Advanced Mechanical Engineering

This MSc is a general, advanced mechanical engineering course particularly relevant to the energy sector which include mechanical engineering design and assessment. Students will learn project management, design, computer-aided engineering, operation and optimisation of machinery, structural mechanics and integrity making them suited to a future career in industry, government or research.

Who is it for?

Advanced Mechanical Engineering at Cranfield is unique in that it offers you a broad range of mechanical engineering projects with an added management component. This provides the opportunity for you to enhance your mechanical engineering skill, with a view to developing your career managing large engineering projects.

In addition to management, communication, team work and research skills, you will attain at least the following learning outcomes from this degree course:

• Apply knowledge, fundamental understanding and critical awareness of advanced mechanical engineering techniques to provide solutions in the energy sector
• Evaluate appropriate advanced technologies and management issues to provide solutions for international industries and/or research organisations
• Acquire, critically assess the relative merits, and effectively use appropriate information from a variety of sources.

Your career

Industry driven research makes our graduates some of the most desirable in the world for recruitment. The MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering can take you onto a challenging career in industry, government or research. The course reflects the strengths and reputation of Cranfield particularly in the energy and management sectors. Graduates of this course have been successful in gaining employment including in the following roles:

• Mechanical Design Engineer at Siemens
• Production Line Supervisor & Lean Implementer at GKN Land Systems
• Staff Engineer at BPP Technical Services Ltd working on offshore oil and gas engineering.
• Engineer at Det Norske Veritas
• Management Associate at BMW Group UK Limited
• Project Engineer at BASF Coatings S.A.

Our Careers Service can help you find the job you want after leaving Cranfield. We will work with you to identify suitable opportunities and support you in the job application process for up to three years after graduation. We have been providing Masters level training for over 20 years. Our strong reputation and links with potential employers provide you with outstanding opportunities to secure interesting jobs and develop successful careers. The increasing interest in sustainability and corporate and social responsibility has also enhanced the career prospects of our graduates.

Why this course?

The MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering is differentiated from other courses available primarily by its industrial context delivered through the strong links we have with national and international industry. We build our industrial links through our research and consultancy, which allows us to provide practical and current examples to help illustrate learning throughout the course

The taught programme for the Advanced Mechanical Engineering masters is generally delivered from October until February and is comprised of eight compulsory taught modules. Students on the part-time programme will complete all of the compulsory modules based on a flexible schedule that will be agreed with the Course Director.

This course is also available on a part-time basis for individuals who wish to study whilst remaining in full-time employment. This enables students from all over the world to complete this qualification whilst balancing work/life commitments. We are very well located for visiting part-time students from all over the world, and offer a range of library and support facilities to support your studies. This MSc programme benefits from a wide range of cultural backgrounds which significantly enhances the learning experience for both staff and students.

Group project

The group project, undertaken between February and April, enables you to put the skills and knowledge developed during the taught modules into practice in an applied context using practice analytical and numerical skills. You will also gain transferable skills in project management, teamwork and independent research. 

The aim of the group project is to provide you with direct experience of applying knowledge to an industrially relevant problem that requires a team-based multidisciplinary solution. You will develop a fundamental range of skills required to work in a team including team member roles and responsibilities, project management, delivering technical presentations and exploiting the variety of expertise of each individual member. Industry involvement is an integral component for the group project, to give you first-hand experience at working within real life challenging situations. 

It is clear that the modern design engineer cannot be divorced from the commercial world. In order to provide practice in this matter, a presentation and poster will be required from all students. This provides the opportunity to develop presentation skills and effectively handle questions about complex issues in a professional manner. All groups submit a written report and deliver a presentation to the industry partner.

Part-time students are encouraged to participate in a group project as it provides a wealth of learning opportunities. However, an option of an individual dissertation is available if agreed with the Course Director.

Recent group projects include:

• Preliminary design of an offshore floating wind turbine
• Multi-disciplinary design of an high speed marine vehicle with aerodynamic surfaces
• Design optimisation of the drive train for a vertical axis wind turbine. 
• Conversion of consumer waste plastic into new plastics
• Design specification of pilot scale 142 kWth air/rock
• Thermodynamic modelling of using Ca-based sorbents for heavy metal emission control during contaminated biomass combustion
• Conceptual and preliminary design of a SPAR for a 5 MW VAWT
• OpenO&M: Optimising availability of floating wind turbines for increased safety
• Investigation of severe slugging in pipelines

Individual project

The aim of the individual research project is to provide you with direct experience in undertaking a research/development project in a relevant industrial or research area. You will make a formal presentation of your findings to a panel of academics and industry experts and submit a research thesis.

The individual research project component takes place from May to August.

For part-time students it is common that their research thesis is undertaken in collaboration with their place of work and supported by academic supervision.

Recent individual research projects include:

• Comparison of a panel method and Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method to estimate the aerodynamic coefficients of a profile flying in ground effect
• The stress shielding effect of cracks in loaded components
• Review and modelling of heave and roll motion passive damping systems for offshore floating support structures for wind turbines.

Assessment

Taught modules 40%; Group Project 20%; Individual Research Project 40%

University Disclaimer

Keeping our courses up-to-date and current requires constant innovation and change. The modules we offer reflect the needs of business and industry and the research interests of our staff and, as a result, may change or be withdrawn due to research developments, legislation changes or for a variety of other reasons. Changes may also be designed to improve the student learning experience or to respond to feedback from students, external examiners, accreditation bodies and industrial advisory panels.

To give you a taster, we have listed the compulsory modules and (where applicable) some elective modules affiliated with this programme which ran in the academic year 2018–2019. There is no guarantee that these modules will run for 2019 entry. All modules are subject to change depending on your year of entry.

Compulsory modules

• Fluid Mechanics and Loading
• Advanced Control Systems
• Risk and Reliability Engineering
• Engineering Stress Analysis: Theory and Simulations
• Computational Fluid Dynamics for Renewable Energy
• Heat and Power Generation Systems
• Structural Integrity
• Management for Technology

A first or second class UK Honours degree (or equivalent) in mathematics, physics or an engineering discipline. Other recognised professional qualifications or several years relevant industrial experience may be accepted as equivalent; subject to approval by the Course Director.

Applicants who do not fulfill the standard entry requirements can apply for the Pre-Masters programme, successful completion of which will qualify them for entry to this course for a second year of study.

English Language

If you are an international student you will need to provide evidence that you have achieved a satisfactory test result in an English qualification. Our minimum requirements are as follows:

• IELTS Academic - 6.5 overall
• TOEFL - 92
• Pearson PTE Academic - 65
• Cambridge English Scale - 180
• Cambridge English: Advanced - C
• Cambridge English: Proficiency - C
• Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English III - minimum overall score of pass

In addition to these minimum scores you are also expected to achieve a balanced score across all elements of the test. We reserve the right to reject any test score if any one element of the test score is too low.

We can only accept tests taken within two years of your registration date (with the exception of Cambridge English tests which have no expiry date).

Students requiring a Tier 4 (General) visa must ensure they can meet the English language requirements set out by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and we recommend booking a IELTS for UKVI test.

Applicants who do not already meet the English language entry requirement for their chosen Cranfield course can apply to attend one of our Presessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. We offer Winter/Spring and Summer programmes each year to offer holders.