MEng Mechanical Engineering
Cardiff, United Kingdom
DURATION
4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 28,200 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas | for home year two, three and four: £9,250 / year one: £9,000
Introduction
Mechanical engineers combine imagination and technology to solve real-world problems, through the manipulation of moving parts. They develop all sorts of mechanical devices, tools, engines and machines. that offer innovative solutions for society and sectors including transport, energy and manufacturing.
This accredited course provides the knowledge, skills and hands-on experience you need to become a work-ready mechanical engineer. You will embed the knowledge gained from your lectures and tutorials and develop your practical abilities in design, computing and modelling, through hands-on projects and design classes.
You will choose from a range of authentic, real-world engineering problems and industry-focused scenarios, to work on both individually and with student engineers from other disciplines. Group work mirrors the relationships of an engineering team and will help you to build professional skills, such as teamwork and communication. Our open-access makerspace provides a place for you to design, create and collaborate.
The MEng degree programme allows you to expand and strengthen your knowledge in mechanical engineering. You will benefit from advanced learning in design and management and multidisciplinary engineering design projects.
Why Study this Course
Professional Skills
Group projects with engineering students from other disciplines mirror the dynamic of a professional engineering team and will help you develop vital skills.
Cardiff Racing
Many of our mechanical engineering students join Cardiff Racing to participate in the design, development, and testing of a proven Formula Student racing car.
Flexible Course
You can make your degree your own with the flexibility to choose where you want to focus your studies later in the course. If you change your mind about your programme, in most cases you may request a switch at the end of the first year.
Professionally Accredited Course
Accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Loans and Grants
Financial support information for students.
Bursaries
We wish to ensure that financial circumstances are not a barrier to your undergraduate study opportunities.
Scholarships
We wish to recruit the very best students and to help us achieve this, we offer a number of scholarships.
Part-time Undergraduate Funding
Information about funding for part-time students.
Financial Support for Asylum Seekers
Information for asylum seekers about the financial support we offer undergraduates and options for funding from outside the University.
Curriculum
This is a four-year full-time degree, with largely core modules in Years One and Two. Years Three and Four have carefully chosen balances of core and optional modules, allowing you to choose subjects to tailor to your personal interests or chosen career path.
You need to earn 120 credits a year.
Students wishing to progress on an MEng programme at the end of Year Two will need to achieve a year average of 60% or higher, or otherwise progress onto one of our two BEng programmes.
Year One
Year one consists of a series of lectures underpinned by practical laboratory sessions.
Core Modules for Year One
- Engineering Maths and Computation
- Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering
- Applied Design and Practice
Year Two
Year two again consists of a series of lectures underpinned by practical laboratory sessions.
Core Modules for Year Two
- Mechanical Engineering Labs
- Control and Instrumentation
- Thermofluids 2
- Solid Mechanics and Dynamics
- Engineering Analysis and Computing 2
- Design
- Electrical Technology
- Manufacturing Systems Design
Year Three
Year three includes a major project, with a value of a quarter of the overall year. For this, you will work individually, alongside a supervising staff member.
There is a core module in Business Management but also a choice of optional modules, building upon the foundations established in the earlier years.
Core Modules for Year Three
- Industrial Project Management
- Project
Optional Modules for Year Three
- Commercialising Innovation
- Materials and Manufacture
- Fluid Mechanics
- Energy Studies
- Solid Mechanics
- Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
- Robotics and Image Processing
- Object Oriented Engineering Computing
- Engineering Optimisation with Python
- Waste Management and Recycling
- Fluid Power and Control
- Mechanical Power Transmission
Year Four
Year four includes two group projects, which are linked to topical research. In total, these makeup half of the overall assessment.
There is also a core Management in Industry module and a choice of optional modules.
Optional Modules for Year Four
- Applied Numerical Methods in Engineering
- Automotive Design
- Integrated Building Design
- Renewable Energy Design
- Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering
- Mechatronics Design
- Forensic Bioengineering
- Energy Management
- Condition Monitoring, Modelling and Forecasting
- Risk and Hazard Assessment
- Control
- Tribology
- Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
- Quality and Reliability
- Theory and Applications of the Finite Element Method
- Sustainable Transport
How Will I Be Assessed?
