Full module descriptions are available here. 

Aerospace engineering is inherently interdisciplinary, relying on a complex interaction of engineering disciplines to achieve flight. Fundamental to this are aerodynamics and propulsion and their interaction with the rest of the aircraft. Next generation aircraft, which will be quieter, consume less fuel and carry more passengers, will depend on advances in aerodynamics and propulsion. You will learn about the theory of aerodynamics and propulsion and how to design aircraft and propulsion systems. This will be combined with studying how these interact with the rest of the aircraft structure and how advanced manufacturing techniques can be applied to aircraft production. In addition to a career in aerospace you will be in demand from a wide variety of other sectors including automotive and energy.

Aerospace Engineering is a broad subject and students can enter different streams - generally Aero-Mechanics and Avionics and Electrical Power.

Particular areas to focus on and revise ; 

• Revise Thermofluids GEE104, Materials Science and Engineering GEE105, Programming for Engineers GEE106 and Statistcs and Dynamics MEC194 (now AER104) from first year. 

• Revise Thermofluid Engineering GEE204, Systems and Control GEE205 and Mechanics of Structure GEE207 from second year. 

• A really useful general book that introduces many concepts in aircraft is Barnard, R.H (2010) Aircraft Flight: A Description of the Physical Principles of Aircraft Flight. Prentice Hall (4ed). This is available online through the library StarPlus. 

Modules with pre-requisites;

• Aerospace Propulsion MEC345/AER345 (requires GEE104, GEE204)

• AER301 MEng Aerospace Group Design Project: Design - (requires GEE204 GEE 207)

• AER324 Aircraft Dynamics (requires GEE207 Mechanics of Structures)

• ACS317 State Space Control Design (requires Systems and Control (GEE205 and Further General Engineering Mathematics MAS261)

• Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics MEC303 (requires Thermofluid GEE104, Thermal and Fluid Engineering GEE204)

• Computational Fluid Dynamics MEC320 (requires Thermal and Fluid Engineering GEE204)

• Real-Time Embedded Systems ACS6127 (programming experience strongly recommended)

• Testing & Verification in Safety Critical Systems COM4506 (expected to have done a programming module such as COM161. The language used in COM4506 assignment is Java hence prior familiarity with it is necessary)

• Industrial Training Programme: Avionics ACS402 (students are required to obtain GE security clearance prior to taking this module. This will require the provision of personal data including passport information to GE) 

• Advanced Engineering Fluid Dynamics MEC449 (required Thermal and Fluid Engineering GEE204)

Full module descriptions are available here. 

Essential;

• Contact CBE Support Office (cbe-studentsupport@sheffield.ac.uk) and ask to be added to the CBE UG Community. 

• Revise GEE103 and CPE270 notes, much of whcih should have been touched upon in your modules, but from a different perspective; these modules are the foundation to Design and some ket theory. 

Desirable;

• Look over the rest of Felder's Principles of Chemcial Processes. 

• Begin looking at Sinnot's Chemical Engineering Design, 5th edition. This is available in the library and earlier years are availble. 

Full module descriptions are available here. 

Essential; 

• Contact the Civil Student Support Office (civil-support@sheffield.ac.uk) and ask to be added to the CIV2200 Blackboard page and work through the tuoritals. 

• A good book to supplement this is Derek Seward (2015) Understanding Structures: Analysis and Materials Design. This book is available in the library and earlier years are available. 

• Read CIV150 notes, much of which should have been touch upon in your modules, but from a different perspective; this gives a geotech view and some key theory. 

• Read over the 'Surveying' notes, which are available here. 

Desirable; 

• Revise pipe flow, particularly Colebrook White. You can find notes here. 

• Start looking at open channel flow theory, ideally using Chadwick, Morfett and Borthwick (2004), Hydraulics in Civil and Environmental Engineering. This is available in the library and earlier years are available. 

Full module descriptions are available here. 

Electrical engineering is the discipline which is experiencing the greatest increase. The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy has increased the demand for electricity generation, conversion and storage. These are the key topics of electrical engineering. 

Electrical engineering itself has many sub-disciplines which are all joined by a common theme of electrical energy transfer, and the use of circuit-based analysis. These include electrical power engineering, covering multi-gigawatt power transfer at low frequency, power electronics, the efficient conversion of energy between forms at high frequency, motor and generator design, electrical energy storage, embedded programming and feedback control. 

