Solving modern day challenges requires skilled professionals with a multi-disciplinary design approach, strong systems thinking and good leadership. Engineers who can balance a broad range of engineering knowledge as well as technical and interpersonal skills are essential in the development of new products, processes and services.  

Our courses are designed to develop innovative design engineers with exceptional knowledge and skills. You will learn from academics with expertise in design engineering methodology and research, as well as specialists across different engineering disciplines. You will work in teams on authentic design engineering projects with support from industry. 

You will gain industrial experience before you graduate and develop excellent career prospects, through opportunities to take summer placements, internships and an assessed year in industry. You can do your placement in areas such as building services, transport, product design, renewable energy, manufacturing and aerospace. 

The Industrial Liaison Office manages our links with world-class engineering and tech companies, making sure you engage with industry throughout your study. In your first year, you will be assigned an industrial mentor to support your personal development. You can also take advantage of talks from industry insiders and internship schemes.

You will emerge as a versatile engineer, equipped with excellent design and technical knowledge, along with strong collaboration and leadership skills. This opens doors to diverse career paths in rapidly emerging sectors such as Robotics and Machine Learning, Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, and New Product Development and Innovation. 

The variety of optional units in the final years of the course will help you to develop a unique set of advanced skills and specialist knowledge to bring into industry. 

Design Engineering graduates are well-suited for careers across a range of sectors, from global engineering companies to small-to-medium enterprises and high-tech start-ups. Our career service provides support to help ambitious students start up their own businesses and develop their entrepreneurial skills.

Information about the structures of our new Design Engineering courses will be available by June 2024. 

The South West of England is home to a diverse range of innovative industries, from University spinouts to underwater vehicle and habitat systems as well as renewable energy. Engineering students at the University of Bristol have had placement experience at companies like Crux Product Design, Kinnier Dufort and Dyson. Innovative start-up companies such as LettUsGrow, Huxlo, Swytch and Lightbug were founded by University of Bristol alumni.  

Perhaps you will be part of the growing development of agri-tech solutions to support sustainable farming, or advancing the world of healthcare with medical cyber-physical systems or new digital products. It is an incredibly exciting time to join this course and become the new generation of design engineers needed for the 21st century.