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A sustainable future depends on transformative solutions enabled by nanoengineering – and you could become one of the next generation of experts in this field.
This MSc blends technical knowledge with practical skills, enabling you to design and manufacture materials and structures with unique applications at the nanoscale. Taught at UCL East, a global centre of innovation, you will graduate from this programme ready to develop solutions for emerging and established industries with global reach.
This programme will train you on the design, characterization, testing, and applications of nanoengineered materials, and their manufacturing techniques, enabling you to be leaders in this growing field. It will provide you with demonstrable, hands-on experience in all the above fields.
Nano-engineered materials in the context of this programme refer to solid-state materials that are engineered in the nano and micro scale to have unique mechanical, optical, or thermal properties.
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Modules
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering.
Compulsory Modules
- Advanced Characterisation & Laboratory Techniques
15 Credits
Term 1
This module covers the essential techniques of characterising features of materials in the micro and nanoscale. It introduces the theory and practical applications of the techniques and provides the students with the skills to select the appropriate technique for the investigated properties. An important learning objective is to provide hands-on experience. The characterisation techniques include mechanical (nanoindentation, microhardness, fracture toughness, tensile), surface (AFM, SEM, FIB, white light interferometer), microstructure/ subsurface (TEM, XCT), optical (UV-Vis-NIR, ellipsometry), and chemical composition (XRD, FTIR, EDS, EBSD) of the materials.
- Micro/Nano Architected Composite Materials
15 Credits
Term 2
Materials architected in the micro and nano scale are designed either as nature-inspired materials, e.g. to provide weight-efficient distributions of material in space and superior mechanical properties, or purposely engineered to have a property that is not found in naturally occurring materials. The intended applications of these materials span many fields, but this module focuses on materials architected for mechanical properties, e.g. to have superelastic properties, high specific strength/stiffness/energy absorption, negative poisson’s ratios etc.
This module focuses on the design, structural analysis, and manufacturing methods of two classes of such materials that are of high interest in industrial applications: 1) composite materials and 2) microlattices. The students will obtain hands-on experience with advanced design and computational tools for such materials, e.g. materials selection, stress analysis, finite element analysis, composite design, structural optimisation, and manufacturing method selection. These concepts will be used for a mini research topic on horizon-scanning for materials of the future.
A practical scenario for designing, manufacturing, and testing such materials will be realised within the Manufacturing Challenges module.
- Material Design for Manufacturing
15 Credits
Term 2
This module introduces you to the Materials aspects of Advanced Manufacturing. We will support students to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to design novel materials for future manufacturing. We will use case studies to highlight how advanced materials can be challenging to manufacture, and discuss how future manufacturing will influence the development of materials for next generation engineering solutions. In addition, the module will cover selected computational modelling techniques commonly used in material design and offer students the opportunity to design new ones with improved processability.
- Precision Manufacturing
15 Credits
Term 2
Precision manufacturing is an emerging field in Advanced Manufacturing and the students upon completing the module will have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of various aspects of precision manufacturing such as methodologies, machine tool requirements, consumer needs and applications as a part of Future manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering. The module would also cover current practices in industries in terms of advanced machine tools for additive and subtractive manufacturing, software, production techniques, surface generation, quality and inspection, measurement methods and testing equipment (e.g. Coordinate Measuring Machine – CMM). The unique machine dynamics requirements for surface generation in precision manufacturing will also be discussed.
- Group Manufacturing Challenges
Term 1 and Term 2
Ample hands-on workshop and laboratory experience is provided through the “Group Manufacturing Challenges” module, which integrates the taught modules of the programme through applied projects. These are 4 group challenges of max 5 weeks each, on topics that are proposed by our industrial collaborators. The students will have the opportunity to implement the entire workflow of tackling a contemporary manufacturing challenge, from defining the requirements, to designing a solution and finally manufacturing and testing prototypes. This module will help students enhance the understanding of fundamental knowledge and apply advanced manufacturing techniques by incorporating sustainability and economic considerations. All challenges will have a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion in group work.
