Oxford Brookes Engineering

Original post by V1ct0r

Considering university of bath asks A*AA for its MEng courses and its actually very reputed for engineering, why is oxford brookes, which is currently competing a project with bath, seen as an average uni? (this opinion mainly comes from TSR)

University reputations are a very fluid and imprecise thing, the fact that one university is ranked lower _on_average_ in some league tables than another does not mean that its uniformly "worse". There can be big differences in the strengths of individual departments across an institution and you can find pockets of real excellence in even relatively low ranked places. For things like student project work, just a few quality, committed academics or local investment by industry can make a huge difference.

Reply 2

Helloworld_95

Oxford Brookes is a relatively new university and will always be overshadowed by Oxford, which dents its reputation.

It's also very good for anything car related, which is why you'll see it punch above its weight otherwise in this arena.

Reply 3

OP

Original post by Helloworld_95

Oxford Brookes is a relatively new university and will always be overshadowed by Oxford, which dents its reputation.

It's also very good for anything car related, which is why you'll see it punch above its weight otherwise in this arena.

So you're indirectly saying that oxford brookes is on par with those russell group unis with world class engineering departments when it comes to engineering? Does it mean that I have made the right choice to let go of a RG uni and come to brookes for engineering?

Reply 4

Mr Wednesday

Original post by V1ct0r

So you're indirectly saying that oxford brookes is on par with those russell group unis with world class engineering departments when it comes to engineering? Does it mean that I have made the right choice to let go of a RG uni and come to brookes for engineering?

No, thats not what I am saying, I dont actually know either engineering department well. What I am saying is just that "good is where you find it". A lot more goes into this than the rep of the institution overall. Bath ranks much higher on lots of metrics, but that doesnt mean Brooks cant turn out decent engineers or compete on a specific project.

Reply 5

OP

Original post by Mr Wednesday

No, thats not what I am saying, I dont actually know either engineering department well. What I am saying is just that "good is where you find it". A lot more goes into this than the rep of the institution overall. Bath ranks much higher on lots of metrics, but that doesnt mean Brooks cant turn out decent engineers or compete on a specific project.

That's what I'm trying to say! To oversimplify things, brookes engineering = bath engineering, while bath as a whole > brookes as a whole

Reply 6

Mr Wednesday

Original post by V1ct0r

That's what I'm trying to say! To oversimplify things, brookes engineering = bath engineering, while bath as a whole > brookes as a whole

I think thats pushing it a bit too far, but I can certainly believe Brookes engineering = bath engineering on a specific project. Overall Bath Mech Eng is a long way ahead on most rankings, and that is not accidental.

www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk has Bath at #4 and Brooks at #42, thats a big delta.

Reply 7

OP

Original post by Mr Wednesday

I think thats pushing it a bit too far, but I can certainly believe Brookes engineering = bath engineering on a specific project. Overall Bath Mech Eng is a long way ahead on most rankings, and that is not accidental.

www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk has Bath at #4 and Brooks at #42, thats a big delta.

So what? By not going to unis like bath, nottingham, bristol, manchester, etc, am I putting myself at a disadvantage as an engineering student?

Reply 8

Helloworld_95

Original post by V1ct0r

So you're indirectly saying that oxford brookes is on par with those russell group unis with world class engineering departments when it comes to engineering? Does it mean that I have made the right choice to let go of a RG uni and come to brookes for engineering?

I wouldn't go that far, but certainly for automotive engineering, yes, Oxford Brookes is one of the feeder universities for F1 so that should tell you what you need to know. I think it's also pretty highly respected for mechanical engineering as a whole, but I can't speak as to other disciplines.

I would say if your 100% sure you want to go into automotive engineering as a profession then Oxford Brookes is just as good a choice as Bath, etc., I don't know enough to make any other conclusions about it.

Reply 9

HertsExRep

14

Original post by V1ct0r

New student at oxford brookes here studying electronic engineering. Saw a presentation today about a project, which is the making of a fully autonomous race car and the guy giving the presentation mentioned they have a rivalry with university of bath especially for this project, i.e. which uni can make this possible first.

Considering university of bath asks A*AA for its MEng courses and its actually very reputed for engineering, why is oxford brookes, which is currently competing a project with bath, seen as an average uni? (this opinion mainly comes from TSR)

Is this the Formula Student project? FS includes several categories, which are Internal Combustion, Electric and Autonomous. Oxford Brookes, Hertfordshire, Bath and Cardiff have all been very competitive in Formula Student over the years and have great Formula Student facilities.

I wouldn't say it's unusual for Brookes to be on a level with Bath - University league table position doesn't seem to have a strong correlation with Formula Student results/success. It is more dependent on the facilities that Universities offer their FS teams, the investment the teams receive and the engagement from students (the amount of students who join the University FS team and how much effort they put in).

Reply 10

OP