Graduating students work in many of these areas, and more. Jobs growth is currently driven by electric vehicles (with their motors, batteries and power electronics), renewable energy (with their generators, switchgear and transformers) and automation systems. Industrial power scales range from multi-gigawatt down to tens of watts, all using the same approach to tackle problems with very different constraints.

In your first two years, you have studied circuits, devices and magnetics in GEE102, then motors/generators, power electronics and amplifiers in GEE202. You will combine this knowledge with programming (GEE106), feedback control (GEE207) and some mechanical considerations (AER104) in Levels 3 and 4. 

Your Level 1 and Level 2 studies should have prepared you. To keep up to date, the following are particular areas to focus on:-

• Revise GEE102 and GEE202. In particular, your notes on electrical machines and power electronics will be useful. 

• You will study EEE230 Analogue Circuits at L3. This is a cut-down version of a L2 module taken by normal EEE students which will bring you up to the level of a EEE student in this area. Revisiting the circuit analysis and basic electronics (e.g. op-amps, diodes) from GEE102 will be the best preparation.

• You are likely to draw extensively on your knowledge from GEE106 (programming) and GEE205 (systems and control) as both these areas feed heavily into EEE. You will take an embedded programming course (EEE226). Control engineering is likely to be useful in your final year project.

• You will need MATLAB and you will also find a number of other software skills useful, including C and LabView (you are not expected to know LabView yet).  There are a large number of online tutorials on C programming - choose one that suits your learning. A particular resource you might like to look at is Lynda on MUSE which has a large number of introductory courses on C.

• If you find yourself lacking in any particular area, speak to the MEng Engineering departmental contact (currently Jonathan Davidson) or the lecturer on a suitable course to ask for copies of the notes.

• You should be receiving emails from the eee-ug, eee-ug-3m (and later eee-ug-4) mailing lists. If you are not, please flag this up.

Full module descriptions are available here. 

(Please note that due to the interdisciplinary nature of this specialism, modules are delivered by a range of departments and occasionally some modules may clash. We do try to reduce this as much as possible).  

Energy and Sustainability are important themes across engineering and wider society. Engineering with an interdisciplinary background have a significant role to play in developing technology that promotes the efficient use of natural resources. Our University has two institutional level research themes that cover these issues; The Energy Institute and the Institute for Sustainable Food and many areas of industry require graduates with expert knowledge in this area to successfully maintain their business in the future and/or to engage in new sectors.

As one of the General Engineering speciaisms that is not directly aligned with another Department or Programme in the Faculty of Engineering (e.g. such as Aerospace) choosing to specialise in 'Energy and Sustainability' will enable you to continue with a broad range of subjects, maintaining a high level of interdisciplinarity in your studies, that are strongly aligned with this very important societal and technological theme. 

The modules that are available to you in this specialism are chosen from departments that have a key role to play in this area, so much of the information concerning what you should review and prepare for are below; 

Mechanical

Electrical

Civil

Materials

Chemical

Full module descriptions are available here. 

(Please note that due to the interdisciplinary nature of this specialism, modules are delivered by a range of departments and occasionally some modules may clash. We do try to reduce this as much as possible). 

As society and technology develops, the need for engineers to be agile between what might be considered to be the ‘classic’ engineering disciplines is increasing. Demand from industry is also suggesting that engineers with a nominal specialism need to be able to communicate with, and work effectively alongside, peers from all disciplines. Hence, graduates with an interdisciplinary technical background will be highly sought after!  

As you well know, students choose to study General Engineering degree programs for a number of reasons; be it to find out more about the subject before committing to a specialism, to have a wider understanding around a chosen specialism, or to have a truly interdisciplinary degree experience.

‘Specialising’ in ‘General Engineering’ is therefore ideal for students who have enjoyed the challenge of studying many different threads and wish to continue with that in 3rd and 4th Year and study different themes in depth. This specialism brings together three of engineering disciplines (Mechanical, Electrical, Systems & Control) at Sheffield that are not directly aimed at a particular professional area of engineering (e.g. Civil).

