Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

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Warks mum
Posts: 538
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:30 am
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by Warks mum »

DH has a similar experience to Tinkers B'ham one... He set up a project with Warwick University's Engineering Department where some second-year engineering students helped with various aspects of a project. It required plenty of creative input. A couple were excellent and made a really positive contribution to the project, above and beyond that expected. Others, sadly, couldn't apply what they had learnt in the lecture hall in a 'real world' environment.

It was quite an eye-opener for DH as he'd expected a similar standard from all those on the prestigious Warwick Engineering course!
moose
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Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 1:59 pm
Location: North London

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by moose »

Hi,
I would really appreciate some comments on Chemical Engineering. My son is just in the process of filling the application form and it would be great to hear some opinions. His choices are as follows: Leeds, Manchester, Bath, Surrey and Newcastle. Any opinions about Loughborough for Chemical Engineering? Also, is it better to do BEng and then top it up with Postgraduate Masters or MEng (also in terms of finances).
Which of the above unis give more practical experience?
Thank you.
tense
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Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by tense »

I was feeling quite disheartened reading this thread, but later posts have cheered me up a little!

My DD wants to do engineering & is 'suffering' from some family members thinking her choice of unis is poor. My mother cannot understand why anyone (with potentially good enough grades) would not apply to Oxford. I'm pleased that not all employers think only Oxbridge / Russell Group applicants are worth considering.
sbarnes
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:30 pm

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by sbarnes »

If you read my original posts, I did mention Coventry University; it's an excellent institution for mech engineering.
KenR
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Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by KenR »

Adding my 10p worth (and as someone who is a C.Eng and used to work in automotive and aerospace) - one of the issues with the undergraduate Mech engineering curriculum in many top universities is that they often concentrate on the theoretical and avoid giving students practical access to most propriety CAD and NC software products used extensively throughout the industry.

(I personally find this frustrating and very short sighted - no wonder many young people prefer apprenticeships)

So for example, there are hardly any Mech Eng B.Sc degree courses where undergraduate would be able to get hands-on experience of CATIA V5 CAD software which is used by most top Automotive and Aerospace companies.

There are really only 3 ways round the problem:-

1. Take a 4 year degree with a 1 year industrial placement
2. Take a 1 year M.Sc in advanced mechanical Engineering with a University that provide hands-on skills in the latest proprietry software (e.g. Warwick or Cranfield)
3. Try to get a paid internship during the long summer holidays where students will get some experience.

3. Is very difficult although not impossible - it helps if you go to a Univ with good links to industry (Warwick, Brunel) - Jaguar/Land Rover have strong links with Warwick
2. Is expensive unless you get sponsorship (again Univ links may help)
1. Is probably the best bet but only if the industrial placement provides the right skills (sadly not all industrial placements are top quality - again University Mech Eng departments with good links to industry helps)
solimum
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Joined: Wed May 09, 2007 3:09 pm
Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by solimum »

moose wrote:Hi,
I would really appreciate some comments on Chemical Engineering. My son is just in the process of filling the application form and it would be great to hear some opinions. His choices are as follows: Leeds, Manchester, Bath, Surrey and Newcastle. Any opinions about Loughborough for Chemical Engineering? Also, is it better to do BEng and then top it up with Postgraduate Masters or MEng (also in terms of finances).
Which of the above unis give more practical experience?
Thank you.
Some info from a contact who does a lot of work with chemical engineers:

A great choice of subject! There’s lots of information about chemical engineering at http://www.whynotchemeng.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and details of universities offering the subject at http://www.icheme.org/membership/accred ... ities.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Loughborough puts an emphasis on practical experience, but so do others – some of the questions to ask are: do you get a chance to have an industry placement year or semester? That can be a valuable (and usually paid) experience. Would you prefer a course that’s closely linked to (say) chemistry, or one where you do a common engineering first year then choose which branch of engineering to specialise in? What exposure would you get to industry e.g. through visiting lecturers, site visits? What’s the class size – would you prefer a smaller department or a large one like Imperial or Manchester? And of course the usual questions – campus university or a city-centre one? Small town or big city? Entry grades?

Employers prefer MEng to BEng, so a (typically) 4 year integrated MEng is good to go for. £9k x 4 years plus living costs means a big debt, but the starting salaries are good – higher according to the Times league table than any subject apart from dentistry – and employability is high.
There are numerous LinkedIn and Facebook groups set up by IChemE members so if you post there, you should get some comments from alumni of various universities.
Tinkers
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Location: Reading

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by Tinkers »

I don't know any engineers from Oxbridge, and I know a lot of engineers.

As for chem eng, it's been a while since I did mine, but all those unis look fine to me.

Can't comment on finances, but definitely an MEng is a very good idea, both from employment and getting chartered. I was one of the first to do a 5 year MEng course with industrial experience.
solimum
Posts: 1420
Joined: Wed May 09, 2007 3:09 pm
Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by solimum »

Tinkers wrote:I don't know any engineers from Oxbridge, and I know a lot of engineers.

.
I know a couple! :

One (from years ago) is now a self-employed plumber/handyman, but I remember him as initially very successful with early CAD/CAM in a small firm at the Cambridge Science Park. An eccentric but entertaining individual !

Another is a female friend of my DS2, one of those from the local comp I mentioned in the Oxbridge thread who went to CHG for 6th form, and is now really enjoying her graduate job with a major highways engineering firm.

But yes there are plenty of excellent places to study engineering, and many people have very good and valid reasons for choosing somewhere other than Oxford or Cambridge
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by Guest55 »

KenR you will be pleased to know that my son's degree includes 3D Solidworks and CATIA.
moose
Posts: 304
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 1:59 pm
Location: North London

Re: Engineering - Birmingham, Bath, Loughborough and Warwick

Post by moose »

Thank you Solimum. I have forwarded it to my son.
He has just crossed out Surrey in favour of Laughborough. I was hoping for a few closer to home choices.:(( We are in London.
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