We occupy 7,000 square metres in a recently-refurbished building shared with Civil Engineering. Our new Design Centre houses over 80 networked computers for computer-aided engineering including computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacture (CAM), finite-element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and systems modelling (engine systems; 1-d gas dynamic). There are also facilities for group design work, two new RP3D printing machines complementing the existing Denford table top four axis Compact 1000 Pro CNC router and milling machines.
The Department hosts the successful Undergraduate SAE racing team, managed and manned by a group of enthusiastic students. The team is run as a business, and attract sponsorship from industry. Their prize winning car was designed and built using facilities within the department.
All of the computers and some of the workshop and laboratory equipment are linked by a high-speed network which provides access to campus, national and international networks.
Members of the department also enjoy full access to the University library, one of the largest in the UK, which has a collection of over two million books and three million manuscripts and archival items. Numerous databases, servers and gateways to national and international information sources are freely available to staff and students over the campus network.
Research
Our £2.5 million machining research equipment is housed in a single purpose-built laboratory, enabling us to complete research contracts with industrial partners involving aeroengine manufacture, new materials evaluation (including titaniums and carbon fibre composites) and micro-sensor development for a whole range of applications.
Our new £2.5 million engines laboratories are being used to research engines for hybrid vehicle power-trains in highly-realistic transient speed/load conditions, including the effects of very cold start and combustion air (from -20°C) on emissions and performance.
We also have a biomedical engineering laboratory within a Class 2 containment area, equipped with the latest electro-mechanical testing machines for evaluating surgical implants, enabling us to work with surgeons and with the healthcare industry. Our clean room houses nanotechnology equipment used to make micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).