The School of Engineering and Technology engages with industry and responds directly to their requirements.

Our school

Designed to meet the needs both of industry and of learners, our range of courses offers opportunities at all levels, removing barriers to learning. The School is the home of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Design, where both teaching and research are designed to address the needs of society. Our Foundation Centre delivers a foundation year curriculum that prepares a large number of students each year for degree level study. The innovative approach to work-based learning offered by Aston Professional Engineering Centre (APEC) has enabled students from organisations including National Grid, BP and E.ON UK to study for qualifications from foundation degree through to masters level.

We work to widen participation in higher education, and to increase diversity in engineering related disciplines.

Our teaching

Led not only by our scientific research but also by wide-ranging pedagogical research, our industry-accredited teaching is delivered in the right place and in the right way for maximum benefit to our students. Research into the most effective methods informs both on campus and work-based learning. Our unique approach means we are one of only 12 higher education institutions in the UK embedding CDIO hands-on learning into our mechanical engineering courses from the day our students join us. Our logistics and supply chain management courses also follow a learning by doing approach, while work-based learning is the epitome of learning by doing rather than in a traditional classroom environment.

APEC has so far produced over 800 graduates in power engineering, making a significant contribution to reskilling the UK power industry.

Our research

The School’s cutting edge research is made possible thanks to our engagement with and access to industry. Staff are active in research in biomedical engineering, advanced manufacturing, materials, design and sustainability. We deliver real-life industry projects in water, power, oil and gas and in civil engineering.

We have researchers who have taken plastics collected on the street and recycled them into usable products using 3D printing. In 2020, our expertise in additive manufacturing led to work with a local healthcare company to design and 3D print devices to enable safer medical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. These devices have now been distributed throughout the NHS.