Advanced Mechanical Engineering

Entry requirements

An upper second honours degree in engineering, or other relevant discipline, with a numerate background. Equivalent overseas qualifications will also be considered.

English language requirements

If your first language is not English, or your first degree was not taught in English, we’ll need to see evidence of your English language ability. The minimum requirement for English language is IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.

We offer a range of English language courses to help you meet the English language requirement prior to starting your masters programme:

• 20 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.0 with no skill lower than 4.5)
• 14 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.0 with minimum of 5.0 in writing and no skill lower than 4.5)
• 10 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.5 with no skill lower than 5.0)
• 6 weeks English (for IELTS 5.5 with no skill lower than 5.5)

Months of entry

January, September

Course content

Overview

MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering provides those of you with a bachelor-levels graduate in Mechanical Engineering to build upon your existing knowledge and skills in the area. For those of you from a different Engineering background, the programme offers you the opportunity to develop key Mechanical Engineering knowledge and skills required for your professional development. You’ll gain a deep understanding of the core engineering and science underpinning the Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing sector. The industry-relevant degree will provide you with an accredited route to become a Chartered Engineer.

During the master’s programme, you’ll gain a broad knowledge of the core components in Mechanical Engineering Sciences and practices, whilst developing an extensive, detailed, and critical knowledge and understanding of at least one specialist area within the subject. The flexible degree structure allows you to focus in on your specific interests within Advanced Mechanical Engineering. You’ll have the opportunity to choose courses from an extensive list, including engineering design, fluids, dynamics, renewable energy technologies, heat exchangers and heat transfer, robotic mechanical systems, and advanced thermodynamic applications.

The career-focused master’s programme will develop your technical, scientific, and managerial abilities, and provide you with a specialist education to set you up to become a professional Mechanical Engineer. Upon completion, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to prepare you for a wide range of technical and managerial careers across the sector, including roles in process and plant design, construction, commissioning, operation, management to specialist consultancy, and advanced research and development.

Our Expertise

Your learning will be informed by the expertise of our research-active mechanical engineers and academics.

96% of Heriot-Watt University’s engineering research was classed as world-leading in the REF 2021 review, which ranked us 1st in Scotland and 3rd in the UK for engineering research through a joint submission with the University of Edinburgh.

Our MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering is directly informed by the world class research carried out by Heriot-Watt’s Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering (IMPEE) research institute which focuses on promoting excellence across four main research themes:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Digital Engineering
• Energy Harvesting and Conversion
• Multiphase Flow

The research relevance of this postgraduate programme ensures your studies remain innovative and industry focused.

Your learning environment

The MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering programme is taught though a combination of lectures, tutorials, and laboratory practicals, allowing you to get to know and build relationships with your teaching staff, academics, and peers. You will be assessed by coursework, exams, and your dissertation, and will receive support and feedback throughout the programme.

During your studies, you’ll benefit from and have access to our specialist equipment, software and laboratories used by professional mechanical engineering, including machining and manufacturing facilities, an air conditioning unit, Marcet Boiler, high speed wind tunnel rig, wind tunnel for fluid mechanics and aerodynamics, 3D printer, and a uniaxial testing machine. You will have the opportunity to work on real-world problems, and work across disciplines to deliver practical solutions with global impact in our state-of-the-art GRID facility.

Outside of the classroom, you can join several Mechanical Engineering related societies including:

• Our satellite building society, CanSat in which you can build a satellite the size of a drink can and have the opportunity to complete at the AAS CanSat Competition,
• HWRacing to build and compete a car at the world-famous Formula Student Competition at Silverstone,
• Aero-Watt to build a fully autonomous plane for the IMechE UAS challenge,
• and IMechE Railway Challenge team where you’ll build a small-scale locomotive to compete in the national challenge.

Societies provide a fantastic opportunity to meet likeminded people, get involved in regular social events and networking events, and gain insights into career prospects in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and other relevant industries.

Customise your learning

You’ll have the opportunity to focus on the areas of mechanical engineering that interest you the most. You can customise your degree to match your specific interests or desired career pathway by studying five mandatory courses and choosing three further options from a suite of over 10 specialist mechanical engineering courses. You will choose optional courses from an extensive list, including fluids, dynamics, renewable energy technologies, heat exchangers and heat transfer, robotic mechanical systems, and advanced thermodynamic applications.

In semester three, you’ll undertake an extensive and specialised investigation into your chosen area of mechanical engineering through your dissertation. You’ll be required to demonstrate your mastery of the subject area by applying design and evaluation techniques to develop new insights and responses to current issues in mechanical engineering.

You can choose whether to study the programme full-time, part-time, or by course. This flexibility allows you to fit your postgraduate studies around your lifestyle. You can begin the programme either in January or September, based on your availability, and the full-time course will last 12 months full time or 24 months part time. If you decided to study part-time, you register for two courses per semester and progress to the dissertation at the end of your second year.  

You may have the opportunity to Go Global on our Inter-Campus Transfer. Opportunities for postgraduate study abroad are assessed on a case-by-case basis and if you are interested in studying at our Dubai campus or Malaysia campus for a semester or longer, you should contact the Go Global Team.  

Industry

We work closely with industry to ensure our course content is up-to-date and reflects the current and emerging needs of industry and employers. You’ll gain the right blend of knowledge, practical skills, and soft skills to set you up for life after graduation.  

Accreditation

This programme is accredited by IMechE. 

Students completing an IMechE accredited degree are deemed to have met part or all the academic requirements for registration as a Chartered or Incorporated Engineer and are in a strong position to move on to achieve professional engineering status after a period of initial professional development in industry.

Fees and funding

Scholarships and bursaries

We aim to encourage well-qualified, ambitious students to study with us and we offer a wide variety of scholarships and bursaries to achieve this. Over £6 million worth of opportunities are available in fee and stipend scholarships, and more than 400 students benefit from this support.

Our Postgraduate Scholarship for Academic Excellence in MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering offers a £1,000 tuition fee reduction.

View our full range of postgraduate scholarships.