Mechanical Engineering
Work towards Incorporated Engineer status with our project-based curriculum, getting hands on engineering experience.
in the East of England for undergraduates employed as managers, directors or senior officials.
Source: GOS 2025
Get involved in hands-on projects with other engineering students, developing your teamwork and leadership skills while learning how to analyse and solve problems creatively. This course gives you real world experience, preparing you for employment.
We offer a unique project-based curriculum with industry-led Live Briefs, where you’ll apply science and engineering principles to propose solutions to problems from companies such as BAE systems, Ford Motor Company, New Hollands, Antobot, Tecosim and Transporter Engineering.
This innovative approach allows you to spend 50% of your time in the classroom and 50% in the engineering workshops and specialist laboratories.
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Discover our project-based course and some of the specialist modules available.
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Develop the knowledge and skills you need to resolve practical, real-world challenges, and practice the ‘art of precision guesswork’ and problem solving.
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Bring the world of work to life through Live Briefs, developed with employers to give you exposure to ‘real world’ problem-solving.
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Explore modules in areas including materials, design and modelling, manufacturing, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer, as well as project-based learning.
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Study in our state-of-the-art facilities including 3D printing, CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Manufacturing) laboratories, and CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) machining.
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A diverse breadth of expert staff with a wide range of industrial and academic backgrounds make learning more real, hands-on and relevant.
Study at an award-winning university
We were named Times Higher Education University of the Year 2023. We've also been awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework – a reflection of the outstanding education we offer our students.
Careers
Build your CV by learning manufacturing and testing methods, using industry-standard equipment, solving problems and carrying out research.
From the very start of your degree, you’ll meet established engineers and learn what it’s like to work in the industry. We'll encourage you to join professional bodies too.
As a graduate, you'll be able to apply for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) status after a period of initial professional development.
Qualified mechanical engineers are in high demand nationally and internationally, commanding an impressive average salary. The average salary for UK engineering graduates after 15 months of graduating is £28,000. In comparison, ARU engineering graduates earn £30,000 on average. With experience, you could further increase your earning power by progressing to senior design or project management roles.
Teaching and modules
This course covers the entire development process of products from an engineering point of view. It gives you exposure to marketing analysis, brand and product placement, concept development, engineering and building it in-house on campus. There are top research facilities, and the department offers a friendly atmosphere.
Explore how engineering works and how to achieve results within financial constraints.
With this hands-on course, classroom-based knowledge is gradually replaced with practical skills as you work on real-life challenges and with clients. You'll become an analytical and creative problem-solver.
You can expect to use testing and measurement equipment, specify and design electronics subsystems, and model and analyse mechanical engineering problems using computer-based and mathematical methods.
Student experience
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Forces at work: Mechanical Engineers and the world we live in. Hear from ARU Senior Lecturer Dr Shabnam Sadeghi Esfanhlani in this Springpod Subject Spotlight. Watch the full lecture on Springpod.
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Mechanical Engineering graduate Theo reflects on their university journey and offers advice for future students.
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Meet Mechanical Engineering student Jack Sullivan, who we caught up with to ask some questions about his experience studying at ARU.
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Work with other engineering students and build up your teamwork, management, leadership and problem-solving skills.
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Explore all aspects and stages of the engineering process and discover where your passion and talents lie.
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Experience the practical nature of the industry. Our students worked with BAE Systems, a multinational defence, security and aerospace company, on a brief to re-engineer a small drone to new specifications.
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A victory and achievement for Team Heron of ARU, who won the CAD Challenge at the International IMechE Railway Challenge 2025.
Modules are subject to change and availability, and may vary by location. If you have the choice of optional modules, these are indicated with a *.
- Manufacturing and Materials Project (30 credits)
- Applied Engineering Mathematics (15 credits)
- Introduction to Engineering (15 credits)
- Structural Mechanics (15 credits)
- Engineering Dynamics (15 credits)
- Mechatronic Design Project (30 credits)
- Into ARU
- Solid Mechanics and Machine Elements Design Project (30 credits)
- Mechanical Vibrations (15 credits)
- Project Management, Ethics and Quality Engineering (15 credits)
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer (15 credits)
- Advanced Engineering Mathematics (15 credits)
- Engineering Thermodynamics (15 credits)
- Ruskin Module (15 credits)
- Computational Fluid Dynamics and System Engineering Project (30 credits)
- Computer Aided Engineering and Manufacturing Project (30 credits)
- Automation and Control (15 credits)
- Research Methods and Individual Project (30 credits)
- Advanced Structural Analysis and Design (15 credits)
To prepare you for university study, you can take a foundation year at the start of this course. Find out more about foundation years.
- Interactive Learning Skills and Communication
- Information and Communication Technology
- Critical Thinking
- Maths for Scientists
- Maths for Engineers
- Physics for Engineers
- Fundamentals of Computing
- Engineering Design
You can choose to take an optional placement year as part of this course. Placements typically happen in Year 3, and your course will take four years overall. Find out more about placement years.
- Work placement
Read profiles of teaching and research staff on this course.
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Dr Hossein BishehAssistant Professor
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Professor Hassan ShirvaniDirector, Engineering and Tribology Research Group
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Dr Ahad RamezanpourAssociate Professor
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Dr Sarinova SimanjuntakAssociate Professor
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Dr Peter MarshallSenior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering
Facilities
All our engineering students use specialist labs and equipment, including:
- CAD/CAM and engineering computer modelling centre
- industrial-scale CNC milling and lathe machines
- metal and plastic rapid prototyping machines
- welding equipment
- electronic testing and measuring equipment
- 3D printers
- tensile and compressive testing machines
- hardness testing equipment.
You can also make full use of other facilities including extensive library and IT resources, and get support with careers and employability, study skills, health and wellbeing, and more.
Take a guided tour and meet our students.
Speakers, societies and events
We work closely with local IMechE, IET, and Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society to organise events on cutting-edge technologies. They're a great chance to hear from expert speakers.
There's also an active Engineering Society which runs events, and where you can meet like passionate and like-minded peers.
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Dr Martin McMahon, Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at ARU, showcases our metal 3D printer – the only one of its kind in the East of England – and discusses the benefits of additive manufacturing.
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3D printing - plastic or polymer-based
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CNC cutting machine
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CNC machine
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Drilling machines
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Laser machine
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Material testing
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Metal 3D printing machine
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Milling machine
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Robot manipulator
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Vibration testing
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Wire EDM machine
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Workshop
