Mechanical Engineering at Plym - opinions wanted

Thinking about doing ME at Plymouth. What's the course and teaching like? Are the teachers helpful and involved?

What are the other students like? Are they really interested in the subject and enthusiastic? Do they help each other?

How does the sandwich year placement work? Do people often get final year sponsorships from the company? How is graduate employment? Is the Plym engineering degree well-regarded?

Sorry about all the questions!

Reply 1

University of Plymouth

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Original post by Going Back

Thinking about doing ME at Plymouth. What's the course and teaching like? Are the teachers helpful and involved?

What are the other students like? Are they really interested in the subject and enthusiastic? Do they help each other?

How does the sandwich year placement work? Do people often get final year sponsorships from the company? How is graduate employment? Is the Plym engineering degree well-regarded?

Sorry about all the questions!

Hi Going Back,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner with your queries - I have been in touch with a current third year BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering student to hopefully give you a good insight into what it is really like to study this subject here at Plymouth. Here is what she had to say:

"My name is Mollie and I am a BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering student in my third year and am writing to offer you some insight into the course.

The course itself is a very good one, and we have access to a lot of facilities around the uni (for example the failure analysis laboratory, and rapid prototyping laboratory, with 3D printers and a laser cutter). In the first year there are around 12 hours of lectures, 4 of tutorials and 2 of practicals. This does vary week to week because some weeks there won't be a practical, and in the first year you also do an intense couple of days in the manufacturing lab (9-5 with a lunch break and another short break). One of these days is an intro to CAD, and the other is an introduction to some traditional manufacturing methods (Lathes, CNC milling etc). I believe (but am not entirely sure, as this has come in this year!!) the structure of the terms also means that the first four weeks of the two semesters are now intense modules; the first being an intense design module using CAD software etc, and the beginning of the second semester is an Inter-disciplinary Team Engineering module, where in small groups you work together to solve a problem.

The teachers are all very helpful, and the faculty has an open-door policy for their offices. All the lecturers will give out their email addresses and usually office telephone numbers the first time you meet them, and are usually fast to respond to emails. The offices are open weekdays 9am-6pm and are all open to students - as long as they are in their office and not with another student they're always happy to help with anything you might need; whether it's a personal or work issue.

There's also a place in the library called SUMUP which is open 10-4 on week days, and has a drop in service for students who need any help with mathematics which is always helpful if your lecturers are unavailable or you've got a quick question!

Other students on the course are all friendly; but obviously this depends on the people! It's really easy to get to know people on the course through group assignments and projects; some of which will be put into groups for you (like practicals). In my welcome week ( "freshers week" ) there was also an organised event for the faculty which allowed us to chat to other pupils on similar courses; and we also had an engineering "social" with a few of the lecturers on the course. These are a great way to get to know people, but you'll also find that you will meet people on your course because often the engineers work in the same computer rooms on assignments, etc. There's also a society (MMC; mechanical marine and composites engineering) which organises trips to factories etc, which can help you get chatting to people, and EWB (Engineers without Borders) which also includes civil engineers and robotics, etc.

The sandwich placement year is something which we're prepared for in year one and two, with Placement Preparation modules. The university also helps by sending out occasional emails with adverts for placements, but it's very much a case of you applying! There's also a dedicated careers and placement service for our faculty, who offer drop in sessions where they will look over your CV and/or cover letter, and offer advice for applications and interviews - they also run mock interviews and sessions to help with the application process. They will also confirm that the place you are applying for is applicable to the course, and you are getting the most out of it! As well as this there is the university's general careers service, who I believe do similar sort of things!

In my year a lot of people are placement returners - I'm not sure if any have been sponsored but I know a lot of them have come out with job offers, and some have been given final year projects by the companies they worked for. Employment wise, Engineering graduates achieve some of the highest graduate employment figures, and as with placement, in the final year your dissertation advisor or other members of staff may email you job adverts for jobs which are either general, or related in some way to your dissertation! As with placements, the whole CV checking service is available, and mock interviews,etc.

Mollie"

Sorry that this is such a long response! Hopefully this gives you an insight into what it is like to study Mechanical Engineering with Plymouth University.

Don't hesitate to get back in contact with us if you have any further questions or queries - we will do our best to answer them :smile: