HND Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering (Full Time)
The HND's emphasis on hands-on learning will allow you to enter the employment market with a valued qualification or progress to a degree.
UCAS codes
2013 Entry
- Two years Standard Entry001H
2012 Entry
- Two years Standard Entry001H
Entry level
80 points from a National Certificate or Diploma in Engineering or from A Levels including a numerate subject.
Qualifications equivalent to the above will also be considered – contact the Faculty Office for further information.
Career opportunities
This course helps students to gain knowledge and practical experience in modern manufacturing and mechanical engineering systems. Students learn themes such as mechanical principles, design techniques, materials, and mathematics and develop a range of skills including problem solving, decision making, numeracy, IT and communication.
Many students studying this course progress to a degree course in Mechanical Design or Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering. Some students may gain employment with engineering firms offering on the job training and/or day release training to gain professional engineering qualifications.
Manufacturing and mechanical engineering are vast disciplines, dealing with the design, development, installation, operation, and maintenance of anything that has moving parts. Employment opportunities exist in sectors such as the automotive, aircraft shipbuilding, chemical, medical and consumer industries.
Career paths include:
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manufacturing and product design
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service engineering
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maintenance of equipment
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installation and commissioning
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technical sales.
For facts, figures and further details of graduate employability, view the career destinations PDF| for this course.
Course overview
The HND Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering at Southampton Solent University is a vocational course which aims to provide a systematic understanding of manufacturing and mechanical engineering principles applicable to emerging and developed technologies.
Alongside sound manufacturing and engineering concepts, you will be introduced to analogue and digital electronics, mechanical principles and mathematics. Through a range of lab work and hands-on projects, you will also be able to explore materials and applied mechanics.
The course’s practical focus helps to maintain our high rate of student employability and will complement your ability to select and apply established design techniques and methodologies in the creation and evaluation of solutions to a range of engineering problems.
Following the successful completion of the HND, you will be able to progress to Year 2 of a BEng (Hons) degree accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). You may also apply for direct entry onto Year 3 of the BSc (Hons) Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering course, which gives you the opportunity to gain a degree with only one further year of study.
Industrial focus
Our experienced, approachable staff are committed to ensuring that your studies are relevant to the manufacturing and mechanical engineering industry, and kept in line with changing technologies and principles.
Course content
Year 1
Six core units:
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Mathematics
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Analogue and Digital Electronics
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Drawing and CAD
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Mechanical Science
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Manufacturing Principles
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Engineers in Business.
Year 2
Five core units and one option unit:
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Manufacturing Systems
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Applied Mechanics
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Visualisation and Analysis
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Project
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Materials.
Options:
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Quality Systems and Measurement
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Curriculum Plus.
Why choose this course?
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Access to fully networked desktop PCs and Apple Macs equipped with a wide range of industry standard applications, programming languages and system development tools.
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Opportunity to progress to full-time or part-time degree-level study.
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Our manufacturing and mechanical labs are equipped with two rapid prototype machines (Titan and Dimension), a 2D laser cutter (Hobart), a five-axis prototyping machine with 10'x5' bed (Thermwood) plus a variety of other facilities.
Assessment
In-course assignments, laboratory work, formal examinations and projects.
Key career skills
Numeracy, IT, communication, teamwork and project management.
Projects/work experience
The faculty has strong links within a wide range of business sectors and can sometimes offer industrial projects.