Product Design Engineering

Product design engineering bridges the gap between creative design and rigorous engineering. Where engineering without design thinking can produce systems that are technically correct but awkward or unpleasant to use, and design without engineering knowledge can generate ideas that are beautiful but impossible to manufacture or maintain, product design engineering brings the two together. It is the discipline that produces the physical products we interact with every day, from medical devices and consumer electronics to transport systems and domestic appliances, and it demands fluency in both aesthetics and mechanics.

At Liverpool this three-year full-time programme is rooted in the university's prestigious mechanical engineering tradition while incorporating the tools and methods of modern new product development. You will develop a thorough technical grounding in materials, structures, manufacturing processes, and engineering mathematics, combined with skills in design thinking, human factors, prototyping, and the use of computer-aided design tools. The programme encourages you to think through the full lifecycle of a product, from identifying user needs and generating concepts through to engineering validation and readiness for manufacture.

A year abroad is embedded in the programme, giving you the opportunity to study at an international partner institution and experience how product design engineering is practised in a different national and industrial context. This international dimension broadens both your technical vocabulary and your sense of how design priorities vary across different markets and cultures.

Graduates work in product development, industrial design, engineering consultancy, manufacturing, human factors and ergonomics, and systems engineering across a wide range of sectors including automotive, aerospace, healthcare, consumer goods, and defence. The combination of creative problem-solving and engineering rigour is sought after by employers who need graduates that can move fluently between the design studio and the engineering workshop. Many also go on to postgraduate study or professional training leading to chartered engineering status.