Manufacturing Engineering
A degree in manufacturing engineering prepares you to design, improve, and manage the processes behind high-quality, efficient production - from advanced materials to smart factories.
It also builds strong skills in problem-solving, automation, data analysis, and project management - making you valuable across industries focused on innovation, quality, and productivity.
Where can it take you?
You could work with companies like Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Dyson, GKN, or Siemens - across sectors including aerospace, automotive, consumer products, electronics, and industrial automation.
Common roles include:
Manufacturing engineer, process improvement engineer, production manager, quality engineer, supply chain analyst, or roles in robotics, lean systems, and digital manufacturing.
What skills will I gain during my degree?
In addition to your subject knowledge, the degree equips you with key employability skills such as:
- problem solving and analytical abilities
- critical judgement
- communication skills
- able to plan and prioritise
- numerate and computer literate
- team working
How can I develop my skills during my degree?
Regardless of whether you are a first year or final year, developing skills outside your degree will enhance your CV and allow you to provide evidence of these in applications and at interviews. We have a wide range of opportunities at the University for you to explore:
Faculty of Engineering placements
An industrial placement will enable you to gain industry experience, crucial for your career development.
Work experience and volunteering
Depending on what area of work or role you might be interested in, and where, there will be specific strategies, from speculative applications to formal processes you need to be familiar with.
Nottingham Internship Scheme
We work closely with a huge variety of local and national businesses to bring you an exciting range of internship opportunities, for both current students and recent graduates.
Nottingham Consultancy Challenge
The Nottingham Consultancy Challenge offers the chance for you to gain hands-on experience of managing a short term project for a local business or charity as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
Nottingham Advantage Award
Through the completion of extracurricular modules, the Nottingham Advantage Award helps you develop key life and work-based skills and reflect on your experiences, allowing you to demonstrate your achievements and skills more effectively when applying for jobs.
Students' Union
The Students’ Union offers a wide range of volunteering options both locally and internationally which you can fit around your studies.
Alternatively you could get involved in a society or sports club - there's so many, you're bound to find one that interests you!
Apply for part-time jobs
The university advertises part-time, casual and temporary jobs on campus and with local businesses.
Created just for you, the advertised vacancies can fit around your studies and other commitments.
Careers events
We offer a range of events to develop your skills and meet employers throughout the year. Check out:
What are the range of careers I can enter?
The graduate labour market has improved with growth in many employment sectors, including engineering, technology and energy.
The overall numbers of vacancies for engineers has again increased with the UK industry still in urgent need of academically strong technical graduates.
Despite this, the job market for graduates remains competitive which highlights the success of our manufacturing engineering graduates in sourcing professional, well-paid positions in major companies and organisations.
Key employment sectors
Our manufacturing engineering graduates secured professional positions across a diverse range of employment sectors, but the key sectors of employment for our graduates are:
- design and development engineering
- engineering
- production
- marketing
- management
Here is a sample of the employers who recruited our graduates over the last few years.
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Tata Steel
- Cambridge Design
- Procter & Gamble
- Rolls-Royce
- Ford
- Thales
..and a sample of the roles undertaken:
- production manager
- design engineer
- engineering technician
- teaching
- marketing professional
- graphic designer
- planning technician
See what Nottingham graduates have gone on to do
You can view the destinations of graduates, who completed the survey, from your course by booking an appointment with an adviser. This can help you to explore your options if you are unsure what you want to do.
Graduate Outcomes is a national survey capturing the activities and perspectives of graduates launched in 2018 and is the biggest annual social survey in the UK.
Find out more about the Graduate Outcomes survey