Design Engineering BEng

All of our engineering courses share a common first year of study. This allows you to get a grounding in all aspects of engineering. Then depending on your interests, you can then continue with this course or transfer to the BEng Mechatronics & Robotics degree.

This module will develop your knowledge and understanding on a range of modelling and prototyping processes and techniques in order for you to successfully complete a number of projects. You will learn to use a range of tools to accomplish this and the projects will require you to develop and use a variety of problem solving skills and to utilise knowledge gained from other taught modules.

The aim of this module is to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of electronics. Students will develop a range of practical skills, attitudes and techniques required to construct electronic circuits successfully.

The module aims to provide students with the mathematical knowledge and tools to model and understand particular problems in engineering, and to interpret these results to provide information relevant to designs and decisions they will make as engineers.

The module aims to expose students to the fundamentals of computing and programming paradigms, and enable students to write computer programmes in response to a given brief which respond to software and physical devices and processes.

You will specialise in hands-on skills and project experience to put you at the forefront of the next generation of design engineers. You will get to grips with the latest digital systems and software being in use for design engineering.

This module aims to explore and demonstrate the role and responsibilities of engineers in various contexts outside their subject specialism. These would cover issues such as recognising obligations to society, the profession, the environment and commitment to professional standards. The module will also cover other wider issues such as globalisation (global manufacturing, operating in global markets, cultural issues, financial concerns, risk etc) and its impact on business operations.

This module aims to provide you with the knowledge and understanding of control systems and explains the principles of feedback control. The module also develops your ability to analyse techniques for designing and modelling controllers to solve real world problems based on block diagrams and transfer functions, and to use such techniques in the context of engineering design.

This module aims to develop student’s skills and knowledge in Computer Aided Engineering by using industry standard computer software to simulate product performance to improve design or help solve related engineering problems in a wide range of applications. This will involve using computer-based analysis tools and techniques for design and manufacture of components and associated manufacturing processes and understanding of business values in Product Lifecyle Management.

This module aims to provide the student with the knowledge and skills required to carry out engineering projects and will give them the opportunity to apply them, together with knowledge and skills from other modules, in practical projects.

You will specialise in hands-on skills and project experience to put you at the forefront of the next generation of design engineers. You will get to grips with the latest digital systems and software being in use for design engineering.

This module aims to develop student’s skills and knowledge in Design of Systems, their validation and optimisation within the context of Design Engineering. This will involve understanding of systems approach to design and using appropriate tools and techniques to validate and optimise design solutions.

This module aims to equip the student with the skills required to understand the process of innovation in an engineering context and be able to appreciate the way it impacts the management of an engineering enterprise.

This module provides students with the opportunity to undertake a major piece of self-directed engineering design using the knowledge and skills learnt throughout the programme. Students are expected to provide a significant personal contribution to all phases of the engineering design and development process, appropriate to the goals of their programme.

You will be mostly studying in the Ritterman Building at our leafy north London campus in Hendon. It is equipped with industry-standard equipment in mechatronics, robotics, electronics and networking solutions.

Whether you are studying full or part-time – your course timetable will balance your study commitments on campus with time for work, life commitments and independent study.

We aim to make timetables available to students at least 2 weeks before the start of term. Some weeks are different due to how we schedule classes and arrange on-campus sessions.

Year 1 – weekly timetable

During your first year, your weekly timetable will typically consist of 12–15 hours of timetabled contact time spread across 4 days. This will include 3 hours of workshops per module.

Some of this course will be delivered using online teaching sessions via learning platforms such as Kaltura Newrow, Adobe Connect or Zoom. You will participate in online problem-solving discussions, critical debates and exercises, online workshops and quizzes.

You'll develop practical laboratory skills and gain hands-on experience in diagnostic techniques. We will give you access to virtual laboratories and pre-recorded lab and practice demonstrations.

Each year you will work on a project that replicates industrial practice to develop your skills and maximise your employability chances. You will develop a range of practical competencies which, by the end of year two, are relevant to the needs of industry and student employability and will help you to gain industrial experience on placement.

The course delivery method includes staff-led interactive workshops to discuss theoretical material, which are supported by guided practice-based laboratory activities to apply the learnt theories by ways of simulations and experiments.

For one-to-one support, you will meet with either your personal tutor or module leader.

Your work will be divided into credits of approximately 10 hours of study time. You will need to complete 120 credits per year, which are broken down into modules of typically 30 credits.

Teaching vs independent learning

Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking self-directed research, self-directed, resource-based learning, and preparing for assessments including coursework and presentations.

Here is an indication of how you will split your time.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

This course is 100% coursework. It aims to produce fledgling practitioners in computer systems engineering who have been exposed to an engineering ethos and are thus aware of the importance of designing and implementing a system on time and within budget.

Your learning will be assessed regularly by the following methods: individual or group coursework assessment, laboratory experimentation, analysis and synthesis tasks, and tests.

This course moves away from the unseen exam component and towards the direction of practice-based learning. Typically, each module involves a variety of assessment techniques to take into account different learning styles.

Assessments

Assessment will also include problem-solving exercises, modelling and simulation tasks, seminar work (including presentations, formal reports of work undertaken or work-in-progress, dialogue) lab-based evaluation and project demonstration, blogs, videos, technical reports, simulation models and functioning prototypes, etc. – all of which are framed at progressively more complex systems-based content.

Student Observable Behaviours

Your first-year study is assessed using competency-based assessments using a tool which measures Student Observable Behaviours (SOBs).

The key course concepts/topics are broken down into a collection of SOBs and could represent a sequence of exercises, tasks, challenges, mini-projects, or case studies. These are observed and assessed by a member of the academic staff.

Each SOB is marked as Pass/Fail. The SOBs are divided into three categories:

1. Threshold – all SOBs must be successfully demonstrated, and this is the minimum expected to be able to progress to Year 2.
2. Typical – SOBs you would expect to see in a student aiming to get 2:1
3. Excellent – these are competencies that would stretch the students.

Assessments are reviewed annually and may be updated based on student feedback or feedback from an external examiner.

To help you achieve the best results, we will provide regular feedback.