General Engineering
General engineering programmes are designed for students who want to develop a broad technical foundation before committing to a specific engineering discipline, or who wish to graduate with a versatile engineering skill set that spans multiple areas. Engineering in its general form encompasses principles from mechanical, electrical, civil and systems engineering, with mathematics, physics, materials science and design running through all of them. It is a discipline that trains you to think systematically about how things work, how they can be built and how they can be improved.
At Sheffield Hallam University, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year and work placement, giving you substantial experience in a professional engineering environment as part of your studies. Sheffield Hallam has a strong tradition of applied, industry-engaged engineering education, and the placement element of this programme reflects that orientation. You will study engineering principles across a range of areas, develop practical laboratory and design skills, and build your mathematical and computational capabilities, all within a programme structured to give you real exposure to how engineering is practised professionally before you graduate.
General engineering graduates enter a wide range of sectors. Manufacturing, construction, energy, infrastructure, product development, operations management and technical consulting all provide career routes for those with broad engineering training. Many graduates go on to specialise in a specific branch of engineering at postgraduate level or through professional development routes, using the general foundation from this degree as the basis for deeper expertise.
Others move into technical management or project engineering roles where breadth of understanding is more important than specialist depth. The combination of academic study and professional placement experience that this programme provides is a genuine advantage in a competitive graduate engineering market.