MEng Chemical Engineering with Industrial Experience / Course details

Begin your journey towards a challenging yet rewarding career in chemical engineering by studying at the subject's birthplace: Manchester. In this four-year MEng degree you will not only learn the fundamentals of this key subject; you'll also have the opportunity to gain invaluable experience working as a chemical engineer on a year-long industrial placement.

The placement, which you will undertake in your third year, is fully embedded within the course, meaning you can gain industrial experience while being supported throughout from an industrial and academic supervisor. We work with your placement to ensure you complete significant projects to produce a project-based dissertation, logbook and poster presentation. Two modules, Catalytic Reaction Engineering and Advanced Engineering Separations, you'll study by distance learning during the placement year.

You will have the opportunity to work for an esteemed company; previous placements have been with the likes of AkzoNobel, AstraZeneca, Bosch, Exxon Mobil, GlaxoSmithKline, JaguarLandRover, Rolls Royce, Tata Steel, Unilever, and many more.

At Manchester, all of our programmes are accredited by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), meaning your education will equip you to graduate with an industrially approved degree. There will be emphasis on the technical aspects of chemical engineering, and these revolve around managing the behaviour of materials and chemical reactions, as well as predicting and manipulating compositions, flows, temperatures, and pressures of solids, liquids and gases. This is balanced with process safety and sustainability, which are inherent to all of our programmes. The latter is heavily embedded within your third-year design project. Here, you will undertake an open-ended team project to design a complete production process. Examples have included the sustainable production of chemicals such as propylene oxide and ethylene glycol from waste, and our design teams have won more IChemE Macnab-Lacey Prize for their efforts than any other university.

• You will study a range of core material, learning the fundamentals of chemical engineering before gaining first-hand industrial experience at a recognised company and then using that knowledge to complete an open-ended design project as part of a team.
• We will help you understand and describe chemical, physical and biological processes using mathematical equations.
• You will benefit from hands-on experience - both on your industrial placement and on campus - using specialist equipment, learning techniques applied in industry for large-scale manufacturing.
• You will develop skills that will be of great use in your future career, such as team-working, problem-solving, communication, and the use of information technology.

Paid industrial placement opportunity

The third-year paid industrial placement will increase your depth and breadth of chemical engineering knowledge, and provide valuable practical work experience. Our unique programme facilitates the completion of a master's programme with a year in industry within four years.

Reputation

The Department has an excellent international reputation, and a qualification from us can be your passport to a successful career anywhere in the world. We're ranked 4th for chemical engineering in the UK, and 7th in Europe (QS World University Rankings 2023).

Facilities

Get to grips with an incredible array of facilities and equipment . Our £12 million James Chadwick Building houses the biggest pilot-scale laboratory of any university in the UK. Take a  virtual tour to discover more.

In our new Home of Engineering and Materials, we’re ripping up the rule book to offer a truly innovative teaching and learning experience. You’ll have access to world-leading sustainable research facilities and some of the most unique, industry-leading equipment and instrumentation in the sector to meet today’s requirements and those of the future. Explore  Our Home for Engineering and Materials.  

Welcoming community

Our Department has a rich history and a bright future - and always a welcoming and encouraging student community. You'll also be taught by true experts in their fields. Find out more on our Department blog .

At Manchester you will be taught by academic staff who are leading experts in chemical engineering, in a diverse and inclusive learning environment.

We use a combination of teaching and learning methods, including lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions and problem-based learning, supported by lecture podcasts and supplementary video tutorials.

Our degrees are assessed by a combination of examination and coursework, designed to allow you to demonstrate your ability and develop a wide range of transferable skills. For example, our first and second year laboratories are assessed by a range of methods to develop the complementary transferable skills that will be vital in the workplace, including: 

• technical report
• presentation
• interview
• poster display

The third year industrial experience placement is assessed by a dissertation, skills portfolio and logbook, as well as a presentation and competency interview.

The fourth year Design Project is assessed by group and individual design reports, a group presentation and an individual interview, with peer assessment being also incorporated.

Find out what it's like to study at Manchester by visiting the Department of Chemical Engineering blog , which includes blogs from students about their industrial experience placements . 

Come to our Home of Engineering and Materials - a place like no other. This is where engineers, material scientists and fashion students collaborate, innovate and make their mark on the world. Unleash your potential in our creative, academic playground that signals the evolution of a proud history of innovation spanning almost 200 years.

In this very special place, we’re ripping up the rule book, offering you a truly innovative teaching and learning experience. As well as our creative classrooms, you’ll also have access to world-leading sustainable research facilities in our new buildings.

Our variety of spaces allows for greater collaboration for all our students, and it is the place to connect and tackle real-life challenges together. So, a chemical engineer could be sat alongside a materials scientist working on clean water, or bump into a fashion student developing their own sustainable brand, or an aerospace engineer sending a rocket into space. It is a place like no other for interactions and one of the biggest communities of engineers and materials scientists in any University in the world.

Dive into a world of possibilities, whether you are interested in aerospace, robotics, or sustainable fashion, there’s a home for you here. 

Explore  Our Home for Engineering and Material Science . 

What's more, our strong, ever-growing links with industry not only help to inform our courses, but also boost our excellent teaching and research facilities.

This includes our impressive James Chadwick building:

In our £12 million James Chadwick Building you'll have access to modern lab spaces, dedicated computer suites, and a famed pilot scale area with a range of large-scale industrial processing equipment. It's one of the biggest and best of any European university. See our outstanding facilities for yourself through our virtual open day . 

The University of Manchester also offers an extensive  library and online services , helping you get the most out of your studies.