Department of Engineering

Our School is an exciting place in which to learn, research and teach. We aim to provide an inspirational learning experience, underpinned by pioneering research and delivered by innovative and creative practitioners.  We believe strongly in the quality of the support we offer our students, employers and all our working partners which in turn has helped to establish a reputation for the quality and professionalism of our courses, our teaching, and our internationally recognised research. 

There are several different disciplines in the field of engineering. While all engineers work to problem-solve, engineers work to solve specific issues relevant to the field that they work within. The different engineering disciplines that the Department of Engineering cover include:

• Civil Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

The Department staff have expertise in such diverse areas as precision engineering, intelligent interfaces, systems engineering, and diagnostics. They bring energy and enthusiasm to their work, offering expertise in their fields. Their established industry links allow us to continually refresh and update our teaching and research activities, keeping pace with an ever changing and increasingly technological world.

We believe in the importance of professional skills and accredited qualifications to help our students rapidly advance in their chosen careers, many of our courses are accredited by their respective awarding body.

Research within the Department of Engineering

The School of Computing and Engineering boasts a vibrant and successful research environment, with over 180 academics and researchers actively engaged in ground-breaking research with real-world applications.

With activities over a range of computer science and engineering disciplines, we have a large portfolio of research and innovation projects supported by funding from, for example, UKRI (EPSRC, STFC and Innovate UK), the Royal Academy of Engineering, EU Horizon Programmes, and direct industry contracts. 

Our research environment is lively and collaborative.  Our Centre for Precision Technologies (CPT) is at the forefront of creating new measurement techniques, we apply novel techniques to real world problems. Highly innovative research and strong links with industry resulted in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) designating the CPT as a National Centre of Excellence in Advanced Metrology.

Research carried out in our Institute of Railway Research (IRR) has helped to improve the knowledge of the way in which railway vehicles interact with the track, including key performance aspects such as suspension performance, wheel-rail contact, traction, and braking. This research is leading to increased safety and reliability levels, reducing costs and improved performance of the railway system. The IRR was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2019.

Our Ion Beam Centre brings together the fields of innovative particle accelerator development and the use of particle accelerators for probing the properties of materials using the world-leading MIAMI and MEIS facilities at the University of Huddersfield.

The latest 2021 REF results show that the research carried out in the school has increased significantly in quality and impact as well as volume since the last assessment in 2014. This is a clear recognition of the excellent research that is now being carried out here and the impact it is having as well as the hard work that colleagues in the school have put into bidding for research funding and producing world class outputs.

The highlights:

✔️ In Engineering 50% of Impact was at 4* (‘World Leading’)!