Overview
Be useful. Mechanical engineers design, manufacture, repair or operate the things we need in everyday life. Based in Chelmsford, studying our Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) you’ll use simulation software to come up with solutions to real world engineering problems. Take up an option for a placement year and benefit from our links with local industry to gain experience and a head start in your career. Our Mechanical Engineering degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and can ultimately lead to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
Find out more about teaching options and studying during COVID-19 in the Entry requirements section, below.
Mechanical engineers solve problems through innovation, helping society to become more advanced and adventurous.
Our newly redesigned Mechanical Engineering BEng degree course focusses on project based-learning, meaning you’ll apply your theoretical learning from class to a project-based module that runs throughout Year 1. You will gain experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team with other students from mechanical engineering courses, helping to prepare you for working in competitive commercial and industrial environments. Skills in teamwork, management and leadership – along with an integrated approach to engineering – are highly valued by employers.
While studying Mechanical Engineering at ARU, you will develop both your academic and practical skills, becoming an analytical and creative problem-solver, exploring how engineering works in the business context, and how to achieve results within financial constraints. You’ll use testing and measurement equipment, learn how to specify and design electronics subsystems and understand how to use computer-based and mathematical methods to model and analyse mechanical-engineering problems.
As well as the hands-on experience, you’ll benefit from lectures given by visiting engineers, ensuring you’re up-to-date with current methods in industry. You also have the option of doing a year-long placement in industry between years 2 and 3.
Our facilities at ARU include a CAD/CAM centre, industrial-scale CNC milling machine, CNC lathe, rapid prototyping machine, scanning electronic microscope, Instron bi-axial fatigue-testing machine, tensile-testing machine, material-preparation facilities, welding equipment and electronic testing and measuring equipment such as oscilloscopes and signal generating and testing facilities.
Like our Mechanical Engineering BEng course, our MEng is accredited by both the IMechE and IET, meaning it’s been approved by a professional body as meeting their level of requirements.
What is the difference between a BEng and an MEng course
A BEng course will enable to you apply for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) status at the end of your course. To apply for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status you will also need to complete a Masters degree.
A four-year Mechanical Engineering MEng course is a thee-year undergraduate degree with a one-year Masters degree in one course. On completing an MEng course you are able to apply directly for CEng status.
Our three-year degree programme is CEng accredited and fulfils the educational requirements for Chartered Engineer when presented with an accredited MSc. In addition, the programme meets the educational requirements for registration as an Incorporated Engineer. Students completing an IMechE accredited degree are deemed to have met, part or all, of the academic requirements for registration as a Chartered or Incorporated Engineer and are in a strong position to move on to achieve professional engineering status after a period of initial professional development in industry.
January intake students will complete Year1 between January and August (trimester 2 & 3), however, Year 2 and 3 will be completed during trimester 1 & 2 between September and May. This means January intake students will only take a one-month summer break in Year 1 and will start Year 2 in September the same year they started the course. Therefore students are expected to graduate the standard BEng course in 2.5 years and 3.5 years for the BEng with a placement.
Careers
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements.
There is strong international demand for qualified mechanical engineers. Employment levels are high and jobs are well-paid. The average salary for a mechanical engineer in the UK is £29,986* per year with the ability to earn well over £40,000 per year in senior design and project management roles. *Payscale.com
Our degree will also open up a huge variety of non-engineering jobs. Many employers in IT, finance, business and education welcome mechanical engineering graduates because of their high-level numerical and problem-solving skills.
Graduation doesn’t need to be the end of your time with us. If you’d like to continue your studies and develop additional skills we offer a wide range of full-time and part-time postgraduate courses including Masters degrees in Engineering Management, Mechanical Engineering and Additive Manufacturing (3D printing).
Where you’ll study
Your faculty
The Faculty of Science & Engineering is one of the largest of the four faculties at Anglia Ruskin University. Whether you choose to study with us full-time or part-time, on campus or at a distance, there’s an option whatever your level – from a foundation degree, BSc, MSc, PhD or professional doctorate.
Whichever course you pick, you’ll gain the theory and practical skills needed to progress with confidence. Join us and you could find yourself learning in the very latest laboratories or on field trips or work placements with well-known and respected companies. You may even have the opportunity to study abroad.
Everything we do in the faculty has a singular purpose: to provide a world-class environment to create, share and advance knowledge in science, technology and engineering fields. This is key to all of our futures.
Additional study information
Placements
This course gives you the opportunity to take a work placement year between years 2 and 3 of your studies. You’ll get experience of seeking and securing a job and working in an industry relating to your course. You’ll also get the practical experience and industry contacts to benefit your studies and enhance your long-term career prospects.
Although they can’t be guaranteed, we can work with you to find a placement using our contacts with a large number of employers. You’ll have regular contact with one of our course tutors and be supported by a supervisor from your placement company. Together they’ll monitor your performance and give you feedback.