Your assessments will be varied to evaluate knowledge, understanding, professional skills, and key skills. Assessment in Year One is mostly through tests during the year, short reports, a professional development portfolio, presentations, and two written examinations. This range of assessments is carried into the higher years with a gradual change from tests to exams. The major individual project in Year Three is assessed by a dissertation report, while group projects in Year Four are assessed via large multi-component project reports.
Program Outcome
What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?
The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will be able to do as a result of your study at Cardiff University. They will help you to understand what is expected of you.
The Learning Outcomes for this Programme can be found below:
On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to:
Knowledge & Understanding
- KU1 Apply a comprehensive knowledge of mathematics, statistics, natural science and engineering principles to the solution of complex problems in mechanical engineering. Much of the knowledge will be at the forefront of the particular subject of study and informed by a critical awareness of new developments and the wider context of mechanical engineering
- KU2 Formulate and analyse complex problems to reach substantiated conclusions. This will involve evaluating available data using first principles of mathematics, statistics, natural science and engineering principles, and using engineering judgment to work with information that may be uncertain or incomplete, discussing the limitations of the techniques employed
- KU3 Evaluate the environmental and societal impact of solutions to complex mechanical engineering problems (to include the entire life-cycle of a product or process) and minimise adverse impacts
- KU4 Discuss the role of quality management systems and continuous improvement in the context of complex mechanical engineering problems
- KU5 Apply knowledge of engineering management principles, commercial contexts, project and change management, and relevant legal matters including intellectual property rights
Intellectual Skills
- IS1 Select and apply appropriate computational and analytical techniques, recognising/discussing the limitations of the techniques employed, for the synthesis of mechanical engineering problems, and to make judgements on appropriate action
- IS2m Select and critically evaluate technical literature and other sources of information to solve complex problems
- IS3m Design solutions for complex mechanical engineering problems that evidence some originality, and meet a combination of societal, user, business and customer needs as appropriate, with consideration of applicable health & safety, diversity, inclusion, cultural, societal, environmental and commercial matters, codes of practice and industry standards
- IS4 Apply an integrated or systems approach to the solution of complex problems
Professional Practical Skills
- PS1 Select and apply appropriate practical laboratory and workshop skills in mechanical engineering, particularly in devising analytical or experimental approaches, to investigate complex problems.
- PS2 Select, apply and evaluate appropriate materials, equipment, engineering technologies and processes, recognising their limitations
- PS3 Use a risk management process to identify, evaluate and mitigate risks (the effects of uncertainty) associated with a particular mechanical engineering project or activity
- PS4 Adopt a holistic and proportionate approach to the mitigation of security risks in mechanical engineering
- PS5m integrates knowledge, understanding, skills and creativity to solve a substantial range of engineering problems, some of them novel or complex, especially through participation in group design projects
Transferable/Key Skills
- TS1 Communicate effectively on complex engineering matters with technical and non-technical audiences, evaluating the effectiveness of the methods used
- TS2 Identify and analyse ethical concerns and make reasoned ethical choices informed by professional codes of conduct
- TS3 Adopt an inclusive approach to engineering practice and recognise/articulate the responsibilities, benefits and importance of supporting equality, diversity and inclusion
- TS4m Function effectively as an individual, and as a member or leader of a team, and evaluate effectiveness of own and team performance
- TS5 Plan and record the reflective evaluation of self-learning and development as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Many graduates work in product design for the automotive, aeronautical, communications and energy industries. Some work in medical engineering, some are travelling the world for the petrochemical industry, while others are involved in development, production and general management.
A few choose to use their degrees as a qualification to enable them to work in other disciplines. Those who have followed this route typically work in the Armed Forces, the financial sector, the legal profession, chartered accountancy or computing.
With such high-calibre and broad opportunities, a career in mechanical engineering is varied, challenging and rewarding.