Medical Engineering (Design and Innovation)

Entry requirements

Please see our website for further information on entry requirements for this course.

Months of entry

January, September

Course content

From CT scanners, X-ray and MRI machines, to pacemakers, defibrillators, stethoscopes and even spectacles, medical engineering has saved and enhanced lives, improving treatment and delivery for patients and medical practitioners alike. Our MSc prepares you for careers in this fascinating design discipline, inventing the next generation of ground-breaking medical devices. You’ll have the chance to work on a real project, gaining invaluable work experience via an optional internship. The course is led by Professor Peter Ogrodnik, a named inventor on numerous patents, who literally wrote the book on Medical Device Design, now a core text in R&D departments worldwide.

Why study Medical Engineering (Design and Innovation) at Keele University?
- Taught by staff with direct industry experience, including the manufacture and distribution of orthopaedic trauma devices through the spin-out company Intelligent Orthopaedics
- We offer wide and varied internship opportunities, giving you the chance to build your CV with practical industrial experience
- This programme is accredited by the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM)
- Strong links with industry with expert speakers and field trips previously, for example, to visit a manufacturer of sterilisation equipment and the biggest medical device trade fair, Medica
- Keele is ranked top 5 in England for Medicine (Times Good University Guide 2022) and top 20 in the UK for Pharmacology and Pharmacy (The Complete University Guide 2022)

Course summary
The global market for medical devices exceeded US $335 billion in 2021 with a growing demand for products and technological solutions to help combat problems associated with an ageing population, global pandemic and rise in the number of patients suffering chronic health conditions.

Our industry-focused MSc builds on our internationally-leading reputation for medical engineering and longstanding expertise in medical devices. Taking you to the next level of design competence, it will equip you with essential product design skills and the confidence to approach design problems as a professional engineering designer throughout the product development life cycle.

In the highly-regulated MedTech development industry, accuracy and safety sit at the heart of good engineering design – failure can cause serious harm to users and damage commercial prospects. Developing your understanding of the concepts that underpin medical device design, you’ll focus on the approval process from the beginnings of product ideation and initial concepts right through to testing and release to market.

You’ll learn to navigate complex industry standards and regulations with ease, while developing practical skills in the highly regulated environment of Medical devices design and development. You’ll also build a strong foundation in fundamental engineering concepts, such as fluid mechanics, design, materials and mathematical modelling.

You’ll be taught by staff with real world experience of developing and commercialising medical products, none more so than Course Director Professor Peter Ogrodnik, a world-leading expert in medical device design with over 20 years’ research experience and author of the core text in this area. Sold across Europe and the United States, his technological innovations have improved the treatment of fractures and spinal injuries for thousands of patients.

Based in the Guy Hilton Research Centre, you’ll have access to specialist Computer Aided Design (CAD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software; a fully-equipped validation and verification laboratory; and the local trauma hospital.

Excellent industry links provide opportunities to work on ‘live’ projects briefs and you’ll be encouraged to apply for an internship to gain valuable practical industrial experience. Previously, our students have helped determine seasonal trends for allergies in domestic environments, conducted sustainability assessments for a novel packaging material, and improved waste efficiency of a local sheet metal company.

Because the course develops your creative engineering design skills whilst maintaining the rigour of a highly regulated design environment, you’ll be able to transfer the skills and knowledge you develop into a range of industries. You could move into more general engineering design or associated careers, in intellectual property protection, as a patent lawyer, for example. Alternatively, you could pursue a career in technical sales and marketing, consultancy or corporate finance.

The research skills you gain provide excellent preparation for a PhD and can prove an ideal stepping-stone into research and development activities in either industry or in academia.

Information for international students

Please see our website for further information for international applicants for this course.

Fees and funding

Please see our website for further information on fees and funding for this course.