Our flexible product design degree gives you the skills, project experience and professional networks to succeed in the field of product design engineering. With the flexibility to study a three-year BEng, or a four-year MEng, our product design engineering course gives you the skills, practical experience and confidence to develop your creative vision into real working products.
Using industry-standard software and hardware, you’ll learn the ins and outs of product design engineering and physical computing, while you develop the skills you need to combine aesthetic functionality with innovative technology, using the latest industry software and hardware equipped in our labs and workshops.
You’ll also get the work experience, advice, feedback and encouragement you need to start building your professional portfolio – and gain a competitive edge when it comes to launching your career.
You’ll enhance your career prospects through our guest lectures and live projects, graduate degree show, and the option of a year long work placement. Our London location gives you access to some of the UK’s most prestigious design companies – and our weekly guest lectures give you the chance to further enhance your industry knowledge and build contacts with some of the industry’s leading design experts.
From your second year, you’ll have the option to switch to the creative (BA) route or to remain on the more technological (BEng/MEng) path for the remainder of your studies. If you’re applying for our four-year MEng course, you’ll begin work on your master's qualification as soon as you successfully finish your undergraduate study.
While you’re learning, you’ll be matched with a Personal Tutor directly related to your course. You’ll also get support from our Student Learning and Graduate Academic Assistants, who have experience in your subject area.
You’ll graduate with the skills and experience you need to start a career in a wide-range of sectors, from industrial design and experimental design to creative technology and product design.
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You will develop a range of techniques across studio based design and engineering processes, prototyping and traditional workshop methods, physical computing, computer aided design and analysis and manufacturing techniques. The design discourse strand will help you to understand design in its wider context and to recognise its place in the cultural landscape.
You will learn to design and engineer a wide range of products across: consumer durables, lighting, furniture, smart products, sports and leisure products, and toys and games, emphasising the technology and detail design. You will also examine design issues relating to: design strategy, human factors, marketing, product semantics, sustainable design, CAD visualisation and simulation, advanced manufacturing, rapid prototyping and contextual design studies.
Our professional learning environment encourages you to develop a commercial approach to design. This happens through taking part in work placements and also through supporting live projects with industry partners.
Product Design Engineering is a practice-based programme, and is focussed on employability experience. Modules build technical skills and/or practice skills. Year 1 builds these through hands-on exercises and mini-projects. Year 2 develops the depth and range of these skills and adds ‘Live’ experiences with industrial or external collaborators in a range of Product Design and Engineering sectors.
The Placement Year extends this by allowing you to go out to work directly in a design and/or engineering practice or practices. The final year combines external project experience with a self-initiated final project, which acts as a calling card for future employment and integrates and coheres all the previous experiences at the highest level.
The course will help you develop the theoretical and practical skills, experiences and attitudes to enter the professional world as an employment ready Product Designer Engineer across a wide range of sectors and emerging practices.
This module introduces the core skills in design and studio practice. The focus of the module is on developing both an intellectual awareness and a practical application of design process methods, ideas generation and communication techniques and creative conversations
This module introduces the core skills in prototyping. The focus of the module is developing confidence in an awareness and practical application of prototyping techniques appropriate for different stages of the design process.
This module offers you an introduction to core computing skills for design practice. It enables you to develop skills in CAD modelling, design visualisation, design communication and product prototyping. It introduces strategies for engaging with distributed communities or practice and developing an online presence.
This module provides the opportunity for you to develop your design knowledge, practice and experiences and to apply your design skills through workshops and selected external collaborative projects covering a range of sectors. You will focus on deepening theory, process and contextual knowledge, and applying that knowledge in responding to complex briefs.
This module equips designers with the prototyping tools and approaches to enable them to successfully engage in technical prototyping activity to develop, test and validate design proposals. The module will develop your capability to analyse design problems, to develop effective prototyping strategies and approaches and to select appropriate and accessible technologies
This module develops your design engineering skills and advanced CAD/CAM capabilities. It focuses on analytical skills and engineering tools that enable you to create successful products by providing knowledge and understanding of design for manufacture, design validation and optimisation techniques.
This is a new module and the description will become available shortly.
This module provides the opportunity for you to synthesise your design project experiences, and to develop your practice to a professional level, through selected external collaborative projects and through the generation of your Final Major Project. The focus of all projects is on various forms of innovation.
