Careers and Employability

We run degree programmes that produce talented graduates with strong academic and scientific competences, aligned to the needs of industry on a local, national and global level.

The Department is amongst a small number of general engineering departments in the UK. Engineering is viewed as an integrated subject and students are given opportunities to develop a diverse technical grounding during their degree courses. We believe this overarching understanding of engineering and how engineers work together, not only provides wider knowledge but also equips graduates to be leaders in their fields.

The Department is closely linked to many industrial partners for both teaching and research purposes, which ensures that graduates are best placed to apply their learning on entry to the working environment.

Work Experience

We have a close working relationship with the University's Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre (CEEC) and a dedicated Academic Careers Contact for Engineering. Work experience and placement opportunities are advertised to the students both via the CEEC resources and internally within the Department on our DUO pages. The following activities take place within the Department each year to advertise work placement and graduate recruitment opportunities:

• Multi-employer careers fairs
• Company graduate visits
• Internship opportunities advertised
• Placement recruitment presentations

On average there are 10 companies per year that visit for individual presentations, plus the Careers Service provide advisory talks to penultimate year students and mock interviews.

Our students also benefit from an active Industrial Partnership Committee which currently has representation from approximately 20 local, national and international companies, with the Committee forming a direct link between the Department and employers. Its objectives include ensuring that students are given the best possible opportunities in terms of industrial placements and graduate employment.

Professional accreditation

We offer MEng and BEng undergraduate degree courses in Engineering. These engineering degrees are fully accredited by:

• The Institution of Civil Engineers (Civil Engineering discipline)
• The Institution of Structural Engineers (Civil Engineering discipline)
• The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (Civil Engineering discipline)
• The Institute of Highway Engineers (Civil Engineering discipline)
• The Permanent Way Institution (Civil Engineering discipline)
• The Institution of Engineering and Technology
• The Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• The Royal Aeronautical Society (MEng Aeronautical discipline)

The MEng programmes satisfy the academic base for a Chartered Engineer under the provisions of UK-SPEC. The BEng programmes fulfil the educational requirements but a matched section is required for full chartered engineer status.