering are accredited by the professional Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE) up to the 2007 intake of students. Subsequent intakes are subject to the standard reaccreditation process as part of the normal procedures of the accrediting body.
Two final-year undergraduates won prestigious Kaufmann scholarships for entrepreneurship to fund graduate training in the US in 2007.
The structure of our degrees is sufficiently common in the first and second years to allow the flexibility to change programmes if desired.
Depending on performance, you can select BEng, MEng and/or MSc as your target degree.
Over £1 million investment in a newly equipped undergraduate laboratory building provides project labs, test, measurement and manufacture facilities with disabled access and technician support on hand.
Emphasis on career development, transferable skills and professional business management.

MEng or BEng?

The four-year MEng programmes in Automotive Engineering and Mechanical Engineering are designed to meet the full educational requirements for chartered engineer status. They are accredited as such by the IMechE up to the 2007 intake of students and reaccreditation for subsequent intakes is being processed at the time of going to press (January 2008).

The fourth year of the MEng programmes has specialist technical courses that reach a higher level than the final year of the three-year BEng, and also includes business and management courses. The MEng is for those who wish to become chartered engineers and to aim for leadership positions as early as possible in their careers.

The three-year BEng programmes are for those more enthusiastic about the technical courses than the business aspects (though they will still cover the essential basics) and who either want to get into industry as quickly as they can or to take a more technical year 4 in the form of a specialist MSc programme – which can also lead to chartered engineer status.

If you are not yet sure which you wish to follow, do not worry because you will not have to make a final decision until the end of year 2.

What sort of career could I have?

employment in sectors such as aerospace, transport, environment, marketing, the supply chain, industrial products, power industry, health and medicine
automotive systems development engineer
design, technical support or installation engineer
graduate engineer with international corporation
government agency project officer
business development manager
postgraduate study or research.

Employers of our graduates include:

Ricardo
Rolls-Royce
Ford
British Nuclear Group
ABS Technology
Cummins
engineering consultancies.

How will I learn?

There are many ways to acquire engineering skills, from taught sessions (such as lectures and workshops) and laboratory assignments, to independent and computer-based learning. In addition, the first-year and foundation-year timetables include frequent one-hour small-group tutorials.

In the first two years the programmes provide the broad base of the mechanical and automotive disciplines, together with design skills and an introduction to the electronic, control, computing and business techniques essential for a successful career in modern engineering.

Individual project topics are offered in the third year, arising from the extensive industrial and scientific research at the University, from industrial contracts, and from student-led suggestions. Examples of topics include: designing a jet engine; medical ventilator design; commissioning a 300kW air compressor; and a low-cost, autonomous stair climber for the disabled. A number of national businesses sponsor prizes for the best project work.

In the final year of the MEng degree programmes, you work in a small interdisciplinary team on a group project. This gives you experience of the kind of team work that you are likely to encounter in industry. These projects are frequently performed with industrial organisations. Recent projects have included a small jet engine (60kW) for combined heat and power, and a short take-off and landing vehicle for personal transportation.

The Department encourages participation in design competitions including the Formula Student competition, which is a unique experience utilising the efforts of a joint team of specialists in mechanical engineering, product design and electronics. In 2005 the car pictured above was widely praised and performed well in its first entry. In 2004 two of our students won second prize in the Melexis Safety Trophy, an international robotics competition.

What will I achieve?

If you work hard, and hopefully play hard too, you will earn a well-respected degree opening the door to the career you want and equipping you to succeed in it.

In particular you will acquire:

An understanding of the commercial and social factors that affect the realisation of engineering systems.
The ability to analyse and design conceptual and practical solutions to engineering problems.
Practical skills in measurement, instrumentation and information technology.
Skills in communicating knowledge and ideas through the written and spoken word and through computer media.
Interpersonal and teamworking skills and the business and management techniques you will need as you progress along your chosen career path.
You also learn to manage your own personal professional career development in preparation for further study or the world of work, and beyond.