Leeds or Durham for engineering(mechanical)?

RobElliot

got the grades for both but really cant decide

Reply 1

161BMW

Is Durham allow to do 4 years of Mech Eng ?

I thought it had general eng course.

Reply 2

RobElliot

Original post by 161BMW

Is Durham allow to do 4 years of Mech Eng ?

I thought it had general eng course.

Its general for 2 years and then specialise

Reply 3

161BMW

Original post by RobElliot

Its general for 2 years and then specialise

Depends where you want to study
Which course structure u like
Where u want to work after graduate ?

If outside of engineering I think Durham has the better name for City.
If In Engineering I would pick leeds but not sure.

If you just want to do mech eng and not bother with other branches then go leeds

Durham has college type of lifestyle too.

Reply 4

Jenjenjen123

Original post by RobElliot

got the grades for both but really cant decide

Leeds is more metropolitan and Durham more isolated I'd say ofc Durham has an edge in terms of prestige but at the end of the day pick where you'll be happy dont rush just think where you'd want to live. Leeds has better transport links and more things to do but Durham is quite nice in terms of its environment. Go with place you see yourself happiest

Reply 5

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by RobElliot

got the grades for both but really cant decide

Durham & leeds are very different unis, you might want to think about the cities and which one you'd prefer.

Durham has a very slight reputation overall, and Leeds is more well regarded for mech-eng.

Reply 6

Chris2892

If you’re planning on just doing a BEng, pick the university by your preferred city.

If you plan on studying beyond BEng, take a look at what research is coming out of the universities and what interests you.

Reply 7

RobElliot

Original post by Chris2892

I'll be taking meng and a year in industry so I was thinking if I'm spending 5 years at the place then i might get bored at durham but that's interesting to note, I thought only PhD students took part in research?

Reply 8

RobElliot

Original post by 161BMW

I like Durham's general course as I dont want to be too restricted but I'm worried I won't enjoy it there and it is expensive, i know i will eventually do mechanical so it would be good to start now but leeds misses modules on eee that other mech eng courses have. I want to work in renewable energy and on future drive trains maybe for tesla one day hence my desire to have some eee knowledge

Reply 9

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by RobElliot

It really depends which bit of EV tech you want to work on. It’s very possible to go into from mechanical. I currently work on hybrid vehicles (including a lot on e-motors) but i do focus on the thermodynamic elements (from a mechanical background).

If you wish to look at vehicle drive cycles and the whole vehicle driveline id probably go for the more automotive unis.

If you specifically are interested in just the power electronics side & electrochemical storage a stronger focus on EEE is probably better.

If you don’t know, the Durham option sounds a good idea as you could then look at either EEE or mechanical for a degree.

But if you leaning more heavily for mechanical id say Leeds (I just think it’s got a bit better rep for mechanical).

Reply 10

Chris2892

Original post by RobElliot

I did a mech eng degree apprenticeship and published a conference abstract for my FdEng dissertation project, and currently writing one from my BEng abstract.

If you manage to discover where you’d like to focus early on, there’s no reason why you can’t do meaningful research projects. It also means you might not have to do an MEng to do a PhD. You just need to find a staff member to help you gain access to facilities and review/submit your study. That and write a good project proposal.

You can see what the university is researching, and which professor is best aligned with the specific research you’re interested in.

I can’t give my views on Durham research because I’m not familiar with the uni. Leeds uni are known for (but not limited to) their medical device research. The associated industry links are also very good.