Course Description Document

Course Title	Medical Engineering with Industrial Placement (2025-26)
Course Code	9063
Award Title	Master of Engineering (MEng)
Awarding Body	University of Southampton
Teaching Institution	University of Southampton
Regulated by	Office for Students
Accreditation	None
Regulations	The Regulations of the University can be found on the University's Governance Webpages: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/about/governance/regulations-policies
Location of study	Southampton
Length of the course	5 Years
Tuition Fees	Fees for students can be located by the student fees page. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/student-fees/index.page

Course Overview

The degree encompasses solid engineering training (following our mechanical engineering pathway which includes also some electrical and computational engineering) to build a sound foundation for the subject of medical engineering. The terms Medical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering are often used interchangeably; our Medical Engineering programme focuses on mechanical engineering aspects of healthcare technology (rather than electronics or computing), with a focus on design for users.
Typical course content
Medical engineers have to know, understand and be able to use the same full range of engineering fundamentals as any other engineer so many of the modules you take in Parts I & II will be studied alongside Mechanical, Aeronautical, Maritime and Civil Engineering students. Many of the practical exercises that you undertake to develop skills such as design and computer modelling, however, will be taken from real-life problems in medicine, healthcare and wellbeing, such as designing a assistive technologies or patient monitoring devices. You will also take specialised modules in Human Biology in Health and Disease and Biomedical Engineering Research, Design and Practice, that will prepare you for deeper study and application of these subjects in the senior years in the programme (Part III & Part IV).
In Part III & Part IV you will study a wide range of compulsory and optional modules such as Biomaterials, Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Human Factors in Engineering, Engineering Design with Management, Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging, Biologically Inspired Robotics, Computational Biology, Finite Element Analysis in Solid Mechanics, Manufacturing and Materials and Robotic Systems. Project work is a significant feature with design-build-test projects in Parts I and II, an Individual Project in Part IV and a Group Design Project in Part V. The latter can be multi-disciplinary so you could be working in a team with Aeronautical, Mechanical or other Engineering students. In these projects, where possible you will be interacting with staff and/or students from medicine and healthcare and users of healthcare technologies such as patients, carers and healthcare professionals. This feature of multidisciplinary in your education is a highlight of the programme and reflects the collaborative spirit within and across faculties in research and teaching that you will experience. In addition, you can choose to undertake your Industrial Placement between Parts II and III, or between Parts III and IV. You must organise this placement but support and guidance will be provided.
The programme follows university guidelines for inclusivity and flexibility and provides an array of teaching and learning approaches that will enable any student who meets the entry requirements to access the curriculum and demonstrate achievement of all the intended learning outcomes.
Your contact hours will vary depending on your module/option choices. Full information about contact hours is provided in individual module profiles.

Aims of the Course

The aims of the Medical Engineering programme are:
• To provide you with a firm foundation in a wide range of engineering disciplines that underpin (bio)medical engineering through a core of compulsory engineering modules in years 1 and 2.
• To deepen and broaden your understanding of medical and other engineering disciplines through a range of specialist modules in years 3 and 4.
• To develop in you the necessary technical skills to fulfil the role of a professional engineer in research, consulting, design and development and other engineering and problem-solving tasks in a wide range of applications
• To provide you with the necessary skills to effectively address/design solutions for biomedical engineering challenges based on user and other stakeholder needs.
• To provide you with knowledge and understanding of the specific biological, clinical, safety and ethical implications of biomedical engineering work and routes to commercialization.
• To provide a learning environment in which you are able to develop generic skills needed for management and leadership roles in industry, but which are also transferable to other occupations and pursuits which may be unrelated to employment.
• To offer you a range of projects and realistic tasks that stimulate individual innovation, necessitate problem formulation and solving, promote self-assessment and enhance communication and build strong teamworking skills
• To expose you to an intellectually challenging and world leading research environment to stimulate an attitude of enquiry and independent self-learning and foster an ethos of life-long learning and professional development.
• To promote awareness of engineering in practice through interaction with industry, e.g. work placements, external speakers, industrial visits and industrial design projects.
• To provide recognition of your skill set on completion of your studies through the award of a highly esteemed degree that partially meets the requirements of the Engineering Council for registration as a chartered engineer.
You will have the opportunity to study a wide range of specialist areas, taught by world experts in their field. You will be trained in the foundations of engineering and design, and gain an understanding of user needs and analysis and design to address these. You will also become familiar with the use of specialist modelling software and state- of- the-art equipment. You will undertake a wide variety of design tasks, projects and group activities to prepare you for a professional engineering career.

