Mechatronics and Robotics MSc (Eng)

Mechatronics, robotics and autonomous systems represent a range of important technologies which underpin many applications – from manufacturing and automation through to self-driving cars and robotic surgical tools.

Delivered by the Schools of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computing, this programme provides you with the specialist knowledge and wide range of skills to pursue a career in this dynamic field.

Mechatronics and robotics is a multidisciplinary field with a strong future, exciting career opportunities and a huge range of applications in robotics, manufacturing, automation, automotive engineering, aerospace, healthcare and medicine, leisure and entertainment, and many more.

Course highlights

• Our research in the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering is world-leading in areas such as robotics, autonomous systems and sensing, assistive and rehabilitation robotics, surgical and medical robotics, ultrasonic and embedded systems, and communication, sending and control.

• The School is an active member of Robotics at Leeds, an interdisplinary network, driving innovation in robotics science and research.

• During your studies, you will access specialist facilities and laboratories.

• There are lots of opportunities for you to work alongside our academics and get involved in the research happening in the Schools.

• Small groups and examples classes are used to support the teaching, so you get regular feedback from the academic staff helping you solve any problems that you might have with a particular topic.

Programme team

The Programme is led by Professor Shane Xie. He is a Professor in Robotics and Autonomous Systems with nearly 30 years' experience in developing robots and mechatronic systems for manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, and food industries. He is passionate about discovering the fundamental science behind how the human brain works and developing effective robotics and brain computer interfaces for treating patients with neurological injuries.

His major focus was on robot-assisted alignment of long bone fractures and limb rehabilitation, but have now extended this to a wider range of robot-assisted applications, such as exoskeleton and prosthetic devices, walking assistance, hip and knee replacement robots. His research is driven by a desire to see scientific findings, insights, and technologies used by patients to improve their quality of life.

He is part of the Assistive and Rehabilitation research group, and the Surgical Robotics and Technologies research group. The team are also active members of Robotics at Leeds, which hosts the £5.5 million EPSRC national facility for innovative robotic systems.

Specialist facilities

Our Schools are an exciting and stimulating environment where you will learn from leading researchers in specialist facilities. You will have the chance to gain experience of a wide range of industry-standard software and hardware, including RobotStudio, LabVIEW in the National Instruments Academy, SolidWorks3D design in the CAD suite, and electronic design and testing in the Keysight Technologies Electronics Laboratory, the Arm Embedded Systems Laboratory and our Robotics Laboratory with a Drone flying zone and ABB industrial robot arms,

For your professional project, you could also have access to research facilities such as the EPSRC National Facility for Innovative Robotic Systems, a national resource for the fabrication of complex systems. The facility specialises in assistive robotics, surgical technologies, exploration robotics and smart cities.

Find out more about our facilities.

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Accreditation

The MSc is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council as meeting the requirements for Further Learning for registration as a Chartered Engineer. Candidates must hold a CEng accredited BEng/BSc (Hons) undergraduate first degree to comply with full CEng registration requirements.

Accreditation is the assurance that a university course meets the quality standards established by the profession for which it prepares its students. For this course, these are the quality standards set by the IET.

This programme is also accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) under licence from the UK regulator, the Engineering Council.

In the first half of the year, you will cover a core range of modules that will provide you with a thorough foundation in the many applications of mechatronics and robotics and develop your understanding of the wide range of industry sectors that use robotics and mechatronic systems.

You can then select from a range of optional modules that will allow you to focus on specialist topics that suit your personal interests or career plans. These modules cover the electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and computing aspects of Mechatronics and Robotics, meaning that you are sure to study modules that appeal to you.

The focal point of the degree course is your individual project. Your supervisor will help you to select a project that is right for you, in an area that interests and motivates you. This may give you the chance to work on a project allied to one of our research groups, spanning an exceptionally wide range of areas ranging from computer vision and artificial intelligence through robotic communications, sensing and embedded systems to mechanical design, industrial inspection, biomedical engineering and medical robotics. This is your chance to make your own contribution to science. The project will equip you with the independent research and critical thinking skills that you will draw on throughout your future career.

Want to find out more about your modules?

Take a look at the Mechatronics and Robotics module descriptions for more detail on what you will study.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

For more information and a full list of typical modules available on this course, please read Mechatronics and Robotics MSc (Eng) in the course catalogue

Modules

Year 1

Learning and teaching

Our groundbreaking research feeds directly into teaching, and you’ll have regular contact with staff who are at the forefront of their disciplines. You will have regular contact with them through lectures, laboratory sessions, seminars, examples classes, tutorials and project meetings.

