BlogUniversityWhat It’s Like Studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at Macquarie University

What It’s Like Studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at Macquarie University

MQ Engineering - Fact Sheet

If you’re interested in a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at MQ Uni, then you’ve come to the right place!

We’ll take you through everything there is to know about the degree including the core units, different majors, assessments, uni culture and more! 

So, let’s get started!

What is a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at MQ Uni?
Degree Structure
How to Get into a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at MQ Uni
What’s the Teaching Format?
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?

What is a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at MQ Uni?  

A Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at Macquarie Uni provides you with the knowledge and practical skills you need to walk into the engineering world! It’s a very hands-on degree with project-based learning which means you’ll have classes where you’ll be designing and building all kinds of things.

You have the choice of five different majors depending where your interests lie. There’s also the chance to get involved outside of the classroom with different Engineering societies and clubs! 

MQ Engineering - Quote

Can this degree be studied in conjunction with another?

This degree comes with Honours attached! There is the option to do a double degree if you have multiple interests or simply want to take your degree to the next level. You can combine a Bachelor of Engineering with any of the following: 

Career Paths

Lucky for you, a degree in Engineering opens up a lot of different career opportunities. Of course, it really depends on your specialisation and what you’re most interested in but these are just some of the many jobs you could end up working as: 

…and the list continues! This is just the tip of the iceberg! 

Degree Structure 

It can be a little bit confusing to understand the structure of the course so we’ll walk you through what it looks like:

Core Zone 

  • Capstone unit (10 credit points): Completed in your fourth and final year.
  • Essential units (60 credit points): Every Engineering student has to complete these, regardless of your specialisation. 
  • Specialisation units (210 credit points): Where you choose from civil, mechanical, mechatronics, software or electrical and electronic engineering.  

Flexible Zone (40 credit points)

You can choose subjects from any undergraduate degree that you meet the requirements for. So, it’s completely up to you! 

Essential Units 

These are essentially your core units — and every Engineering student has to complete all 7 of them! Of course, you’ve got the Introduction to Engineering which provides you with a strong understanding of the principles of engineering and helps you develop your practical skills. 

The subject Engineering Project Practice involves project-based learning so it’s very hands-on! You’ll work with your classmates to design and find a solution for a real-world engineering problem. 

In the subject, Industry Experience, it’s time to put to practice what you’ve learnt! You have to complete at least 420 hours of industry work experience at a partner organisation.

Now, this is a fairly big subject because you also have to complete assessment tasks along the way! At the end of the subject, you have to hand in a 6-10 page report reflecting on your experience and what you’ve learnt. 

Specialisations

This is basically your major — so choose what you’re most interested in! There are five different areas you can specialise in: 

What’s a Civil and Environmental Engineering Specialisation like?

It involves the design and management of the built environment! It’s all about functionality and making the world that we live in a better place.

An Introduction to Civil Engineering is just what it sounds like! Water and wastewater engineering is all about clean drinking water and the processes to remove contaminants from drinking water and wastewater. In this subject, you’ll work as part of a team to design solutions for water and wastewater treatment facilities.

Soil mechanics introduces students to geology so they’ll learn all about rocks and minerals, soil mechanics, water flow, geohazards and how this can impact construction projects.

Check out the rest of the subjects here!

What’s an Electrical and Electronic Engineering Specialisation like?

Good question! Think energy systems, circuits, power generators, communication networks, devices like mobile phones and so on! In this specialisation, there’s a lot of physics and maths involved.

So you’ve got Calculus and Linear Algebra I and II, Engineering Physics and Engineering Mathematics! Signals and Systems is an introduction to signal processing and analysis. Control Systems is a project-based learning subject where students are put into teams and have to design control systems!

Have a look at the other subjects here! 

Capstone Project

You’ll complete this in your final year! Basically, it’s a big project where you get to put everything you’ve learnt throughout the degree into practice.

You’ll work with a team throughout the semester to come up with a solution for a real-world problem and it has to address a sustainable development goal! So, this means you’ll follow a project from start to finish — pretty exciting stuff!

 

How to Get into a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at MQ Uni

You’ll need at least an ATAR of 80 for guaranteed entry into a Bachelor of Engineering at MQ Uni.

Pathway Programs 

Don’t stress if you didn’t get the required ATAR for a Bachelor of Engineering because Macquarie Uni offers you another way to get there! 

It’s called the Next Step Pathway! You have to successfully complete four units (2 units in Session 1 and 2 units in Session 2) and then you can start studying that degree you desire.

If you happen to do really well and get a high WAM (Weighted Average Mark), then you might be able to start your dream degree earlier which means you would only complete 2 units (instead of 4).