However, as you have the option here to continue studying multiple parallel threads from Mechanical, Electrical and Systems, you need to be particularly careful about pre-requisites for Year 4 modules, that is, you need to think about which Year 4 modules you might wish to study and check whether this has repercussions on your Year 3 choices. For example, it is likely you will need to take ACS317 for several ACSE modules in Year 4.

Please look at the information available under the pages for Electrical, Mechanical and Systems and Control where you can find information on the relevant modules, pre-requisites and preparation.

Mechanical

Electrical

Systems & Control

In terms of revision and preparation over the summer, the particular areas to focus on will depend on the specific modules you chose and can be found more clearly under the transition information for the relevant theme. 

Full module descriptions are available here. 

Engineered materials are an integral part of our society, from being used in household objects to nuclear reactors and spacecraft. Materials Science and Engineering brings together Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Biology and Engineering, allowing us to improve the performance of existing materials, or produce new materials to suit an application, or to design new ways to make materials, such as 3D printing of metals in complex shapes.

In GEE105 and GEE206 you have already discovered the fundamental principles of Materials Science and Engineering, and gained a detailed understanding of how material properties and their performance are dependent on their atomic- and micro-structure, and how they were processed. You’ve explored their functional and mechanical behaviours, specifically their electrical, magnetic, and optical properties, and been introduced to fracture mechanics (cyclic fatigue, crack nucleation, propagation), and failure prediction. 

GEE105 and GEE206 were designed to focus on materials science and engineering, GEE104 Thermofluids, and AER104 Engineering Statics & Dynamics contained more of the fundamentals that underpin engineering, including materials science and engineering.

If you choose “Materials” as a specialism, there is extra learning we recommend you do before starting your 3rd year, specifically regarding the crystal chemistry of materials. Whilst you already learnt about different crystal systems and structures, a more in depth understanding would help you transition into this specialism. To help you with this you will be given access to the Blackboard (MOLE) site for the module “Introduction to Materials Chemistry”, and will be directed to the relevant lectures – some of this module you will have covered before. Please access the book “A R West (2014) Solid State Chemistry and its Applications” to help you. Prof. West is an academic in our Department.

In addition, in year 3 you will be taking some second year modules, as well as third year modules, to ensure you acquire all required pre-requisites for year 4, so you will get to meet lots of students in MSE. MatSoc is the student society who organise many social events.

In general, in preparation for this specialism, revise the following in addition to the above:

• GEE105 and GEE206 notes, and associated chapters in Callister (2015). 

• Material processing routes, in particular metals (including nucleation and growth theory) and polymers, covered in GEE105, and use Callister to help you.

• Magnetic and electronic properties of materials (GEE206), in particular MAZE, semiconductors and dielectrics.

If you have chosen or are considering choosing Materials as your specialism, you can find the detailed module descriptions on this webpage(s).

If you would like more information about the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, ranked 1st in the UK Russell Group for Graduate Prospects, visit the home page.  Fun Fact: Over the past four years, more than 95% of Sheffield materials graduates had secured employment or were in further study, six months after graduation.  

Full module descriptions are available here. 

Mechanical Engineering is probably the broadest engineering subject at Sheffield other than General Engineering. As a professional discipline it is one of the oldest, with its roots in the Victorian railway, shipbuilding and power generation industries, and more generally in society as the science and engineering required to design machines, especially since The Industrial Revolution.

Modern mechanical engineering still encompasses those areas, but has expanded to cover automotive, aerospace, renewable energy, medical devices, defence, building services, manufacturing technology, and many others. You can read more about these in the ‘Prospective Undergraduates’ and ‘Careers’ sections of the Department of Mechanical Engineering webpages:

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mecheng/prospectiveug/teaching

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mecheng/careers

1st and 2nd year Mechanical Engineering students study a core of ‘engineering science’ topics with considerable overlap with GEE104/204, GEE105, AER104, GEE205 and GEE207. They have also studied similar design and mathematics topics, and also some electrical engineering.

Brief module descriptions are available here in the directory of modules for Mechanical Engineering (2020-21)

If you are interested in/choose this stream, particular areas for you to be confident and/or to do some preparation for 3rd year are as follows:

• You should make sure that you are confident with the engineering science topics you have learned in GEE204, GEE205 and GEE207. 

• You may also want to review again what you learned on AER104, particularly drawing free body diagrams. 

• If you pick MEC326/MEC327 (Structural Vibration), it will really help if you are happy working with MATLAB.

