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Mechanical Engineering (Top-up) BEng(Hons)

2023-24 (also available for 2024-25)

It’s not too late to apply for September.
It’s not too late to apply for September.

Start date

18 September 2023

Duration

1 year full-time

Places available (subject to change)

20

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. Graduate outcomes: 90.1% of undergraduate graduates from the School of Computing & Engineering were in work and/or further study within 15 months of graduation (HESA Graduate Outcomes 19/20 UK domiciled).
  2. Guidance and specialism: Departmental technicians are on hand to advise and guide you throughout your studies. They are based in our labs with different specialisms and knowledge.
  3. Future prospects: Previous graduates from courses in this subject area have gone on to work in organisations including McLaren Automotive Ltd, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd, Rolls-Royce, Cummins Inc and Bentley Motors Ltd.** 

**Source: LinkedIn

Why Mechanical Engineering?

Mechanical Engineering impacts virtually all aspects of our daily lives and is vital to the functioning of many of the systems and products we rely upon. You can choose from a wide range of rewarding and challenging careers, many of which will give you the opportunity to drive forward the increasingly important sustainability agenda.

How You Could Impact The World

From renewable energy systems to critical medical appliances, you will have the chance to feel like you are making a difference in a way that is important to you. Mechanical engineering offers a varied range of opportunities that could impact society through interesting and successful career paths.

Career Goals and Employability

Opportunities for the skill set of a graduate engineer can be varied and our Mechanical Engineering graduates often find themselves at the heart of technological developments in a wide range of engineering industries. We aim to provide you with strong practical, theoretical and transferrable skills that may reward you with an interesting and challenging future as a professional engineer.

The Course

This one-year top-up course aims for you to continue your studies in the principles of, for example, dynamics, and design and to have the choice of other key modules to best suit you. With an understanding of the key role of sustainability we aim to prepare you for career opportunities in a wide range of industries.

You will work on a selected individual research/design project with the support of your academic supervisor. It is possible to align this with one of the Master's team projects. These involve the design, build and friendly competitive testing of either a road, airborne or rail vehicle, for example, Team HARE, Team Hawk or HudRail.

You might like to hear what Charlotte has to say about studying Mechanical Engineering BEng at the University of Huddersfield.

Course detail

Design Analysis

Finite element analysis (FEA) uses computer software to predict how a product will react to forces or loads (such as vibration, heat and other physical effects), helping to test if the product will break, wear out or do the job it was designed for. FEA is now an integral part of the design process and is often incorporated within solid modelling design packages. It’s important that you gain an understanding of the theoretical basis and limitations of FEA so that you can use it correctly and effectively. This module introduces you to this knowledge and gives you the opportunity to experience using a commercial code of this type. You’ll explore how to justify your analysis and how to gather the evidence to demonstrate that your analysis is reliable. You’ll also be supported in expanding your skills in classical stress and strain analysis.

Project Quality and Production Management

Engineers have a responsibility to ensure that they deliver projects on time and within budget. With this in mind this module covers the scheduling of project activity, with appropriate consideration of resource constraints and the costs required for undertaking successful projects. You’ll study financial analysis in the justification of projects and approaches to risk analysis. To support this you’ll be introduced to project management software used by industry. The module also includes total quality management, introducing tools and techniques such as statistical process control, improvement programmes and maintenance management.You’ll explore how to effectively manage the manufacture of products and the decision making processes required with regard to people, machines, materials and finance.

Dynamic Analysis and Control

This module aims to provide you with an enhanced understanding of system dynamics. The modelling of single-degree and multi-degree of freedom mechanical systems is considered together with control theory applied to higher order systems. You will have the opportunity to gain experience at the modelling of mechanical system dynamics using ADAMS multi-body dynamics and Matlab/Simulink software package.

Eco Design and IPR

Earth’s natural resources are increasingly becoming scarce yet the drive for newer products could not be greater. This creates an increased strain on our natural resources and one answer to this could be sustainable design (eco-design). Sustainable design incorporates the standard design process with the sustainable sourcing and disposal of materials ensuring a minimum effect on the planet’s resources. This module aims to provide you with an awareness about how to design goods using resources effectively. Also important to designers is the subject of intellectual property rights (IPR) and the relevant protection, practices and processes surrounding new and novel products, this module covers these issues. The module concentrates on eco-design from the true start of the design process (eco-sourcing) to the disposal of the end of life product (eco-disposal). Also introduced will be methods of measurement and financial and moral implications of designing products to a sustainable level.

