Automotive & Motorsport Engineering (with a Placement Year)

Immerse yourself into the world of Automotive & Transport Design on our exciting and industry focused course. You’ll learn a wide-ranging set of design and communication skills, learning from our team of expert academics and professionals in our dynamic design studios, CAD rooms and prototyping facilities.

You’ll design everything from cars, yachts and trains, right through to futuristic concepts for games and film. With access to sector-leading facilities you can visualise your designs through physical modelling processes, clay modelling and prototyping in foam. The course encourages you to build a full digital toolkit learning Alias, Blender, Unreal Engine and VRED in our CAD spaces, VR labs and digital workshops. You will learn to realise your 3D designs through advanced prototyping facilities in the SmartZone.

You’ll work with industry giants in the automotive and transportation sector, with brands like Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren, GM and Winch Design. You’ll apply your skills to collaborative projects with world-renowned brands, building a portfolio of innovative and exciting work that explores the future of the way we travel, designing vehicles for land, sea and air.

On the course, you’ll get the opportunity to collaborate with other creative students, including those studying subjects like Games Design, Architecture and Product Design, replicating life in industry where multi-disciplinary teams are commonplace.

Our course is taught by academics with real-world experience, who will be at your side throughout your journey to provide you with the knowledge, skills and support you need to take the first step to a successful career in Transport Design. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to make connections in industry, including at competitions like the Autodesk Design Competition, Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition, which our students have been successful in recent years.

You’ll get the chance to visit leading Design Studios, Manufacturers and Exhibitions both in the UK and internationally on our vibrant Educational Visits.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Automotive & Transport Design

Course Modules

Year One: Cad Modelling & Visualisation; Concept to Prototype; Creative Cultures: Making, Research & Reflection; Sustainability, Society and Impact

Year Two: Car Design Studio; Concept Vehicle Design for Games & Film; Collaborative Creative Industries Project
Year Two Optional: Art Trail; Colour + Surface: Print, Texture & Material Exploration; Creative Heritage; Digital Journeys: UX & UI Design; Experimental Formats; Experimental Music and Sound Art; Marketing, Branding and Cultural Production; Still Life Through the Lens; Surround Sound and Multichannel Audio; Visual Effects & Motion Graphics; Hybrid Production Methods

Year Three Core: Placement Year

Year Four Core: Final Major Project of Automotive and Transport Design; Contextual and Critical Investigation; Professional Practice

Your course will provide you with opportunities to test your understanding of your subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark. Each module normally includes practice or ‘formative’ assessments, for which you receive feedback from your tutor. Practice assessments are developmental and any grades you receive for them do not count towards your module mark. There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. This includes a range of coursework assessments, such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations, final year, independent project and written examinations. The grades from formal assessments count towards your module mark.