Course Structure

The tables below provide a list of the modules that make up your course.

Each module is worth a specified number of credits: you can take a combination of core and compulsory modules enabling you to cover key subject knowledge. Some courses have option modules which enable you to develop your own interests.

Each level of your programme requires a certain number of credits. The number of option modules you can take depends on the number of core modules at a given level and this is also influenced by the requirements of the regulatory requirements for professionally accredited courses. Some courses also have pre and co-requisites, and these are included in individual module information.

Your learning will be led by the latest research, and modules can change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. You can always find the most up-to-date information about your modules and who is teaching them via the information on our webpages and, post enrolment, via the Faculty hub.

If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an option module, it may not be offered. If an option module will not be run, we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

The core and compulsory modules available on your course are as follows:

Part I The first year provides an introduction to medical engineering as well as engineering design and engineering science. The induction programme in the first week provides the opportunity to get to know fellow students and develop a medical engineering ethos focused on user needs and based around hands-on experiences with medical engineering applications. All modules below are at level 4 and are core, i.e. all required assessments must be taken and passed at the required pass mark. They total 60 ECTS (120 CATS). No option modules will be undertaken in Part I. Feedback on progress is provided throughout the year in many ways including via laboratory work, example sheets, tests and coursework.
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
FEEG1002	Mechanics, Structures and Materials	15	Core
FEEG1003	ThermoFluids	7.5	Core
FEEG1004	Electrical and Electronics Systems	7.5	Core
FEEG1202	Introduction to Medical Engineering	7.5	Core
FEEG1203	Data Science and Computing for Engineers	7.5	Core
FEEG1204	An Introduction to Engineering Design	7.5	Core
MATH1054	Mathematics for Engineering and the Environment	7.5	Core
Part II The second year covers medical engineering, engineering design and engineering science at greater depth and breadth. It includes a total of 60 ECTS (120 CATS) across two semesters. No optional modules will be undertaken in Part II. Feedback on progress is provided throughout the year in many ways including via laboratory work, example sheets, tests and coursework. Students on the MEng Medical Engineering with Industrial Placement programme may undertake their placement module FEEG3009 between Parts II and III. They may not start their placement until Part II has been passed. Should the placement not be passed students can transfer back to the substantive programme.
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
FEEG2001	Systems Design and Computing	7.5	Compulsory
FEEG2006	Engineering Management and Law	7.5	Compulsory
FEEG2004	Electronics and Control	7.5	Compulsory
FEEG2008	Human Biology in Health and Disease	7.5	Compulsory
MATH2048	Mathematics for Engineering and the Environment Part II	7.5	Compulsory
FEEG2002	Mechanics, Machines and Vibration	7.5	Compulsory
FEEG2003	Fluid Mechanics	7.5	Compulsory
FEEG2007	Biomedical Engineering Research, Design and Practice	7.5	Compulsory
Part III You will spend a year on an industrial placement. Students may not start their placement until Part II has been passed. Should the placement not be passed students can transfer back to the substantive programme. Students on the MEng Medical Engineering with Industrial Placement programme may undertake their placement module FEEG3009 between Parts III and IV. They may not start their placement until Part III has been passed. Should the placement not be passed students can transfer back to the substantive programme.
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
FEEG3009	Industrial Placement Year	0	Compulsory
Part IV Part IV provides greater specialization in Medical Engineering and includes an individual project in that field. The individual project is a core module, i.e. no compensation is possible when the pass mark is not achieved. The student must take 15 ECTS (30 CATS) credits from the modules in Optional according to the rules below. In addition, the student cannot take more than 7.5 ECTS (15 CATS) credits at Level 7 (forward-tracking).
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
FEEG3003	Individual Project	15	Core
FEEG3004	Human Factors in Engineering	7.5	Compulsory
SESM3033	Orthopaedic Biomechanics	7.5	Compulsory
SESM3028	Biomaterials	7.5	Compulsory
SESM3029	Engineering Design with Management	7.5	Compulsory
ELEC3201	Robotic Systems	7.5	Optional
FEEG3001	Finite Element Analysis in Solid Mechanics	7.5	Optional
SESG3024	Manufacturing and Materials	7.5	Optional
COMP3212	Computational Biology	7.5	Optional
Part V The group design project is a core module, i.e. no compensation is possible when the pass mark is not achieved.
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
FEEG6013	Group Design Project	22.5	Core
ISVR6138	Biomedical Application of Signal and Image Processing	7.5	Compulsory
SESM6038	Computational methods in biomedical engineering design	7.5	Compulsory
FEEG6042	Introduction to Machine Learning	7.5	Optional
ISVR6130	Signal Processing	7.5	Optional
AUDI6012	Fundamentals of Auditory Implants	7.5	Optional
ELEC6227	Medical Electrical and Electronic Technologies	7.5	Optional
NATS6008	Biomedical Spectroscopy and Imaging	7.5	Optional

Learning and Teaching

Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, independent learning, and assessment activity, with each ECTS credit taken equivalent to 20 hours of student effort. While your actual contact hours may depend on the option modules you select, the information available on our webpages give an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities.