Final Year Project

This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to study and investigate a specific engineering topic in-depth. The aim of this module is give you the skills and experience to carry out an engineering project and introduce you to the process that would typically take place in a professional engineering environment. You will undertake and execute a project on a topic appropriate to your study pathway. You will be allocated a project supervisor(s) who will direct you through the process of project planning, undertaking background research and carrying out the technical aspects of the project to a satisfactory conclusion. Your project will be an in-depth study of an engineering problem and may be either academic or industry-based. You will have the opportunity to either select a project defined by a tutor, or to propose your own project idea. The project work will extend your knowledge and capabilities in the specific field associated with the project topic and allow you to demonstrate your initiative, commitment, and engineering capability to a professional standard.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this course are considered on an individual basis and are normally one of the following:

  • Higher National Diploma at Merit in Mechanical Engineering
  • Foundation Degree in Engineering
  • International qualifications are accepted, with high technical engineering content

Other relevant skills or experience will be considered.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our Where are you from information pages.

Adam's story


Adam is a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Huddersfield. Hear him talk about his journey since starting his course and watch the different projects he is involved with.

Our students

Your career


Previous graduates from courses in this subject area have gone on to work in a variety of roles such as senior supplier quality engineer, vehicle engineering manager, design engineer, lead engineer and test engineer in organisations including McLaren Automotive Ltd, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd, Rolls-Royce, Cummins Inc and Bentley Motors Ltd.**

Additionally, you may gain skills that are transferable to other industries and may be able to pursue a career that requires a good honours degree. You could also go on to further study and the University has many options available for postgraduate study which may interest you.

*90.1% of undergraduate graduates from the School of Computing and Engineering who are in work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduation (HESA Graduate Outcomes 19/20, UK domiciled graduates)

**Source: LinkedIn

90.1%* Graduates employed

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

A wide range of resources are also offered within the School of Computing and Engineering, which provides you with support in a variety of areas. These include:

Student Support Office: a one stop shop for students studying within the School. The team deal with every aspect of student life from enrolment, module queries, timetabling, exams, assessments, course-related committees and graduation. They are the first place to go with any query, and they can also signpost to other support networks.

Student Guidance Office: provides guidance about how students can develop their academic study skills and learning development. The team provide support with academic skills including research and project planning, referencing and paraphrasing, essay writing, critical thinking, understanding assessments and the presentation of academic work. Common learning development topics include, developing effective study habits, time management, how to manage deadlines, plan, structure and organise work and understanding the University regulations and systems.

Technical Support: technicians support our students across each department. Based in our labs with different specialisms and knowledge they are on hand to advise and guide, students can access our technician’s expertise during lectures and seminars as well as during self-study. A technical Helpdesk is also available to all students within the School of Computing and Engineering to help troubleshoot any computer issues or to borrow hardware and software.

Personal Academic Tutor (PAT): you will be allocated a PAT who will be an academic based in the School of Computing and Engineering. You will be offered the opportunity to meet with your PAT at various points throughout the year. PATs are there to help you get the most out of your time at University, to discuss academic progress so that you can achieve your best and to direct you towards appropriate support services such as wellbeing and finance.

Research excellence

Research plays an important role in informing all our teaching and learning activities. Through research our staff remain up-to-date with the latest developments in their field, and contribute to society, which means you develop knowledge and skills that are current and highly relevant to industry. For more information, find out more about our Research institutes and centres.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

Equal opportunities

The University of Huddersfield is an equal opportunities institution. We aim to create conditions where staff and students are treated solely on the basis of their merits, abilities and potential, regardless of gender, age, race, caste, class, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, family responsibility, trade union activity, political or religious belief, or age. Please visit our website to see our Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy

Data protection

The University holds personal data on all enquirers, applicants and enrolled students. All such data is kept and processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Legislation. The University’s Data Protection Policy and Privacy Notices are available on the University website.

Students’ Union membership

Under the 1994 Education Act, students at all UK universities have the right to join, or not to join, the Students’ Union. There is no membership fee. If you choose not to join you have the right not to be disadvantaged; however, you are not entitled to vote, take part in elections, or hold any office. The following arrangements apply in order that non-Union members are not disadvantaged: Non-members are welcome to take part in the activities of Affiliated Clubs and Societies on payment of the appropriate subscription. However, they may not vote or hold office in the society or club. Union members may be offered a discounted subscription. Non-members are free to use Union facilities on the same basis as members. Welfare, catering and shops are available to non-members as well as members. Union members may be offered a discounted price.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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