MSc Engineering Management
1 Year Full-time | September Start

Academic skills when studying away from your home institution can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject area in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’.
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Discussing ethical issues in research, and analysing results.
• Describing bias and limitations of research.
• Developing self-reflection skills.

This module explores the fundamentals of sustainable and ethical development for engineering practitioners, considering the role and responsibility of the engineer within society. The module will consider the elements of sustainable development as they relate to decision making in engineering, for example, consideration of legislation, economics, energy, materials, environment, and society. The challenges engineering activities present society are examined, and ethical solutions for the future of our planet are sought through the use of various techniques and tools such as the triple bottom line, stakeholder analysis, the circular economy, carbon footprint, material and energy supply chains and risk. A rational argument for sustainable solutions will be presented using both qualitative and quantitative data sources and tools using a wide range of published literature and from students’ own experience.

This module relates the world of business and management to engineering design. You will develop a business model that exploits an open-ended concept for the start of a small business based around the development of a product. You will learn the importance of creative collaboration with your peers to develop these concepts and apply knowledge of engineering management principles within the context of commercial enterprise. You will explore and evaluate the use of risk management tools and techniques to mitigate the effects of uncertainty associated with entrepreneurial activities and start-up businesses.

You will be developed to obtain essential knowledge and skills in quality management, an important aspect of engineering management. You will learn how to make sound decisions for quality management challenges through learning about and practising topics such as: quality definition; standards and frameworks; quality tools; quality in the supply chain and manufacturing systems. You will also learn to practise planning and lean manufacturing principles, e,g, scheduling, benchmarking, inventory management systems and measures, 7 wastes; Just-in-Time tools (e.g. Kanban).

In this module you will learn about how an engineering organisation operates financially, short term management of projects and longer term strategic planning to enable responsible financial stability. How an organisation may be created from intellectual property, fund both day-to-day operations and finance development projects for long term growth whilst operating as a socially responsible organisation.
You will learn how to evaluate information relating to the commercial, financial and strategic objectives of an engineering company, for example, through statuary, commercial, promotional and technical publications. Critical analysis will enable you to appraise the operation of the company against prevailing conditions within an engineering management context. You will design solutions to complex problems which balance societal, user, business and customer needs within a framework of legal, professional, ethical, risk management and security needs.

Analysis of data is an important task in many disciplines. Trends, correlation of variables, quality control and minimisation of hazardous events are some examples of application of data analysis. You will learn to analyse a range of engineering management problems, and you will build appropriate probabilistic models to support and arrive at sound decisions for non-trivial problems with the aid of computer software tools. You will learn about topics such as: the application of mathematical techniques to engineering management data analysis problems, modelling of parameters involving uncertainty using a range of probability density functions, e.g. normal and beta distributions, Probabilistic modelling of engineering problems using software tools, integrating technicality into decision making support incorporating techno-economic, risk and other criteria, justification for a defensible solution under uncertainty and multiple criteria and documentation, presenting options using technical data, arguments for justifiable and defensible solutions to nontrivial problems.

You will learn to work both independently, and in a group environment, to develop knowledge, skills, and awareness essential to complex-problem-solving research and innovation in relevant engineering subjects. You will learn through the practice of identification of need, research planning including research idea generation and proposal development. You will learn to plan and carry research responsibly, assessing risks and constraints analysis in legislation, security, economics, energy, materials, equipment, health safety and environmental impact. You will also learn to make appropriate choices when executing your research investigation, for example, developing essential skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods that can be employed to achieve your designed aims and objectives.

You will learn to work independently, perform systems thinking, and bring together your specialist knowledge and skills within a research and development project. You will work with the guidance of a tutor to direct your learning and develop your abilities in areas such as project planning and management, detailed design of the proposed method, prototype fabrication or virtual system modelling and critical evaluation and identification of further developments. You will be provided with the opportunity to demonstrate to potential future employers the breadth and depth of your ability by not only using your specialist abilities, but also through the demonstration of your planning, organisational and independent working skills. You will be expected to incorporate unfamiliar knowledge as well as the wider social and environmental considerations of the engineering profession.