Manufacturing Engineer Degree Apprenticeship

This module will introduce you to the fundamentals of electrical circuit theory and how to apply it to analyse simple electric circuits. The module will also introduce you to electromagnetic energy conversion and AC power.

The module is taught with lectures, seminars and related practical work. Your lectures will provide an explanation of principles and discussion of applications. Practical sessions will provide you an opportunity to develop practical skills through the use of laboratory setups that reinforce the lecture material.

This module introduces the range of mathematical skills that are relevant to an engineering degree. You revisit and develop your knowledge of the fundamentals of algebra, trigonometry and basic statistics. The central ideas of vectors, matrices, complex numbers, and differential and integral calculus are also examined.

Throughout the module you develop a range of mathematical skills and techniques fundamental to the solution of engineering problems. You also advance your skills in selecting and applying mathematical techniques.

This module is delivered through a combination of lectures and tutorial sessions.

Develop academic skills, work-based learning strategies and personal resilience for both the workplace and academic studies. Explore an area of engineering that influences your professional practice.

Investigate the philosophy, theory and key concepts of sustainable development in engineering. Explore the environmental and social impacts of engineering artefacts across their entire lifecycle – from design and construction, to use and disposal. Build essential professional and transferable skills through real-world experience in workplace teams, on-site training activities and simulated laboratory sessions.

Explore an area of theory that influences your practice, equipping you with the knowledge and skills to become an effective higher education work-based learner. Foster personal insight into learning and development, critically reflecting on your professional practice.

Enhance your mechanical engineering skills for success in both the academic and professional work environment, focusing on the fundamental principles of design methods and workshop practices. Learn how to create an engineered design, considering the organisational issues of managing a project.

This module introduces common types of structure used in engineering, assesses the types of loads they must resist and provides you with the analytical skills necessary to design the components that make up the structure.

Specific areas of study include: basic concepts of force, stress and strain; properties of materials and sections; analysis of frames, beams and columns; equilibrium conditions and statical determinacy; beam bending movement, shear force and deflection; and lightweight cables.

Lectures will introduce each major topic on the module with tutorials used to practise calculations. Laboratory practicals are used to investigate the properties of construction materials and develop a deeper understanding of structural theory.

The module is assessed by in-course assignment and an examination, comprising calculations and short answer questions on the module indicative content.

This module introduces the student to the basic principles of fluid mechanics, properties of fluids, hydrostatics, continuity equation, Bernoulli's equation, flow measurements, real flow in pipes, friction losses and momentum equation. It deals with the transfer of heat, energy for solids, liquids and gases. It explores the various mechanisms for this heat transfer and laws of thermodynamics, quantifies these mechanisms and applies them to mechanical systems, principally engines and compressors.

You look at the fundamental thermodynamics and operational characteristics of a range of engines and their components including gas turbines, jet engines, turbofans, turboshaft engines, ramjets, scramjets and rockets (which are used in aerospace applications) and torque power producing gas turbines (used in industrial and marine applications).

You explore the fundamental thermodynamics of engine operation, the equation for thrust calculations, Mach number, stagnation properties, shock waves, steady one dimensional flow, and analyses of flows through convergent and convergent-divergent nozzles. You learn how to calculate the performance and efficiencies of the engine and its components.

Components include burners and afterburners, compressors, turbine and nozzles. You also look at the calculation and analyses of flows through compressor and turbine blading stages, and fundamentals of rocket propulsion, trajectory analysis, and performance of solid and liquid rocket engines.

You attend a series of keynote lectures as well as problem-solving tutorials and practical investigations.

You develop mathematical knowledge in differential equations and numerical methods and extend your base of techniques to solve a variety of problems which arise in engineering domains. The emphasis is on developing competence in the identification of the most appropriate method to solve a given problem and its subsequent application.

Explore an area of theory that influences your practice, equipping you with the knowledge and skills to become an effective higher education work-based learner. Foster personal insight into learning and development, critically reflecting on your professional practice.

Document your work-based evidence, demonstrating teamwork to develop the key skills you need to plan and manage a project relevant to your role and appropriate to the apprenticeship standard. Enhance employability skills such as project management, presentation of work, research, and commercial awareness to support problem solving in a technical context. Use theoretical principles to create an engineered design item through group working activities. Employers are invited to contribute to the module delivery and support group tasks.

