Each unit studied will be delivered via a combination of lectures and workshop/laboratory activities by outstanding industry experienced staff with a range of specialisms that will connect your learning to the world of employment.
Class contact hours are based on approximately seven hours on your day of study at the centre but you will be required to undertake a substantial amount of self-study to supplement the class based activities.
Units to be studied in Y1:
Engineering Maths:
Students will be introduced to mathematical methods applicable to the engineering industry and statistical techniques in order to analyse and solve problems within an engineering context. You will interpret data using statistical techniques, and use analytical and computational methods to evaluate and solve engineering problems.
Engineering Science:
Engineering is a discipline that uses scientific theory to design, develop or maintain structures, machines, systems, and processes. Among the topics included in this unit are: international system of units, interpreting data, static and dynamic forces, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, material properties and failure, and A.C./D.C. circuit theories.
Automation, Robotics and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s)
We are all now very familiar with the sight of dancing robots, not only in the production of cars but in everything from washing machines to pharmaceuticals. As a result of this technology the products we purchase may have never been touched by human hands and we all benefit from a reduction in costs and improvement in quality. On completion of this unit you will be able to be able to program PLCs androbotic manipulators to achieve a set task. You will also be able to program industrial robots with commands.
Electrical & Electronic Principles
Electrical engineering is mainly concerned with the movement of energy and power in electrical form, and its generation and consumption. Electronics is mainly concerned with the manipulation of information, which may be acquired, stored, processed or transmitted in electrical form. Both depend on the same set of physical principles, though their applications differ widely. As a student you will gather a wide-ranging grasp of the underlying principles of electrical and electronic circuits and devices, and will be able to proceed with confidence to further study.
Units to be studied in Y2:
Engineering Design:
The tremendous possibilities of the techniques and processes developed by engineers can only be realised by great design. Design turns an idea into a useful artefact, the problem into a solution, or something ugly and inefficient into an elegant, desirable and cost effective everyday object. Within this unit you will prepare an engineering design specification that satisfies stakeholders’ requirements.
Managing a Professional Engineering Project:
The responsibilities of an engineer go far beyond completing the task at hand. Engineering involves reflecting on their role in a wider ethical, environmental and sustainability context. This unit introduces students to the techniques and best practices required to successfully create and manage an engineering project designed to identify a solution to an engineering need. It is designed to challenge your decision making and reasoning and professional skills as you present your final project.
Renewable Energy:
With the increasing concerns regarding climate change arising from increasing carbon dioxide levels and other adverse environmental impacts of industrial processes, there are widespread economic, ethical, legislative and social pressures on engineers to develop technologies and processes that have reduced carbon and environmental impact. On successful completion of this unit students will be able to determine the optimum combination of renewable energy technologies, and evaluate their efficiencies, considering political, legal and socio-economic factors that influence the selection of appropriate technologies.
Electronic Circuits and Devices:
Electronics is all around us today: in our homes, the workplace, cars and even on or in our bodies. It’s hard to believe that it was only in 1947 that the transistor was developed by American physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. The invention of the transistor paved the way for cheaper radios, calculators and computers. The knowledge gained from this unit will allow you will be able to determine the operational characteristics of amplifier circuits, investigate the types and effects of feedback on an amplifier’s performance, examine the operation and application of oscillators and apply testing procedures to electronic devices and circuits.
*All units are subject to change across each academic year.