When not attending lectures, seminars and other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and for other types of assessments and examinations.

Full information about contact hours is provided in individual module information.

Should you wish to revisit this following enrolment, these indications have been located in a permanent resource. This can be accessed at any time via the link below:

https://sotonac.sharepoint.com/teams/CourseSupplementaryInformation/SitePages/Study-Time.aspx

How we'll assess you

Summative assessment(s) usually take place at the end of each module, although some may have interim assessments throughout. Assessment methods might include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations and projects for example. The marks from summative assessments count towards your module mark.

Each module normally contains at least one piece of practice or formative assessment for which you receive feedback. Formative assessments are developmental and any results do not count towards your module mark, but they are an important part of your learning.

The information available on our website gives an indication of the assessment methods used on your course, at each level of your course.

Should you wish to revisit this following enrolment, these indications have been located in a permanent resource. This can be accessed at any time via the link below: https://sotonac.sharepoint.com/teams/CourseSupplementaryInformation/SitePages/Assessment.aspx

Staff involved in delivering the different elements of the course

You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on your course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners, specialists with industry experience, demonstrators and technical officers.

Postgraduate research students who have undertaken appropriate training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars if their research specialism is directly related to the topic of the module and may also be involved in practical classes, project work and field trips. All contributions will be carried out under the supervision of the module leader.

Fees

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and standard exams.

Extra costs you may experience

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. There may also be extra costs for retake and professional exams.

Depending on the nature of your course, you may be able to choose modules which may have additional costs, such as field studies, travel overseas or industrial placements which will change the overall cost of your course. Details of these costs can be found in module information.

Please also ensure you read the section on additional costs in the Fees, Charges and Expenses Regulations.

The following course-related costs are not included in your fees:

Type	Details
Calculators	Where a calculator is required, all Casio Calculators are allowed but they must be Non-Programmable, Scientific models. More information is available in the Examination Regulations https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentadmin/assessment/assess-overview/exam-regulations.page
Stationery	You will be expected to provide your own day-to-day stationery items, e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, etc. Any specialist stationery items that you may need will be specified in the relevant module profile.
Textbooks	Where a module specifies essential texts, the Library will identify the optimal option(s) to support the module via the course Reading List. This may include e-books (ideally with unlimited concurrent usage) or a digitised chapter extract, supported by a limited number of print books (where available). You may request that the Library purchases additional print copies via 'suggest a book', borrow an additional copy via our inter-library-loans service or you may prefer to buy your own copies for high demand titles.
Printing	In most cases, written coursework such as essays and projects are submitted online. However it may be necessary to submit a hard copy of some projects, business projects and dissertations. The costs of printing a hard copy for submission of such work will be your responsibility. You will also have to cover the cost of photocopying. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/students/printing.
Parking	Parking space is limited on all sites and the issue of permits is restricted to students that have medical needs. For more information please follow the link https://www.southampton...arking/car-parking.page

Bursaries, scholarships and other funding

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from underrepresented backgrounds.

You may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs.

If you are a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant that's linked to your chosen subject area.

Financial Support

The Student Services Centre offers support and advice regarding student finances. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course. You can find more information about financial support via our webpages: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/student-support-fund/index.page

Academic support

The Student Support Hub is your first point of contact when it comes to seeking support. The team will answer your questions or concerns about your wellbeing, fees and funding, accommodation and visas. The team will help make sure you receive the support you need, guiding you to further support services where required. You can find more information about student support via our webpages:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/index.page

One of the most important people you will meet while you are a student at Southampton is your Personal Academic Tutor, who will be allocated to you for your arrival at the University and who is normally a member of academic staff in your own or a closely related subject area. Your Personal Academic Tutor will offer one-to-one support and advice throughout your time at Southampton and will support you in your studies or with other issues you may have. You can find out more via our webpages:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentadmin/academic-support-guidance/personal-tutor.page

Disclaimer

As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our courses to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. As a result, this course may be revised during a student's period of registration; however, any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Please read our Disclaimer to see why, when and how changes may be made to a student's course.