This module provides you with an insight into current manufacturing processes, promoting a deep understanding of technological factors and an awareness of working principles and capabilities. Traditional methods, such as casting and rolling are examined, together with state-of-the-art practices, such as powder metallurgy. You combine a detailed study of selected manufacturing processes with hands-on experience in laboratory-based practical sessions.

You review important aspects of current thinking, such as quality, reliability, sustainability, lean manufacturing and the extensive use of computers in many areas, to ensure an informed picture of modern manufacturing. You also explore the suitability of manufacturing processes for applications, using a framework that recognises the interrelationships of (manufacturing) process, (artefact) function, shape, and materials.

Mechanics of Materials is a branch of mechanics that studies the relationships between the external loads applied to a deformable body and the intensity of internal forces acting within the body. The subject also involves calculating the deformations of the body, and it provided a study of the body’s stability when the body is subjected to external loadings.

This module examines the essential theories and fundamental principles of mechanics of materials, and develops your knowledge, skills, and ability to apply them in mechanical analysis and design.

Develop academic skills, work-based learning strategies and personal resilience for both the workplace and academic studies. Explore an area of engineering that influences your professional practice.

Learn how to apply 3D solid modelling to product design using industry-standard software and create models with various methods, modifying them as needed. Gain a thorough understanding of computer modelling, applying these skills to design engineering components and products. Explore how to obtain the mass and other properties of models to create orthographic drawings from three dimensional models. Consider both static and dynamic hierarchical assemblies and their value to industry.

Today engineers use computers and software in the engineering design and simulation of most of the products, processes and systems that make up our lifestyles. In this module your knowledge of advanced techniques is developed for the computer-based analysis of designs and to use commercial software to solve more complex engineering problems. You gain a thorough understanding of computer methods for the analysis of detailed design and are introduced to the finite element analysis (FEA) nodes, elements and meshing techniques. Types of boundary conditions such as loads and constraints are explained including how to apply them. You learn how to solve FEA problems and analyse the results. Advanced techniques utilising adaptive and optimisation methods for solving complex engineering problems is also covered.

Engineers design, develop, construct and test devices and systems which operate on basic principles of dynamics and vibration. The development of reliable systems depends on the engineer’s understanding of the response of the system to externally applied loads. The system’s response can be predicted using models that may be analytical, numerical or mathematical in nature. The analysis of physical systems to predict their responses to loads is fundamental to the study of engineering mechanics. Dynamics is a branch of mechanics that studies the properties and behaviours of objects in motion.

This module will develop the advanced theory and the principles of mechanics of materials and apply them to the analysis of realistic engineering problems. Specific areas of study include: stress concentrations, inelastic deformation and residual stress under axial loading, torsion, and bending as well as transverse shear. Further studies will include introduction to failure theory, design of beams and shafts, deflection of beams and shafts, design of column; thick-walled cylinder and interference fits.

Lectures will introduce each major topic on the module emphasising both the conceptual and theoretical development as well as their applications to realistic engineering problems. Worked examples will be used in the study. Seminars will be utilised primarily for students to practice and to provide feedback.

This module extends the development of independent learning skills by allowing you to investigate an area of engineering or technology for an extended period.

You receive training in writing technical reports for knowledgeable readers and you produce a report or dissertation of the work covered. In addition, you give an oral presentation, a poster presentation or both. The topic can be in the form of a research project or a design project.

You develop key skills in research, knowledge application and creation through keynote lectures where appropriate and self-managed independent study. Support is provided through regular tutorial sessions.

Develop academic skills, work-based learning strategies and personal resilience for both the workplace and academic studies. Explore an area of engineering that directly or indirectly influences your professional practice.

The emergence of Industry 4.0, often referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, has been attributed to advancing automation, decentralisation, system integration and cloud computing. In the cyber-physical environment, machines can communicate, collect information, and make informed decisions through artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and industrial internet of things (IIoT). The evolution of Industry 4.0 has great potential to improve energy, equipment and human behaviour. At the same time, in the era of the so-called circular economy, businesses in all sectors are under huge pressure to make their manufacturing operations ethical and sustainable. Therefore, we must learn to adopt or implement the latest Industry 4.0 technologies.

Deepen your knowledge of sustainability themes including energy management and power systems, sustainable water and wastewater systems, sustainable transportation technologies, transitions to sustainable food systems, and mechanical manufacturing systems. Gain practical and transferable skills through working in teams, on-site training activities and simulated laboratory sessions.