As with other General Engineering specialisms aligned with our largest engineering degree programmes, in many of the modules you will be in lectures with 200+ students but there will typically be opportunities for smaller sizes for help with tutorial sheets and when doing labs or similar activities. 

As you have experienced in studying General Engineering, most Mechanical Engineering students have not had any module options in 1st and 2nd year, therefore it is natural that lecturers in 3rd (and 4th) year modules may make reference to those modules as it is common ground for most of their students. If you wish to access that specific content that the other students have had on Blackboard (MOLE), please contact the Mechanical Engineering Student Support Office (mec-support@sheffield.ac.uk with your computer username and ask to be added to those courses. 

Please feel free to contact Dr Tom Slatter (GEE Y3/Y4 Tutor) for any further information as he is a member of academic staff in Mechanical Engineering.

Full module descriptions are available here. 

You will find it useful to look over MAT1410 Biomaterials I and MAT2410 Biomaterials II in preparation.

Modules that are particularly relevant to this degree are:

GEE106, programming for engineers, GEE205 Systems and control

CPE270 process and product design GEE101 and 201 Interdisciplinary design I and II  

GEE105 introduction to materials science, GEE206 Mechanical and Functional Behaviour

Full module descriptions are available here. 

Particular areas to focus on:

• You should make sure that you are confident with the topics related to software design and programming technologies you have learned in GEE103 and GEE106. You may also want to review again what you learned on GEE201 and MAS261. 

• COM3502, COM3524, COM3004 and COM3240 related to Artificial Intelligence contain a number of maths topics - you may also want to review again what you learned on COM1005.

• COM2004 is important for COM3004 - much of  this is similar to COM3004, but you will need to read up on machine learning and pattern processing over the summer.

• COM3517, COM3504 and COM3505 related to advanced web technologies and Internet of Things. COM1008 is important for COM3517 and COM3504 and COM3517. More generally you might want to learn about Large scale methodologies for the Web, and the Semantic Web.  

• COM3505 requires knowledge of C/C++ programming and strong maths. There are a large number of online tutorials on C programming - choose one that suits your learning.  

• Please look carefully at the modules you may wish to study in year 4 and ensure you choose the appropriate pre-requisites in year 3, if there are any.

Full module descriptions are available here. 

To get a better understanding of the ethos of the systems and control thread it is useful to view the summaries provided by the Department of Automatic Control & Systems Engineering:

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/acse/undergraduates/index

For example, systems and control lie at the heart of modern engineering. Whether you are developing a new type of flight control system for a self-landing rocket, controlling the flow of energy in a smart power grid, or designing a future device for the internet of things, all engineering sectors rely on systems and control to enable autonomy in machines, whilst maximising performance, efficiency and safety.

Full module descriptions are available via the ACSE webpages.

In particular you can view the content of first and second year modules to better understand what pre-requisites ACSE students will have covered. Background reading is provided for all modules and pre-requisites should be clearly stated for all modules so do check the year 4 modules carefully before choosing your year 3 options. 

Key points are:

1. ACS234 contains a number of maths topics that underpin the third year ACS modules - while you will have done most of this, there will be some minor gaps.

2. ACS230 is important for ACS317 - much of  this is similar to GEE205, but you will need to read up on digital control systems over the summer as digital systems theory comes up in many ACSE modules.

3. ACS232 is important for ACS321. More generally you might want to learn about Digital Signal Processing.  There are a number of online tutorials, e.g. https://www.tutorialspoint.com/digital_signal_processing/index.htm.

4. A key module that underpins many other year 3 and 4 modules is ACS317 - https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/acse/current/modules1819/acs317.  You are strongly recommended to choose this module. 

In general terms, particular areas to focus on while revising over the summer are:

• Revise your mathematics modules - in particular vectors, matrices, Laplace and Fourier transforms.

• Please revise GEE205 content. 

• It is worth revising Matlab. Please look at the notes from GEE205 and the various additional tutorials signposted to in the lecture.

• For those students wishing to choose ACS335 it is recommended you revise your programming and at least familiarise yourself with C.  There are a large number of online tutorials on C programming - choose one that suits your learning. A particular resource you might like to look at is Lynda on MUSE which has a large number of introductory courses on C.  Knowledge and experience of programming in C is also useful for future careers.