Course summary

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 BEng Mechanical Engineering degree can ultimately lead to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. 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. Due to our new project-based curriculum, we've arranged for IMechE and IET to visit our campus, with a view to re-accrediting this course. Accreditation means it's been approved by a professional body as meeting their level of requirements.