Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Mechanical Engineering

Summary

Engineers design the future. They provide innovative solutions to meet the needs of our modern world. From buildings and bridges, to apps and smart devices, to pharmaceuticals and renewable energy, engineering feats are everywhere.

The Bachelor of Engineering with Honours is a four-year professional degree. The degree is accredited by Engineering New Zealand, allowing our graduates to work as professionally qualified engineers all over the world.

Mechanical engineers design and develop everything that is moving or has moving parts - from airplanes to wind turbines to dishwashers, as well as everything from macroscopic (large) down to nanoscopic (very small). Mechanical engineers are systematic thinkers with a sense of social responsibility that leads them to constantly seek better ways of doing things.

Many mechanical engineers specialise in areas such as materials, dynamics and controls, product design, manufacturing, energy and thermodynamics, and mechanics. Others cross over into other disciplines, working on everything from artificial organs in bioengineering to enhancing the field of nanotechnology.

The mechanical engineer may design a component, a machine, a system or a process, and analyse their design using the principles of work, power, and energy to ensure the product functions safely, efficiently, reliably, and can be manufactured economically. Central to a mechanical engineer's role is the design and the use of information technology.

How do I plan my degree?

The Bachelor of Engineering with Honours requires a minimum of 480 points:

• 75 points of compulsory courses (plus two 0-point compulsory courses)
• 45 points of first-year engineering courses
• 360 points of engineering discipline courses.

The first year of the degree comprises nine courses (120 points), made up of six compulsory courses and three first-year courses, which vary depending on which Engineering discipline you want to specialise in. Find guidance online to structuring your first year to keep your options open if you are undecided on which discipline you wish to pursue.

The first year is followed by three years of study in one of the Engineering disciplines. Some disciplines also offer the opportunity to include a minor subject. Possible to the second year of the degree is limited and based on your performance in the first year.

All students must also complete 800 hours (approximately 100 days) of practical work placement.

Career opportunities

Mechanical Engineering graduates are well equipped to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world by applying their creativity, scientific principles and engineering skills to find solutions to technical problems. Mechanical engineers may work in areas such as:

• product design - design and analysis of tools, toys, sporting equipment, domestic appliances, computer-aided design, finite element analysis, environmental lifecycle of products
• power generation - wind and water turbines, internal combustion engines, fuels, alternative energy sources
• transport vehicles - cars, ships, aircraft, trains, unmanned vehicles
• medical technology - medical devices for operating theatres, implants, insulin control
• building services - heating, ventilation, air conditioning, energy use analysis, water treatment plants
• manufacturing - design, robots, assembly plants, industrial engineering, production management, minimization of waste, vibration and noise
• controls - automatic control of industrial plants, instrumentation, hydraulics, pneumatics
• materials - metallurgy, composites, polymers, structural failure, recycling.

The programme is internationally accredited, and our graduates have gone on to excel in leading technical innovation in many sub-fields.