Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) - 2024/5

Other information

Global and cultural capabilities
Engineering ethical considerations are taken into account in students individual projects. The strong design thread through our programmes requires students to work in groups, actively encouraging cultural exchange in the classroom amongst Surrey students and enables them to develop arguments which nurtures students appreciation for the world around them, beyond their immediate context. Students are also exposed to case studies and tasks relating to inclusion and global responsibility taken from the Royal Academy of Engineering. Students have multiple networking opportunities, during Industry led seminars and careers fairs targeted at Engineering students.

Digital capabilities
Students will develop their digital capabilities by learning to use engineering software throughout their programme such as Computer Aided Design, Finite Element Analysis and Matlab. Students will also use Excel to analyse data ensuring they become competent in using the functions of Excel such as plotting graphs, using the formula function and will need to present their findings in the form of individual and group-based presentations using Powerpoint and Word documents within a number of modules throughout their programme. The skills they learn from using these software packages are transferrable and are likely to be required within their careers within the engineering sector. A number of modules also have online quizzes as one of the assessments requiring students to familiarise themselves and become proficient with digital tools to present mathematical equations. Within the group design modules at level 5 and level 6 and within their individual projects students are required to use project management tools such as Gantt charts to help manage their projects. Students also use MS Teams for collaborative working within year 2 and year 3 design. Students are also encouraged to use digital mind- and concept mapping tools to develop the ability to make connections among concepts/processes/topics.


Employability
Employability skills are fundamental to all our programmes and are a requirement for accreditation from the professional bodies. Employability skills are embedded in our labs, workshop, design and professional studies modules by requiring students to demonstrate practical competencies, and develop design ideas providing justification of their approach in verbal and written form which is an attractive and important skill appreciated by all employers. Small group tutorials also improve students confidence in speaking about technical subjects. Many modules provide ample opportunity for students to demonstrate their mastery of advanced calculations which is attractive to numerate based employers. The tutorial questions provided within modules across all levels include authentic problem tasks, requiring students to apply the theory taught within the lectures to a typical applied engineering problem. The skills they develop in the application of this knowledge is then transferrable to any problem set, which is particularly attractive to employers, both within the engineering industry and also to wider industry, due to the problem solving ability and analytical mindset developed with engineering students. The programmes also support students to accrue the kinds of transferable skills required by employers through supervised group learning and written assessments. These skills include communication skills, teamwork and time management. All undergraduate students have the option to complete a placement year, which typically more than half take up. Preparation for placement, including improvement in their CV, during year 2 will help with developing job finding skills. During placement students will gain considerable work experience in an industrial setting being required to deliver on planned tasks of the employer. The placement module supports and facilitates self-reflection and transfer of learning from their Professional Training placement experiences to their final year of study and their future employment documented via the creation of a personal record, planning and monitoring progress towards the achievement of personal objectives. The placement module aims to enable students to evidence and evaluate their placement experiences and transfer that learning to other situations through written and presentation skills. It will also be possible for students to record their professional development using the IMechE Career Manager platform which may allow for Professional Recognition and also to record CPD activities.

Resourcefulness and resilience
Resourcefulness & Resilience features heavily in the practical aspects of the programme with opportunities for students to demonstrate their adaptability, decision-making abilities, fault finding in the choice of small projects at level 4 and 5 and larger group project and Individual project at level 6. Students will have opportunities to consider the selection of different design approaches, with increasing complexity as they progress through the programme from level 5 design project to level 6 conceptual design. Students gain many opportunities to work together with peers from across all levels of the programmes. Through working with others (e.g., group presentations, design challenges), students learn to adapt to each other and gain resilience. Students resourcefulness and resilience will be enhanced as they will need to think critically and exercise engineering judgment underlying some of the assumptions they would need to employ in advanced calculations and identify the limitations of those assumptions. Students can assess their risk via risk assessment matrix for open-ended complex problems.

Sustainability
A key requirement for accredited Engineering degrees is the embedding of sustainability within the curriculum. Students have to not only be taught content related to sustainability, but there needs to be clear coverage within the learning outcomes. Therefore throughout the programmes students will develop critical awareness, appreciation and knowledge relating to the importance of sustainability within the curriculum. Students will be taught sustainability from L4 in the experimental and professional skills modules, through the use of seminars delivered by CES. Students will work together in a group to discuss which of the UN STG are of prime importance to engineers providing a justification to which are the top 3 of importance for engineers, plus consider routes to net zero. As part of the assessment, students are required to prepare a 5 minute presentation on the responsibilities of a Professional Engineer, of which sustainability is one of the key competencies required by the Engineering Council. All design challenges (in L5 and L6 design project modules) require a consideration of sustainability by optimising materials use in manufacture by reducing waste and appropriate design. Sustainability has been a part of the engineering curriculum for a number of years, in particular within the Materials modules and other discipline specific modules.