Architectural Engineering MEng

Core modules:

Mathematics and Python Programming

This module aims to reinforce and extend students' previous knowledge of mathematics studied before university, and introduces the use of computer programming to solve engineering and mathematical problems. 

Mathematics is further taught to develop new basic mathematical techniques needed to support the engineering subjects taken at levels 1 and 2. It also provides a foundation for the level 2 mathematics courses in the department. Combined with the mathematics teaching, this module teaches the opensource programming language, Python, which can be used to efficiently solve a variety of practical scientific and numerical problems. 

A combination of formal lecture content, tutorials and assisted computer lab sessions, help the students learn and apply mathematical and programming theory. Practice problems are presented showing the links between mathematics and programming learning, to show how the skills learnt can solve practical problems of relevance to the students.

20 credits

Fundamental Engineering Science: Part 1

In conjunction with a similar module that runs in the Spring semester, this module will provide you with the fundamental knowledge and understanding that will underpin the rest of your mechanical engineering degree. This module focuses on statics, solid mechanics and manufacturing processes; you will learn about these topics from first principles and observe them as phenomena in the laboratory. You will then have the opportunity to apply them to a practical engineering problem in a separate, concurrent integrative project module.

20 credits

Fundamental Engineering Science: Part 2

In conjunction with a similar module that runs in the Autumn semester, this module will provide you with the fundamental knowledge and understanding that will underpin the rest of your mechanical engineering degree. This module focuses on dynamics, fluids, gases and thermofluids; you will learn about these topics from first principles and observe them as phenomena in the laboratory. You will then have the opportunity to apply them to a practical engineering problem in a separate, concurrent integrative project module.

20 credits

Design Project 1: Make and Break

 

Get ready to shape the future and build a better world from day one! This isn't just theory; it's where you'll dive straight into solving real-life problems and see your designs come to life with tangible results.

This dynamic first-year module introduces the essential knowledge and skills for 21st-century engineers. Through hands-on, interactive exercises, you'll develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, applying your practical maths and physics skills to real-world applications.

You'll explore concepts like systems thinking and risk management, and learn from case studies of iconic projects. We'll also spark your passion for sustainability, showing you how to design sustainable infrastructure and contribute to low-carbon construction.

You will work on exciting design challenges, and start to develop your project management skills. The highlight is a group practical project where you'll design, construct, and destructively test a physical structure.

20 credits

Design Project 2: Sustainable Buildings

This module is where you'll move from initial concepts to designing complex infrastructure that addresses real-world needs and shapes the built environment.

You'll begin with an intensive, interdisciplinary design project, to find a sustainable solution to an urgent societal problem. This immersive experience will rapidly advance your teamwork, detailed design, and communication skills.

Then, you'll dive into your main task: designing an entire building and its surrounding infrastructure. You'll synthesise your first-year engineering knowledge, informed by on-the-ground measurements, historical architectural precedents, and thorough site analysis. This is about creating holistic solutions that achieve a crucial balance of social, environmental, and economic needs.

You'll communicate your vision effectively using both hand sketching and computer-aided drawing in 2D and 3D. In this module you'll learn how to make a difference in communities and shape a better future for humanity and the planet.

20 credits

Architectural Humanities 01

The course explores the reciprocal relationship between architecture, landscapes, the built environment and society, introducing a broad range of inhabitations and domestic settings across the world and across time. Through a multidisciplinary and cross-cultural approach lectures will examine how humans have approached their needs for shelter and inhabitation, and the relationship between domestic types and public life, both in the past and in the present. The relationship of buildings to landscapes across a range of scales is explored. The course seeks to establish that architecture and landscapes are socially contextualised through style, symbolic references, typologies, use, materiality, meaning, structure, layout, and form, and also through the framing of human activities and rituals. By adopting a global approach the course engages with broader questions of locality, exchange, and adaptability.

The course examines how the field of architecture is positioned in relation to wider issues - in particular, climate breakdown. Neither architecture nor climate are simply technical phenomena: both are social, political, and cultural; both raise questions about resources, land, economics, labour, policy, infrastructure, and more. We will explore these entanglements starting from a series of building case studies, and moving outwards to explore the wider landscape, material and immaterial networks that constitute architecture and climate. You will begin to position yourself in relation to these and other networks, and reflect on how you might encounter them in your future. Lectures will relate the physical making of the modern world to political, social, and other constructions.

20 credits