Despite the effects of offshore competition from India, China and other low wage economies, the development and manufacture of high technology products continues to be of vital importance to the UK economy. Manufacturing represents a significant proportion of UK GDP and accounts for 62% of exports. The School has prepared students for a range of employment opportunities in small and large companies. Examples of companies who have employed previous graduates are Corus, Ford, Schaeffler, Robert Bosch and Visteon. UK manufacturing offers well-paid careers to engineering and science graduates. Despite this, many sources document the shortage of engineers in UK industry, meaning that graduates from these courses have many options open to them. The BEng Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering programme is intended to provide students with a thorough grounding in mechanical engineering science and its application in design and the solution of a range of engineering problems. In addition, students will develop knowledge in a suitable range of manufacturing processes and materials. The programme will also consider environmental aspects of design and technology and will enable students to gain a range of skills, relevant to a broad range of employment opportunities.

Graduates from programmes offered by the school have found employment in a wide range of industries, with roles including manufacturing engineer, design engineer, maintenance engineer and project engineer. Many former students have made significant progress in their careers, with many of them now occupying senior engineering or management positions in their organisations. These include numerous senior engineers, section leaders and departmental managers at major manufacturing facilities such as Ford and Tata.