Ask current students what it's like to study mechanical engineering at uni

What are mechanical engineering classes like- what do you do in them?

Why did you choose mechanical engineering over any other type of engineering or physics/maths?

How long do you actually spend studying on average? Also how much of a jump is it from a level

My parents keep on mentioning to me that engineering is a really good degree to study because there is going to be a shortage in the profession in the future.

Getting a good job is important to me, but I do want to enjoy my uni experience... do you have any tips on researching engineering courses that will help me get a job but still give me enough space to have fun during my time at uni?

I'm also starting to look at open days. Did you go to them? How important do you think they are?

Thanks

What made you choose DMU over any other options you might have been considering?

Have the facilities available to you been suitable for any/all projects you were working on?

Was DMU you firm or insurance choice, or did you go through clearing? And how did that experience impact on you when starting your degree?

Great I found this thread!

I have a few questions that will hopefully help me decide between doing a math degree or an engineering degree:

Does one get to prove mathematical theorem/formulae in engineering or does one have to to accept those as true without knowing where they come from?

What kind of problems do engineers solve? (if you could give an example that would be great!)

Did you always enjoy working in groups back in school?

How much programming is there to do in the course?

Thanks in advance

Hey,

Some tough questions! I'll try and answer them as well as I can


Does one get to prove mathematical theorem/formulae in engineering or does one have to accept those as true without knowing where they come from?

From what I can recall in first year we didn’t touch upon much of mathematical theorem - a lot of the work we did was involving differentiation, integration and trigonometry... basically a bit of a continuation from A level maths. When formulae did come up we were given proof and explored how they worked. In other modules though such as Mechanical principles and Theory of Machines there’s a lot more formulae that you are working with and get to prove as well as the formula sheets aren’t given with this module so having to derive them can be of help rather than memorising.

What kind of problems do engineers solve? (if you could give an example that would be great!)

Yeah, no problem!

Here’s a very typical Engineering question to do with gears:

An electric motor drives a piece of machinery through a two stage compound reduction gear where the reduction at each stage is 3:1. The inertia of the motor armature and the driving gear is 0.05 kgm^2 and the intermediate shaft containing the compounded pair is 0.1 kgm^2. The load, output gear and its shaft have an equivalent inertia of 1 kgm^2 referred to the output shaft. It takes two seconds for the motor to accelerate from rest to its running speed of 2700 rev/min - calculate the motor starting torque assuming that it is constant.




Did you always enjoy working in groups back in school?

To be honest with the subjects I studies (Maths, Bio, Chem) the closest I got to any form of group work was pairing up during experiments, but I wasn’t the most sociable person as well which didn’t help. However at University it was very different, you may have to work in groups on tasks that are have real-world relevance, making it a lot more enjoyable. Being put in groups of 4-5 people and splitting tasks to people's strengths is really satisfying. For example, a task we had to carry out was making a small circuit car - We assigned the electrical work to the person on the team who enjoys electronics and the mechanics to someone who is good in the workshop. Could be likened to a future project you may have to carry out in your engineering career in terms of delegating work and project management too.



How much programming is there to do in the course?

This does vary across which course you pick. I know for first year we touch upon programming such as Matlab and Arduino - this is because the first year is the same across all engineering courses (including Electronic). However as I went into Mechanical Engineering we focused more upon 3D design using programs such as Creo (like solid works) and Autodesk in the following year. I’m sure if programming is something you do enjoy some of the other Engineering courses contain a lot more such as Mechatronics or Electronic.

Jamaal

What are mechanical engineering classes like- what do you do in them?

Why did you choose mechanical engineering over any other type of engineering or physics/maths?

Hi,

I pursue to become a mechanical engineer in the future and just want to ask a few questions.

1) Are there opportunities for a work placement during the course?

2) I'm going to be in Year 11 so I have to decide the subjects I'm going to study at Sixth Form, so are Maths, Physics and Computer Science useful or are there more subjects that may be more beneficial?

3) Are there any opportunities for travelling abroad?

4) Is programming compulsory requirement for this course?

5) What is the ranking for Mechanical Engineering at DMU?

Hi,

I pursue to become a mechanical engineer in the future and just want to ask a few questions.

1) Are there opportunities for a work placement during the course?

2) I'm going to be in Year 11 so I have to decide the subjects I'm going to study at Sixth Form, so are Maths, Physics and Computer Science useful or are there more subjects that may be more beneficial?

3) Are there any opportunities for travelling abroad?

4) Is programming compulsory requirement for this course?

5) What is the ranking for Mechanical Engineering at DMU?

1) At my uni, most people did at least one Summer Internship. I happened to do an internship in Supply Chain Management at a chemical company, but your options are very vast (you just have to apply to LOTS and prepare for some interviews).

2) Maths and physics are very useful. I didn't do A-level physics but ended up having to learn it all whilst I was at uni. Further mathematics is very useful, but if you don't do it you will have to learn about half of it whilst you're at uni. I can't say about Comp Sci. I suppose I did use a bit of VBA, a bit of robot programming but very basic. We needed Matlab a lot especially in the final year, so you just need to be ok with a bit of code.

3) I worked in Uganda after my 3rd year. I had to pay for travel and accommodation myself, but it was well worth it. Did a project on hydroelectro power and water filtration.

4) Yes. Matlab or similar will almost certainly be compulsary.

5) Is this a Google question?

1) depends on the course/university. Some have sandwich years aka placement years. Although getting a placement isn't necessarily guaranteed, it's up to you to get one, usually with some assistance from your university.

2) maths + physics + a 3rd subject you enjoy and will do well at (further maths can be a useful 4th subject but it's not generally required).

3) see 1

4) you will be taught some programming during the course, yes.

5) in which league table? There's at least 3 domestic tables, and more internationally. They all use different methods, and aren't read by employers...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Thanks! I should have specified more with question 5...

What I meant was where is it ranked on a national level?