Automotive Engineering

Automotive engineering is the discipline that turns ambition into motion. It encompasses the design, development, testing and production of road vehicles, drawing on mechanical engineering, electronics, materials science, thermodynamics and increasingly on software and systems integration. The motor industry is undergoing one of its most significant transformations in a century, driven by electrification, autonomous systems and new demands around sustainability, and engineers who understand both the fundamentals of the discipline and the direction of its future are in strong demand.

This three-year full-time programme at Brunel University London includes a foundation year, which gives you the opportunity to build or consolidate your understanding of mathematics and the physical sciences before the main degree begins. This makes the programme accessible to students coming through a range of pathways while ensuring everyone is well prepared for the more rigorous technical content that follows. Through the degree itself, you will engage with vehicle dynamics, powertrain engineering, structural analysis, manufacturing processes and the integration of electronic and control systems that are central to modern automotive design.

Brunel's approach combines theoretical rigour with an emphasis on engineering practice, and you will develop the problem-solving habits and technical judgement that employers value.

Graduates move into engineering roles across vehicle manufacturers, Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers, motorsport organisations, engineering consultancies and testing and certification bodies. The skills developed on this programme are also transferable to aerospace, rail and defence engineering. Those who wish to deepen their technical expertise can progress to postgraduate study or research, and the programme supports the development required to work towards chartered engineer status.