I would like to welcome you on coming to study one of the Mechanical Engineering courses at Canterbury Christ Church University. All Mechanical Engineering courses will focus on building a clear understanding of the applied engineering science in relation to mechanical and electrical systems whether you are studying our Mechanical Engineering with Foundation Year course, our Mechanical Engineering (Advance Manufacture) with Foundation Year course or our Mechanical Engineering Systems (Building Services) with Foundation Year course.

Dr Atif Rasheed
Course Director

Key dates

Course start date: 16 September 2024

Academic Calendar: Semesters

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.  

Welcome and induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Welcome

This is a subject that offers many exciting and fulfilling career opportunities and has been designed with input from industry to meet a skills gap in:

  • Using mechanical engineering to develop sustainable solutions from transport problems to waste recycle processing.
  • Advanced manufacturing engineering using industry 4.0.
  • Systems development, integration and management of electro-mechanical systems.
  • Building services such as design and development of semi-automated or automated manufacturing of building parts/buildings.

We can proudly say that this is a very friendly place to study, so I believe you will have an enjoyable and productive time with us. Our motto is "Don’t be afraid to ask questions and always do ask questions", we are here to support your personal and professional development in engineering, employability skills and enable you to graduate as an engineer.

Getting started

The course integrates the CDIO approach and focuses on practical and applied projects, where possible these will be adopted from industry.

With the focus on practical work and hands-on skill, all modules will make use of the ‘flipped classroom’ model to deliver the elements of the course material. Here you will be provided with structured on-line activities on the virtual learning environment prior to your classes. As a result, your class time can focus on group activities, group problem-solving work and formative feedback to scaffold your learning and personalised support.

This means that you get to spend more time “doing science”, something that makes learning more effective and exciting.

The Mechanical Engineering team at Canterbury Christ Church University are committed to developing you to be a graduate who is intellectually curious, skilled and ethically engaged with the world and its future. The course of study aims to provide you with a transformative experience and opportunity to develop your critical and imaginative thinking and compassionate responsibility.

Entrants on all the BEng Mechanical Engineering courses with Foundation year (Level 0), will develop the core knowledge and understanding of:

  • Physics
  • Engineering concepts
  • Computer Programming
  • Maths and statistics
  • Materials
  • Higher Education (HE) study skills

Each Semester, you will study three different modules covering different areas of Engineering.

Foundation Year Core Modules

Semester 1:

  • Mathematics for Engineers
  • General Engineering Science Skills
  • Fundamentals of Physics

Semester 2:

  • Fundamentals of Engineering
  • Fundamentals of Materials
  • Fundamentals of Computer Programming

Upon completion of Level 0, you can progress to Level 4.

Suggested Reading:

You might find it useful to read these resources before starting your course.

Community

You may wish to keep track of what we are doing in the Faculty by following us on our Faculty Instagram!

Your welcome and induction will be w/c 16th September 2024 - we look forward to meeting you then.

On the social side, the Student Union (CCSU) has a huge range of clubs and societies – all of which have unique social calendars of their own and offer endless opportunities to make lifelong friends and discover new hobbies. And you can always create your own society and cultivate your own community!

CCSU will be hosting their Welcome Fayre on Wednesday 18th September 2024. Make sure you keep checking the CCSU website for further details and how to get involved.

We understand that you may be nervous about your first few weeks on campus but rest assured - you'll be joining a nurturing and supportive environment where diversity, equality and individuality are part of everything we do.

You can find out more about our welcoming community and making friends here at CCCU.

If you are an International Student joining us then please see our International Student Support pages for further information and guidance.

Pre-course reading

Fundamentals of Computer Programming

  • Monk, S, (2011), Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches, McGraw-Hill Education Tab, ISBN: 9780071784221
  • Margolis, M., (2011). Arduino Cookbook: Recipes to Begin, Expand, and Enhance Your Projects. O’Reilly Media, Inc., USA. Print-ISBN-13: 978-1449313876

Mathematics for Engineers

  • Stroud, K. A., Booth, D. J. (2013). Engineering mathematics. Palgrave Macmillan. Print-ISBN: 9781137031204
  • Bird, J. (2017) Engineering Mathematics, 8th Edition, Routledge, London, ISBN-Print: 978-1138673595

General Engineering Science

  • Boyle, J & Ramsay, S. 2017. Writing for Science Students. Palgrave Study Skills, Palgrave, London.
  • Cottrell, S. 2013. The Study Skills Handbook. Palgrave Study Skills, Palgrave, London.
  • Croft, A & Davison, R. 2010. Foundation Maths 5thEdn., Pearson Education Ltd., Harlow.
  • Stroud, KA with Booth, DJ. 2013. Engineering Mathematics 7thEdn., Palgrave, London.

Fundamental of Physics

  • Breithaupt, J. (2015) Physics. 4thEd. Palgrave, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., London.
  • Tillery, BW., Enger, ED. & Ross, FC. (2013). Integrated Science. 6thEd., McGraw-Hill, New York.
  • Katz, DM. (2017) Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Foundations and Connections with Modern Physics. Cengage Learning, Boston.

On-line books

  • Moebs, W., Ling, SJ. & Sanny, J. (2016). University Physics Volumes 1–3, Found on: Openstax.org/science, Fundamentals of drawing
  • Henry, K. (2012) Drawing for Product Designers (Portfolio Skills), Laurence King Publishing ISBN-Print: 978-1856697439

On-line books

  • Eissen, K. (2013) Sketching: The Basics, Amsterdam: BIS. ISBN-Print: 978-9063692537
  • Eissen, K. (2013) Sketching: Drawing Techniques for Product Designers, Amsterdam: BIS. ISBN-Print: 978-9063691714
  • Omura, G., Benton, B.C., (2017). Mastering Autocad 2018 and Autocad LT2018, Wiley, ISBN: 978-1-119-38679-7
  • Parada, A. (2013) Product Sketches: From Rough to Refined, Amsterdam: BIS. ISBN-Print: 978-9063693091
  • Sauders, M. B. Skills for Freehand Sketching: Architects, Engineers and Art Students, MBS Publishing, ASIN: B077DB2P9Z
  • Slade, R. (2016) Sketching for Engineers and Architects London: Routledge. ISBN-Print: 978-1138925403

Online resources

  • The Design Sketchbook
  • Fundamental of Physical Chemistry for Engineers
  • C.E. Housecroft, E.C. Constable, Chemistry: An Introduction to Organic, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, 4th Edition, Pearson, 2010.
  • F.R. Foulkes, Physical Chemistry for Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2012.
  • Atkins, Physical Chemistry, 7th Edition, Oxford University Press,
  • Lewis, and W. Evans, Chemistry, 4th edition, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.

Websites

Fundamentals of Engineering

  • W.Bolton. (2006). Engineering Science. 5TH edition, ISBN-Print: 9780750680837
  • Johnson,S.Hewett,S.Holt, J.Miller. (2015). Advanced Physics for You. 2nd edition

Fundamentals of Materials

  • Ashby, M.F., Shercliff, H. and Cebon, D., (2019). Materials Engineering, Science, Processing and Design. Butterworth-Heinemann, ISBN-Print: 9780081023761 CALLSITER, W.D. and RETHWIS
  • Callister, W.D. and Rethwisch D.G., (2015). Materials Science and Engineering. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN-Print: 9781118319222

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

If you have any queries, please feel to contact the Foundation Year Engineering Team at

Foundation.FSESS@canterbury.ac.uk

Course Director Dr. Azza Mahmoud

azza.mahmoud@canterbury.ac.uk