Universities

Bath University

Website: www.bath.ac.uk/engineering

About

The Faculty of Engineering & Design comprises four academic departments covering the main branches of engineering:

• Architecture & Civil Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Electronic & Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

The departments are united by a common interest in design, an area of strategic importance to all industrial sectors and one in which we have a high reputation in both teaching and research.

Undergraduate teaching within the Faculty is primarily focused on teaching future Chartered Engineers; the Faculty also offers a range of taught Masters and postgraduate Diploma programmes, CPD and Distance Learning opportunities.

There are currently over 1700 undergraduate students and 180 taught postgraduate students in the Faculty. There is approximately 190 academic staff in the Faculty.

The Faculty prides itself on the strength of its research. Total research income for the last academic year was over 5.3 million pounds. There are over 250 postgraduate research students in the Faculty. Details of the Faculty research can be found on their research gateway page (www.bath.ac.uk/engineering/research).

Bristol University

Website: www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering

About

Bristol’s engineering heritage is world famous, and the city continues to be an international leader in cutting-edge engineering. Working at the heart of this local industry, the Faculty of Engineering has attracted over £75m in industrial and governmental research awards over the past five years; it has spent over £20m on infrastructure and laboratory equipment that will keep it at the forefront of teaching and research. The Faculty is located in the centre of a culturally vibrant and visually stunning city.

Cardiff University

Website: www.cf.ac.uk/engin

About

The Cardiff School of Engineering is recognised as one of the best Engineering schools in the UK in terms of its facilities, research and teaching. The School has some 70 academic staff engaged in teaching and research, approximately 1,200 undergraduate students, and over 260 postgraduate students.

Teaching

Their degree schemes cover twelve different areas of Engineering and within each scheme there are the options of MEng, BEng, or sandwich degree programmes with a year in industry. These degree programmes are all accredited by the relevant Engineering Institutions and are designed to offer you a degree which best meets your needs.

The School has been independently assessed for quality of teaching and research and has obtained an Excellent rating for teaching in Civil Engineering, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering.

The School has also received independent recognition for its degree schemes and are recognised as being among the best in the UK as ranked by various independently produced league tables. For example, the Times Higher has rated the School as top in the UK for Civil Engineering for the last three years and the Guardian have rated Mechanical Engineering third in the UK in the latest table. All of their degree schemes were included within the top twenty in the latest Times Higher league table.

Research

The School's is one of the leading research centres for engineering in the UK and has an international reputation for the quality and significance of its research activities. The School is organised into world-class research Institutes covering some of the most challenging research themes of today, such as sustainability, energy and environmental engineering, nanotechnology and sensors, medical engineering, and digital signal processing and communications. Within these Institutes there are some 80 research staff and over 130 postgraduate research students from the UK and around the world engaged in a wide range of research projects.

In the last Research Assessment Exercise the School obtained the following ratings :

• Civil Engineering: 5*A
• Electronic and Electrical Engineering: 5A
• Mechanical Engineering: 4A

Imperial College London

Website: www.imperial.ac.uk/engineering

About

The Faculty of Engineering is one of four Faculties within Imperial College London. The Faculty comprises 9 Departments, and is one of the largest engineering faculties in the UK, with 1,000 staff, over 4,700 students and an annual turnover in excess of £100M. In the 2006 Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings for Engineering and IT Universities they were the top UK and European university and fourth in the World.

They have the largest number of academic staff in the 5* category in the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) the benchmark of research quality for all higher education departments in the country. 5* rating indicates that the quality of research is of international excellence in a majority of sub-areas of activity and of national calibre in all others.

Teaching

Imperial offers a wide variety of disciplines. An engineering education at Imperial involves a rigorous grounding in fundamentals using mathematics as a tool to support understanding and develop new concepts. They believe that comfort with the basic principles is what ultimately drives innovation, the lifeblood of engineering.

Their courses are designed in an integrated way and build up engineering expertise in a stepwise fashion. They utilise a balance of theory and practice, with many group-based coursework projects to supplement lecture material.

Their undergraduate courses are accredited by the relevant professional institutions and are therefore part of the formal educational requirements for professional practice as an engineer.

In addition, the Faculty also offers a wide range of advanced postgraduate courses and opportunities for research in its departments and centres.

Professional transferable skills are imparted throughout each course, equipping their graduates for a diverse range of careers in fields including industry, commerce, healthcare and education.

Research

The Faculty of Engineering is a world centre for innovative multidisciplinary engineering research that provides solutions to the scientific and technological challenges of our time.

Their goal is to recruit, support and nurture internationally leading researchers whose research addresses major societal and industrial challenges. The results of this research provide new knowledge and innovative products that drive the global economy.

Plymouth University

Website: www.plymouth.ac.uk/technology

The Faculty of Technology at Plymouth University offers a wide range of exciting and innovative courses with some unique opportunities, such as gaining Cisco certification and earning a diving qualification. Their course content is also constantly evolving to reflect the rapid advances being made in technology. For instance, new for 2008 is the chance to study for an honours degree in Computing in only two years.

They have very strong links with industry offering many placement and employment opportunities and the majority of their courses are accredited (approved) by professional institutions. As such, their graduates are highly respected and in great demand.

• School of Computing, Communications and Electronics
  • Computing
  • Digital Art
  • Electronics
  • Robotics
• School of Engineering
  • Civil, Coastal & Structural Engineering
  • Building & Construction Engineering
  • Mechanical, Marine and Composite Engineering
• School of Mathematics and Statistics
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics
• Planned Courses in the Faculty of Technology

Apart from their 2-year fast track honours degrees in Computing, most of their degrees can be studied over 3 or 4 years with the option of undertaking a work placement between the 2nd and 3rd year. As well as providing vital work experience, these paid placements often lead to job offers and sometimes sponsorship in the final year.

Faculty of Technology courses are well-known for their practical as well as theoretical approach. Their students frequently win prizes for their final year projects and are given the chance to show them off to prospective employers at their annual Project Open Day.

If you think your qualifications may not meet their undergraduate requirements you may wish to consider their Foundation Pathways in Technology course. Successful completion of this course can lead onto one of our degree courses.

For more information please contact: Email: technology@plymouth.ac.uk