- Advanced Research Project
Term 3 and Summer
In this module, the students will work on an advanced research project in small teams (max 4 students) during T3 and summer. The project topics will be provided by industry whenever possible, and supervised by staff members in the department; they will be computational, experimental, or mixed. The students will be evaluated on their individual contribution to the research projects through peer assessment, oral portfolio, and interview during the final presentation.
- Fundamentals of Nanoengineering
15 Credits
Term 1
This module teaches the main concepts of engineering materials in the nanoscale, and size-dependence of material properties between the atomistic and bulk scales (nanoscale physics). It contains examples of engineering materials in the nanoscale for mechanical, tribological, electrical, and optical properties, and applications thereof. It also provides an introduction to nanoscale manufacturing technologies (top-down and bottom-up) and related challenges (e.g., nanosystems integration across the scales).
Optional modules
- East London Lab
Credits: 15
Term: 1
- Sustainability and Decision-Making
Credits: 15
Terms: 1 & 2
- Sustainability Analysis of Engineering Systems
Credits: 15
Term: 2
Climate change induced by anthropogenic carbon emissions is arguably the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced. To prevent and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, we are transitioning away from fossil fuels and other carbon-intensive technologies to low-carbon solutions. However, to ensure that future technologies are truly sustainable, they need to be assessed in terms of their technical feasibility as well as environmental, social and economic performance, using system thinking and a life-cycle perspective. This module will provide a comprehensive theoretical understanding and practical experience of the methodologies to evaluate the sustainability of processes and technologies, with specific examples and case studies for the engineering sciences from a range of relevant engineering disciplines
- Applications of Digital Materials Manufacturing
Credits: 15
Term: 1
This module will offer a practical context to the fundamental modules. Practical case studies will serve to demonstrate how automated synthesis, high throughput characterization, data science form the core of the “design – make – test” cycle to solve current challenges of materials optimization.
The module will also address the integration of hardware (= the experimental system) and software (= the computational and data analysis modules), to design and optimise material syntheses autonomously. Selected themes can range from energy to pharma/biopharma applications and will be presented in close collaboration with industry partners to cover different aspects of materials manufacturing at small and large scales.
- High-Throughput Materials Chemistry
Credits: 15
Term: 1
This module will cover high-throughput approaches in materials chemistry, with an emphasis on combinatorial processes that can be carried out by automated batch processing and continuous-flow chemistry. Various classes of materials will be covered to provide a broad materials portfolio. Further relevance will be given to materials characterisation, in particular to techniques that allow high-throughput characterisation and thus the generation of large data sets.
- Nature-Inspired Solutions
Credits: 15
Term: 1
This module teaches you how to learn from solutions adopted by nature to solve challenges that have a parallel in engineering and product design. The module illustrates and empowers you to apply fundamental scientific and engineering principles, underpinning desirable properties observed in nature, to achieve higher performance (efficiency, scalability, robustness, etc.) and identify innovative approaches to solve challenging problems by taking inspiration from natural systems that are ideally structured to achieve this high performance. Using a mechanistic, systematic approach allows proper accounting for the typically different contexts of nature and technology, to design effective engineering solutions.
- Nature-Inspired Materials Engineering
Credits: 15
Term: 1
This module illustrates natural methods of manufacture. The module provides a systematic introduction on the structure-property relationship of natural materials. It also introduces examples of processes that nature utilises in the production of functional materials. This module teaches you how to apply mechanisms found in nature and fundamental engineering principles, learned from nature, to design and manufacture functional materials.
- Inclusive Design and Environments
Credits: 15
Term: 2
- Innovation for a Fairer World
Innovation for a Fairer World
Credits: 15
Term: 2
- Find your Future
Credits: 15
Terms: 1 & 2
- Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
Credit 15
- Exploring Power, Inclusion and Exclusion with Local Communities
Credit 15
Term