Assumed Knowledge 

You’ll be expected to have achieved at least a Band 4 in Mathematics Advanced. If not, you can do a bridging/introductory subject at uni (however this may mean it takes you longer to complete the degree). 

To make your life easier, it’s recommended that you complete Extension 1 or 2 Mathematics, Physics and Software Design and Development. 

Scholarships

There’s three specific scholarships relating to Engineering at Macquarie Uni! To apply for any of them, you need to have received a 90+ ATAR.

There’s the Faculty of Science and Engineering Women in Engineering Scholarship, Faculty of Science and Engineering Women in Information and Technologies Scholarship and the Faculty of Science and Engineering Dean’s Merit Scholarship. 

Check this out for more scholarships you could be eligible for!

What’s the Teaching Format?

A Bachelor of Engineering at Macquarie is taught through lectures, tutorials and pracs. Lucky for you, Macquarie’s academic calendar consists of semesters (sigh of relief). 

Class Structure

MQ Engineering - Class Structure

Lectures

Lectures can be between 1-2 hours depending and you can expect to have around 60 people in the lecture theatre — depending on the subject, this can vary. 

In the lectures, you’ll learn all the content so get ready to write some notes! Some of the lecturers try and engage with the students to make the learning more interactive. Luckily, the lectures are recorded so you can always revisit them or if you didn’t make it for some reason, you can watch it in your own time. 

Tutorials

The tutorials are the same length as the lectures, between 1-2 hours. They are a lot smaller in size compared to the lectures so there is usually around 15 to 20 in a class.

In the tutorial, you’ll revise the lecture content, work through different activities and sometimes you’ll have to complete a quiz. There’s a lot of room for discussion and time for you to ask the tutor any questions you may have. 

Pracs

Pracs can last anywhere up three hours and there’s usually 15 to 20 people in them. 

Now pracs can vary depending on the subject — for example, in physics, you usually have one prac a week which can last anywhere up to three hours. This would mean that you do a different kind of experiment each week and work through a set of questions.

If you’re studying Electronic Engineering, you might be tasked with designing a circuit, seeing how it works and then writing a report up. 

How much time do you spend in class?

If you study a Bachelor of Engineering at MQ Uni, you’ll take four subjects a semester. You can expect to have around 12-15 contact hours a week!

It’s important to remember that you also have to do a fair bit of work in your own time: exam prep, revising content, assignments and so on. 

What are the assessments like?

There’s a bit of a mix! So, you’ll have a fair few quizzes throughout the semester and these can add up to around 50% of your grade.

For the more practical classes, sometimes you have a big project that you work on for the whole semester and then have to present the designs. For example, one whole class had to build and design a robot (how cool!).

There’s also the end of semester exams, essays and reports! Once again, it really depends on the subject and whether it’s more theoretical or practical. 

Skills You Refine and Learn

MQ Engineering - Skills

There’s no doubt that you’ll refine your problem solving skills! You have to think creatively to find solutions for real-world problems and also come up with designs for different projects.  

You’ll learn how to work coherently in a team! With the prac classes where all the students have to work together throughout the semester, you quickly learn how to best interact with and manage people. 

Of course, you’ll further develop your communication skills with essay/report writing and having to give presentations. As the degree is quite full-on, you’ll learn how to manage your time and balance this with life outside of uni. 

What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?

Faculty

The Engineering students at MQ Uni are a friendly bunch and there’s no doubt you’ll make some great friends. Those prac classes where all the students work together on one big project, you really get to know the other students and it’s a lot of fun!

The tutors are also really helpful and are happy to answer any questions you may have! 

Culture

You definitely need to check out the Macquarie Uni Engineering Society which offers a range of social and academic events. There’s trivia nights, industry network evenings and the Science/Engineering Ball — just to name a few! 

You can also join the Macquarie University Robotics Club and work with other students to design and build robots! There’s even an Automotive Society so if you love anything mechanical, this could definitely be for you. They’ve actually just finished their first project which was to build a go-kart which will actually race in the NSW karting championship.

The Engine Room is another great opportunity to get involved and develop your engineering skills. It’s actually a collaboration between the Engineering faculty and industry partners in Macquarie Industrial Park which means students can get real-world experience. 

If you’re a fierce female Engineer, you have to join Women in Engineering where you’ll be surrounded by other empowering women who are passionate about the field and equality within it! 

Curious about the pros and cons of this degree? Have a read of our article here!


Tanna Nankivell is a Senior Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is currently in Germany completing a year of study for her double degree in Communications (Journalism) and Bachelor of Arts (International Studies). She has had articles published on Central News – the UTS Journalism Lab and wrote a feature piece for Time Out Sydney during her internship. Tanna has a love for travel and the great outdoors, you’ll either find her on the snowfields or in the ocean, teaching aqua aerobics or creating short films. 

 

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