Introduction

This part-time MSc will enable you to develop your skills and enhance your advanced subject knowledge to design, develop and implement innovative solutions and accelerate your engineering career towards Chartership, all while working around your existing commitments.

If you are currently employed in an engineering role and are seeking a continuing professional development (CPD) route to fulfil the further learning requirements for Chartership via the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), then you can spread your Master's over two years and study modules in short, manageable blocks to fit around your current employment and your workplace CPD activity.

From designing replacement hip joints and hospital MRI scanners to developing autonomous vehicles and monitoring the structural health of offshore wind farms, mechanical engineering contributes greatly to contemporary life and is central to the innovation carried out in many industries.

Accredited by IMechE, our MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering programme comprises advanced topics in mechanical engineering and industrially themed project work. You will benefit from the teaching of some of the world’s experts in their fields, a state-of-the-art working environment, and networking opportunities to enhance your career prospects.

Over a period of two years, you will study six taught modules and carry out an industrially-relevant dissertation, usually linked to your current engineering role. Modules are taught in five-week blocks during which time you will need to be at Lancaster one day per week. Submission and supporting materials are managed online., with submission and supporting materials managed online. As a result, you will usually spend three separate weeks on campus per year, each dedicated to a different taught module.

During the second year, you will also be supported by an academic supervisor as you work on your workplace-themed dissertation, which is normally scoped to complement your current engineering role. Academic supervision is facilitated via email, video calls and by telephone, in addition to which you will usually spend a few days attending face-to-face project review meetings on campus at Lancaster. You will also need to come onto campus for exams.

The taught modules will provide you with advanced knowledge while allowing you to develop your specialist skills, which will accelerate your engineering career via the fulfilment of the further learning requirements for a Chartered Engineer with the IMechE. You will become familiar with stress analysis, finite element analyses and modelling; renewables including wind, tidal and hydro-power; mechanisms and mechanical design; control and self-learning systems; and systems analysis, among other topics. At the same time, you will develop your professional engineering competencies, including technical writing and communication, problem-solving, project management and engineering analysis.

A major element of the programme is a dissertation project, during which you will undertake independent research of relevance to your workplace and receive one-to-one supervision and support from an academic specialist. During this project, you will apply advanced engineering theory, mathematical modelling and analysis to a project topic drawn from your current engineering role. By putting theory into practice in this way, you will demonstrate your professional engineering competencies and gain academic insight into an open-ended industrial problem. This experience will be both challenging and rewarding and deliver significant personal development value to you as you progress your career towards chartered engineer status and into more senior roles.

Assessment

Engineering is more than just theory and, as a result, you will experience labs/practical sessions, workshops and group tutorials, alongside lectures. This contact is with academic staff that are internationally recognised and work alongside global companies.

In addition, our technicians and admin support team are very approachable and have many years of experience in helping students achieve success.

Assessment varies between modules, allowing students to demonstrate their capabilities in a range of ways. Typically, you can expect assignments such as coursework, presentations and formal examinations.

Community

We prioritise delivering high-quality, rigorous programmes that prepare and equip our graduates for a rewarding career. The Department provides an interdisciplinary approach that reflects the dynamic nature of professional engineering.

Our Department is an internationally recognised leader in research and innovation and, as such, you will join a thriving and supportive academic community. Staff and students alike will welcome and support you both academically and socially.

You will be encouraged throughout your programme in a friendly, vibrant environment that is conducive to excellent research and learning.