This module develops your design research, strategic planning, theoretical background, and contextual and commercial framework for your Final Major Project and your personal practice. You will prepare and publish a range of technical and contextual texts, and a professional and personal reflection upon your project work
The Design Manifestation module continues the making experiences from Year 1 & 2 modules to develop a high level of technical capability and an equivalent level of reflective practice sensitivity. It interweaves with the final year modules to create a coherent and supportive final year experience which will prepare them for their chosen future. The module will equip final year students with: - the understanding and experience of HOW to evolve great ideas and manifest them in appropriate and high-quality ways. - the ability to consider WHY the manifestation process they pursue is best suited to them, their project, their practice and the wider world. - the confidence to engage with challenges early in an active, exploratory and open manner, and to apply their knowledge and experiences in effective ways.
This module introduces the core skills in design and studio practice. The focus of the module is on developing both an intellectual awareness and a practical application of design process methods, ideas generation and communication techniques and creative conversations
This module introduces the core skills in prototyping. The focus of the module is developing confidence in an awareness and practical application of prototyping techniques appropriate for different stages of the design process.
This module offers you an introduction to core computing skills for design practice. It enables you to develop skills in CAD modelling, design visualisation, design communication and product prototyping. It introduces strategies for engaging with distributed communities or practice and developing an online presence.
This module provides the opportunity for you to develop your design knowledge, practice and experiences and to apply your design skills through workshops and selected external collaborative projects covering a range of sectors. You will focus on deepening theory, process and contextual knowledge, and applying that knowledge in responding to complex briefs.
This module equips designers with the prototyping tools and approaches to enable them to successfully engage in technical prototyping activity to develop, test and validate design proposals. The module will develop your capability to analyse design problems, to develop effective prototyping strategies and approaches and to select appropriate and accessible technologies.
This module develops your design engineering skills and advanced CAD/CAM capabilities. It focuses on analytical skills and engineering tools that enable you to create successful products by providing knowledge and understanding of design for manufacture, design validation and optimisation techniques.
This is a new module and the description will become available shortly.
This module provides the opportunity for you to synthesise your design project experiences, and to develop your practice to a professional level, through selected external collaborative projects and through the generation of your Final Major Project. The focus of all projects is on various forms of innovation.
This module develops your design research, strategic planning, theoretical background, and contextual and commercial framework for your Final Major Project and your personal practice. You will prepare and publish a range of technical and contextual texts, and a professional and personal reflection upon your project work.
The Design Manifestation module continues the making experiences from Year 1 & 2 modules to develop a high level of technical capability and an equivalent level of reflective practice sensitivity. It interweaves with the final year modules to create a coherent and supportive final year experience which will prepare them for their chosen future. The module will equip final year students with: - the understanding and experience of HOW to evolve great ideas and manifest them in appropriate and high-quality ways. - the ability to consider WHY the manifestation process they pursue is best suited to them, their project, their practice and the wider world. - the confidence to engage with challenges early in an active, exploratory and open manner, and to apply their knowledge and experiences in effective ways.
This module aims to contextualise, exemplify and consolidate the analytical and technical knowledge and skills in relevant subject areas through a complex engineering team project. It will provide you with the opportunity to develop your competence in working in a team through the holistic product development process and the formal project management approach.
This is a new module and the description will become available shortly.
This is a new module and the description will become available shortly.
This is a new module and the description will become available shortly.
See the course specification for more information:
Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.
Product Design Engineering graduates enter employment in a wide-range of sectors that fall within the new definition of ‘Product Design’ and ‘Product Design Engineer’. You could enter in such as roles as:
An increasing number of graduates are setting up their own businesses, and successful start-ups such as Rebirth, Casezo, ADZero (ADCreative), Airbrake, Mutant Bikes, Exceptional and Novo Consult have been led by graduates recently.
Dr Herd is an internationally renowned expert on co-design. She is also Associate Director of redLoop, the MDX Design and Innovation Centre.
Professor Karamanoglu holds a visiting Professorship at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He is actively involved in research and research supervision primarily focusing on Engineering Design and Manufacturing Engineering. He also serves as the UK national organiser for the Mechatronics competitions for the WorldSkills UK/SEMTA.
Wyn has over 25 years in product design and engineering and design education. He is a Lead Mentor for the Design Council SPARK Programme and a member of the Advisory Group for the Design Museum 'Design Ventura' programme. He was a founding member, and Associate Director of redLoop, Middlesex University’s ground-breaking ‘transition space’.
Puja is a specialist in robotics and physical computing. Puja is a previous two-times UK Worldskills champion in mobile robotics.
We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.
Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.
Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.
At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.
Start: October 2021
Duration: 3 years full-time, 4 years full-time with placement
Code: W240
Start: BEng October 2021, MEng October 2021
Duration: BEng: 3 years full-time, MEng: 4 years full-time
Code: BEng: H15A, MEng: H15B
