Our MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering gives you the skills and the knowledge to take on the wide range of global engineering challenges faced by industry and society today.
The MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering is a highly respected course that will give you a clear understanding of the engineering challenges faced by industry and society across the world and provide you with the skills and knowledge to tackle them.
Using leading-edge tools and technologies, the course will bring out your engineering best through a combination of theoretical and practical learning. You will work in taught modules, join in group design activity and complete your own research and development project.
The taught modules will introduce you to a range of advanced mechanical engineering topics including turbomachinery design, non-linear stress analysis, fluid mechanics, contact and friction, giving you the extensive knowledge base that is essential for an engineering career.
You will learn vital collaborative working skills by joining with other students in exciting multinational teams to carry out advanced design work to the appropriate design standards, using complex engineering analysis tools.
A key feature of the course will require you to work independently on a research and development project that will help build your skillset and allow you to demonstrate how you are able to create your own innovative solutions for complex engineering challenges.
Our MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering course is hugely fulfilling. Led by our mechanical engineering experts, it will provide you with all the skills and experience you need to build a successful career in industry, in further engineering research or in academia, the choice is yours.
Course structure
Core modules:
Research and Development Project offers you a stimulating opportunity to develop your engineering knowledge. With the approval of the appropriate course director, you will identify and apply the specific methods needed to investigate your chosen subject. You will then generate data and carry out analysis in order to make recommendations and findings that you will present in a report.
Group Design Project sees your participation in a complex engineering system design task which will develop your knowledge of system design, introduce the concept of interdisciplinary design teams and will enable you to apply knowledge gained in lectures to a complex engineering problem.
Fluid Mechanics provides an advanced understanding of fluid mechanics. It will introduce you to analytical methods and models used in the field and ultimately will enable you to become familiar with the subject and able to apply the methods and models appropriately.
Future Vehicles 4 deals in depth with future transport vehicles, offering an overview of such devices and explaining their working principles as well as their future technical and economic constraints and possible solutions. The module will also introduce you to analytical methods and simulation tools for system design and analysis.
Non-Linear Solid Mechanics 4 introduces an overview of the subject, enabling you to develop a high level of knowledge and problem-solving using numerical and analytical techniques. The focus will be on material and geometric non-linearity and contact and friction.
Renewable Energy Technologies 4 covers the characteristics of major renewable energy technologies as well as explaining their working principles. Areas featured will include the renewable energy technology landscape, wind turbine design and operation, wind farm design and operation, off-shore and on-shore wind, and thermal renewables. You will develop an understanding of the technical and economic constraints of such technology and the solutions.
Turbomachinery and Propulsion 4 gives you an advanced level of understanding of turbomachinery operation and design and of propulsion cycles and their applications. Subjects covered will include non-dimensional parameters for turbomachinery and their meaning, axial compressor and turbine analysis and design, the operation of modern turbomachinery design system, the theory of propulsion and the definition of performance parameters, principles of operation of ramjets, turbojets, turboprops and turbofans and analysis of those engine types.
The course offers an inspiring and varied learning experience combining traditional lectures and tutorials with group work and the opportunity to demonstrate your skills and abilities by completing an individual research and development project.
Core modules taught through 38 hours of lectures, coursework and experiments conducted in our well-equipped laboratories will give you the essential grounding in advanced mechanical engineering technologies.
The group design project will not only deepen your engineering knowledge but also enhance your presentation skills and your ability to project manage and to work in a team with fellow students.
You will also complete an individual research and development project, with the support of a supervisor who will hold regular meetings to check on your progress and to discuss any planning issues. This will include up to 12 hours of quality contact time with your supervisor and more than 500 hours of research work and preparation, during which you will be supported by the Department’s technicians and research staff.
As well as the core modules, you will also select one of three optional modules that you feel will fit comfortably with your mechanical engineering interests and meet any learning development needs.
Assessment
Course assessment is thorough and includes a combination of project work, written exams and presentations.
A mid-term assessment is carried out to ensure your research and development project is on track and following the completion of the project, you will be required to submit a report on your work, in the style and format of a research paper. You will also have an oral examination centring on the technical aspects of your project.
Finally, you will be required to create and deliver a presentation of your project in poster form to staff and colleagues.
Entry requirements
To be admitted to the MSc course in Advanced Mechanical Engineering, you need the equivalent of a UK Honours degree to at least an upper second class standard (2:1). This should normally be in an appropriate Engineering or Engineering-related subject including modules in Applied/Solid Mechanics, Mechanics of Materials, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Mathematics for Engineers or Scientists and coding/computer programming. Although in some instances we can consider industrial or other relevant experience if you have a different first degree.
If you are an international student who does not meet the requirements for direct entry to this degree, you may be eligible to take a pre-Masters pathway programme at the Durham University International Study Centre.
The tuition fees for 2024/25 academic year have not yet been finalised, they will be displayed here once approved.
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of full time study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).
We take great pride in our reputation for producing engineers who make a successful and significant contribution in a wide range of professional career roles around the world.
We have strong links with industrial partners and our postgraduates have achieved rewarding and stimulating positions in civil, mechanical, electronic, electrical, manufacturing, design, aeronautics and systems engineering. They work as consultants, technology analysts, and software developers and as entrepreneurs, and also gain prestigious positions in banking and finance.
The Department has a dedicated careers contact who is available to offer advice and carry out mock interviews.
Our Industrial Partnership Committee of around 20 local, national and international companies will ensure you have access to the best employment opportunities.
For further information on career options and employability, student and employer testimonials and details of work experience and study abroad opportunities, please visit our employability web pages.
Department information
Engineering
The Department of Engineering is a general engineering department that works on the principle that engineering is an integrated subject rather than a series of unconnected topics. The world-leading teaching and the research opportunities that we offer underline this academic positioning.
We guide postgraduate researchers so that they are able to make a significant contribution in the Department’s key areas of engineering focus. These topics range from the development of energy systems of the future, through next generation materials and microsystems to creating sustainable infrastructures. All reflect the challenges now facing the modern world.
Taught courses include MSc qualifications in Advanced Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering and Renewable and Sustainable Energy. We also offer the Doctor of Philosophy and the Master of Science by Research, which involve individualised training and require an extensive research project or thesis to be completed.
Teaching and supervision are provided by the Department’s subject specialists, who have an outstanding reputation for their expertise. An extensive range of facilities is available to support research work and we have strong and productive links with industry partners, ensuring that the research is relevant and applicable at this challenging yet exciting time to be in engineering.
The Department of Engineering features a number of modern dedicated teaching laboratories including the newly refurbished electrical laboratory. Other facilities include a wind tunnel, state-of-the-art clean rooms for experiments in very controlled environments and a geotechnical engineering laboratory.
An investment of more than £4 million has boosted the computing resources available, providing large memory and high-end processor machines for projects requiring major computer capacity.
Our students benefit from the Engineering Open Access area, which was built to facilitate both group work and individual projects.
The Department is located on the main campus at Lower Mountjoy, close to the centre of Durham and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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