Independent study is also important to the programme. You will develop your problem-solving and research skills as well as your subject knowledge while studying the modules taught modules and undertaking your project work.

Our Virtual Learning Environment will help to support your studies: it’s a central place where you can find all the information and resources for the School, your programme and your modules.

You can also benefit from support to develop your academic skills, within the curriculum and through online resources, workshops, one-to-one appointments and drop-in sessions.

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Assessment

You will be assessed using a range of techniques including mini-projects, case studies, technical reports, presentations, in-class tests and coursework assignments.

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in electronic/electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, automation, control engineering, computing or a related subject. Applicants should have high marks in relevant modules such as mechatronics, robotics, automation, control systems.

A bachelor degree with a first class (hons) bachelors degree in physics, physical sciences or mathematics.

We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. For more information please contact the Admissions Team.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component.. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Engineering (6 weeks) and Language for Science: Engineering (10 weeks). 

We are now offering online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals.  To find out more, read Online Academic English pre-sessional (10 weeks) and Online Academic English pre-sessional (6 weeks).

Read about differences between our online and on-campus summer pre-sessionals.

If you need to study for longer than 10 weeks, read more about our postgraduate pre-sessional English course.

How to apply

Application deadlines

We operate a staged admissions process for this course with selection deadlines throughout the year.

If you do not receive an offer in a particular round, you will either be notified that your application has been unsuccessful, or we will carry your application forward to be considered in the next round.

Please see our How to Apply page for full details and the application deadlines for each stage.

Apply

This link takes you to information on applying for taught programmes and to the University's online application system.

If you're unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.

Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.

Admissions policy

University of Leeds Taught Admissions Policy 2022

Fees

• UK: £11,500 (total)
• International: £25,750 (total)

Read more about paying fees and charges.

For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees.

Additional cost information

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more about additional costs.

Scholarships and financial support

If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There may be help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government.  Find out more at Masters funding overview.

A degree from Leeds and the experience you'll gain here will give you the edge to find the career you want. Your course will give you the experience and knowledge that employers are looking for to help you secure a graduate job.

University of Leeds students are among the top five most targeted by top employers according to The Graduate Market 2022, High Fliers Research.

Mechatronics and robotics is a multidisciplinary field with a strong future, exciting career opportunities and a huge range of applications in robotics, manufacturing, automation, automotive engineering, aerospace, healthcare and medicine, leisure and entertainment, and many more.

After graduating from this masters degree course, you will be in a good position to seek employment as a development, project or graduate engineer with leading organisations.

Examples of recent graduate destinations include:

• Airbus UK

• ABB Ltd

• Amec Foster Wheeler

• GCHQ

• Jaguar Land Rover

• JN Bentley

• Mpac Lambert

• STORM Labs

• Synthotech

This masters degree course is also an excellent base from which to pursue a PhD and possibly an academic career.

Read profiles of our alumni to find out more about where some of our graduates are working.

Careers support

At Leeds we help you to prepare for your future from day one. Our Leeds for Life initiative is designed to help you develop and demonstrate the skills and experience you need for when you graduate. We will help you to access opportunities across the University and record your key achievements, so you are able to articulate them clearly and confidently.

You will have access to the wide range of careers resources and support from your Careers Service. You will have the chance to attend industry presentations, book appointments with qualified careers consultants and take part in employability workshops and webinars. Our careers fairs provide further opportunities to explore your career options with some of the UKs leading employers.

You will also have full access to the University’s Careers Centre, which is one of the largest in the country.

Our annual STEM Careers Fairs provide further opportunities to explore your career options with some of the UKs leading employers.

There are also plenty of exciting ways you can volunteer during your time at Leeds. Find out more at the Leeds University Union website.

Working on a project is one of the most satisfying elements of this course. It allows you to apply what you’ve learned to a piece of research focusing on a real-world problem, and it can be used to explore and develop your specific interests.

Recent projects have included:

• ABB robot arm with Kinect control

• Swarm robotics for mapping and inspection

• Smart bioleg

• Exoskeleton design, construction and test

• Upper limb rehabilitation robot

• Brain computer interface

• Pick-and-place assembly robot

• Design and characterisation of vehicular ad-hoc networks in a motorway scenario

• Robot Jungle

• Node positioning and localisation in wireless sensor networks

• Multiple antenna transmission and OFDMA for WiMax

• Modelling and control of a DC motor simulating a wind turbine

• Radio telescope

• Optimised control of autonomous air vehicle for indoor navigation

• High frequency sensing

• Ultrasound sensing for pipeline inspection

• Surgical inspection robot

• Therapy and tissue repair laparoscopic tools

• Capsule robotics for diagnosis and surgery