Course description
Course structure
Core modules include Manufacturing Systems, CAD/CAM, Finite Element Analysis, Manufacturing Process Technology and Production Management.
Careers
Graduates can look forward to a range of employment opportunities, including the interfacing of computer peripherals and machines, the combination of such machines to form flexible manufacturing systems and integration with design and manufacturing functions.
Industrial experience
On this Master's degree you'll complete an industrially-related project. This, along with the involvement of industrialists, practitioners and academics in the delivery of this course, ensures that it is relevant to the demands of the process manufacturing industries.
Intermediate awards
Our master's degrees can lead to the award of a postgraduate certificate at Stage 1 (60 credits - 3 modules), a postgraduate diploma at Stage 2 (120 credits - 6 modules) or, on completion of a research project, the MSc.
Block release study
The course is available on a block release basis: you'll study for one week between 9.00am and 6.00pm with follow-up days in the next four weeks and accompanying assignment work.
This course has been designed in response to the increasing demand for staff capable of playing a leading role in the rapid expansion of advanced manufacturing systems (AMS) engineering.
More information
Stage 1
Introduction and Professional Studies
This module is designed to introduce you to the issues related to studying beyond undergraduate level. It applies to students on taught postgraduate courses and those who are embarking on a programme of research. The module encompasses issues such as enrolment, health and safety, using Blackboard, report writing and referencing, ethics, plagiarism, time management and numerical techniques. You will also examine discipline specific areas pertinent to your pathway, which will offer you a particular grounding, skills base or understanding required at the early stage of your study. You will be introduced to personal development planning, by keeping a formal log book.
CAD/CAM and Product Development
This module provides knowledge of time compression technologies to enable design and delivery of innovative products and reduce time to market. It includes a study of rapid prototyping and production development techniques alongside a review of collaborative product development and concurrent design engineering strategies using 3-D modelling to minimise manufacturing lead time. You will be introduced to various software packages. You are encouraged to take a critical view of these packages and consider their integration with other systems.
Manufacturing Systems
This module considers typical hardware and software involved with automated machinery and production processes. It will show you how machines can be integrated into flexible cells and flexible manufacturing systems and, when linked with appropriate production management software, into computer integrated manufacturing systems.
Stage 2
Finite Element Analysis
This module provides practical experience of using commercially available finite element packages. The application of the method is demonstrated using a number of case studies. You are encouraged to use the technique as an extension of your standard text books in solving design and manufacturing problems.
Manufacturing Process Technology
This module provides you with an understanding of machining processes and products to enable you to select the correct cutting inserts for a given work piece material. You will also be presented with the methods available for tool selection with the standards currently available. The module goes on to identify the types of wear mechanisms which will lead to tool failure.
Production Management
This module provides you with an understanding of the processes involved in managing aspects of an engineering project. It seeks to develop your understanding of project management as a specific discipline related to, but distinct from, continuous or general management. It also aims to help you understand and then specify, as exactly as possible, what must be achieved in terms of time, quality, performance and cost.
Stage 3
Research Project
This is the culmination of the programme of studies. You will undertake a challenging problem related substantially to your discipline. The project is linked where possible to an industrial or external partner organisation, which may even host your work and substantially direct the activity. Where this is not possible, a real or simulated real problem may be chosen as subject for the work. It is, however, expected that even where the problem is simulated or hypothetical, it will be treated as if real. The project outcomes project should be at a publishable standard.
