Undergraduate Courses

This page contains short summaries of the undergraduate courses on offer from the department. For full information about the courses and the application procedure, please contact Emma Weeks, the Admissions Officer. She will be able to tell you about the Preview Days that are run to help potential applicants.

Courses Offered

The department is involved in teaching courses on several of the degree programmes run by the Faculty of Engineering. In addition it is in charge of three of its own programmes:

• MEng (Hons) Engineering Mathematics (UCAS Code J920)

  The objective of this degree course is to produce graduates with mathematical knowledge and computational skills and the ability to deploy these skills effectively in the solution of problems, principally in the area of engineering.

• MEng (Hons) Computational and Experimental Mathematics (UCAS Code J921)

  The objective of this degree course is to produce graduates with mathematical knowledge and computational skills and the ability to deploy these skills effectively in the solution of engineering problems. There is an emphasis on mathematical modelling and the study of nonlinear systms (a research interest of the department).

• MEng (Hons) Mathematics for Intelligent Systems (UCAS Code J922)

  The objective of this degree course is to produce graduates with sound mathematical knowledge and computational skills. There is a major emphasis on artificial intelligence topics (a research interest of the department). Artificial intelligence is a broad discipline encompassing mathematically oriented subjects such as statistical learning theory, through to less mathematical subjects such as cognitive science. The particular approach taken by the course is to establish a sound background in computational skills and mathematical understanding since this will lead to a most comprehensive understanding of many aspects of the subject.

Click here for a more detailed outline of these courses.

Typical requirements for entry.

For students with an A level background the typical offer made is ABB with an A grade required in mathematics, a B grade in physics or engineering sciences and a B grade in another subject, excluding general studies. At the discretion of the Interviewer, the Admissions Officer and subject to certain provisions for widening access, lower offers are sometimes made at ABC level (the C grade is in the third subject) or BBB.

Course Description

Do you enjoy mathematics and feel that you would like to use it to solve important real-world problems of direct engineering, scientific or industrial relevance? In recent years there has been an extraordinary growth in the applications of mathematics to these fields as well as to information technology, management and finance.

Industry now wants increasing numbers of numerate graduates who can use their mathematics in practical situations. Engineering Mathematics graduates are called on to use their logical skills to formulate a problem, their modelling skills to translate the problem into mathematical terms, their technical skills to write a computer program or use a software package, their mathematical understanding to question and interpret the results, and their knowledge of engineering to implement the solution.

Some models of real situations have unpredictable behaviour over long periods of time. This is the new area of nonlinear dynamics or chaos theory now being applied to engineering problems such as structural design and ship capsize. The growth in this field has been enormous in the past few years and Bristol is one of the leaders in the field.

Course Structures

Computing technology is also very much part of everyday life --- they are the driving force in all new information systems.

In recognition of this, the Engineering Mathematics course includes units on computers as engineering components, computers helping professionals in complex tasks using artificial intelligence and expert systems, and computers used in engineering desisn and analysis.

Computers are now more than number crunchers. They are an essential tool for engineers and can be used by mathematicians as an experimental tool to create new mathematics. This is the motivation for Computational and Experimental Mathematics. It shares many units with the Engineering Mathematics course but has a greater concentration in computing and artificial intelligence.

The table of current programmes and units shows the structure of all of our degree programmes. This illustrates the wide range of subjects taught, but also gives an idea of the depth of specialisation which is possible.

Intake

The Department has 14 members of staff and has an entry of 20 to 30 students per year. Our small classes become friends by working together in teams and with the staff. We believe that our courses are equally attractive to men and women students, so applications are particularly welcome. The courses are primarily about mathematics and so a good showing at A Level Mathematics is required, but we do not ask for two mathematics subjects. Mature students with qualifications other than A Level are welcomed.

Teaching and Learning

We use three main methods of teaching: lectures, workshops and guided reading. Lectures in which videos and computer demonstrations are often used) are supported by examples classess in smaller groups, as is guided reading. As our courses are concerned with modelling real world situations, we run workshops throughout the course to teach the modelling units. Over a quarter of our first year is assessed by coursework.

Links to European Universities

Versions of both of our courses are planned with study in continental Europe where the third year is spent in study at a European university or higher education institution. these will be similar in format to the various courses in Engineering with Study in Continental Europe already run by the Engineering faculty.

Careers

Since mathematics make a contribution to most areas of life, there is a great demand for our students from a wide range of companies. Every year students gain sponsorship for their study in the department and we encourage this. Our graduates are employed by such companies as British Aerospace, BP, British Oxygen etc., by banks and insurance companies, and by management and system consultancy companies such as Arthur Anderson and Logica.