Design Engineering
Create innovative products, systems, or solutions through an interdisciplinary approach in engineering, design, and entrepreneurship.
Integrate cutting-edge technologies and a holistic approach to problem-solving using design tools and mindsets
Foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship where curiosity and creativity thrive
Embrace agile Design Engineering methodologies to enable flexibility and responsiveness to create impactful changes
Course key facts
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Qualification
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MSc
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Duration
1 year
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Start date
September 2025
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Study mode
Full-time
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Fees
£18,500 Home
£42,900 Overseas
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Delivered by
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Location
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South Kensington
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Minimum entry standard
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First-Class Honours in a Science, Technology and Engineering discipline
Course overview
Gain an enhanced background in Design Engineering and related subjects. You will acquire advanced skills in design methods, systems thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship. This knowledge is applied in a range of project-based learning modules, including industry-relevant projects.
This course equips you with the capability to understand user needs in context, identify opportunities, and solve problems creatively. You'll use cutting-edge technologies like Additive Manufacturing, Mechatronics, Data Science, Sensing, and the Internet of Things. These technologies are the future of engineering, and you will be at the forefront of their application.
Develop the technical skills needed for design engineering. This course will also enhance your ability to communicate and translate engineering concepts in today’s world.
Structure
This page is updated regularly to reflect the latest version of the curriculum. However, this information is subject to change.
Find out more about potential course changes.
Please note: it may not always be possible to take specific combinations of modules due to timetabling conflicts. For confirmation, please check with the relevant department.
You will take all the three modules from group A. You will choose three modules from group B, these modules are shared across postgraduate programmes in the Design Engineering department.
Group A
This module uses multiple tools of design and innovation and explores the utilisation of such tools in several contexts including human-centred design, sustainability, and inclusivity in design with an emphasis on practical solutions.
This module aims to lay the foundation for taking an innovative solution through a strategy development process and assessing opportunities and potential threats prior to positioning a venture within a competitive or uncontested market.
In this module, you will conduct a substantial solo Design Engineering project, representing the culmination of your journey over the past two terms. You will use your acquired knowledge, skills and attitude to bring to fruition a deep-dive project.
Group B
Discover new design engineering approaches, methods, and tools to develop innovative solutions for complex challenges. Master user and business needs evaluation, problem discovery, and generation of solution concepts for portfolios, competitions, and potential commercialization.
Learn and apply a wide range of research methods involving human subjects. Gain foundational knowledge of various data collection and analysis techniques and use them to tackle complex problems.
Advance in transdisciplinary mixed methods to address complex problems in fields such as health and sustainability. Excel in quantitative techniques, Natural Language Processing, and AI chatbot development to analyse stakeholder behaviours and human-human and human-AI interactions.
You can select one module from group A and two from group B. Group A modules will take place in the Autumn Term, and Group B modules in the Spring Term.
Group A
This module provides you with basic tools to consider human behaviour and experience to affect impactful design solutions to global challenges.
Collaborative consumption, or the sharing economy as it is also known, refers to businesses that are based on sharing resources and services, as opposed to traditional ownership-based models.
The module focuses on various aspects of data science to design products from data. It first defines and introduces data products, as well as alternative ways to design with data.
This module will deliver a comprehensive introduction to Nanotechnology for Design Engineers. This course commences with an introduction to how the fundamental physical, electrical and optical properties of materials change on the nanoscale compared to their bulk counterparts.
This module aims to introduce you to critical ways of thinking about technology products and their impact on individuals, their health and society as a whole. The module explores design techniques for understanding stakeholders' values, and ethical and responsible innovation frameworks.
Robotics Research Project will provide an overview of the latest research in the field of applied robotics, as well as a hands-on approach to bring critical skills together. This is done in a project-oriented course where students will design mechanical, electrical, and software subsystems of an overall functioning robot.
The module aims to provide students with sufficient tools and techniques to develop software and hardware platforms for the Internet of Things, obtain data from mobile and social sensors, perform data analysis, perform actuations, and use key insights from data mining.
This module enables students to understand, critique, and create games and playful experiences for entertainment and social issues like health, education, sustainability, or social change.
This module will give a view of how numeric simulations can be applied to problems in Design Engineering (and some problems selected from physical, biological, and social sciences). An underpinning of numerical methods, algorithms, and analysis tools will complement applications to a range of systems, such as infection modelling and crowd dynamics.
Group B
This module provides engineering students with the platform needed to solve future industry challenges, get the most out of 3D printing technology and optimise designs.
This module aims to provide overall knowledge and understanding of the human visual system, and the technology available for design engineers to acquire, analyse, interpret and exploit visual information gathered with modern electronic components.
This module provides a strong emphasis on the application of commonly used inferential statistics approaches for social and behavioural sciences. You will learn about different modes of data and common tests and analyses (including, but not limited to, t-test, ANOVA, correlation, regression, and generalised linear modelling), as well as data cleaning and preparation techniques.
This module aims to provide an understanding of the tools and techniques available to implement sustainable design and provide knowledge of the methods a company can employ to reduce environmental impacts, promote sustainable practices and build resilient propositions.
TBC
This module provides the opportunity to further develop industrial design skills and knowledge to a high professional level alongside gaining an understanding of significant emerging themes and methodologies within the field.
This module is an introduction to audio technology and perception, which includes acoustics, psychoacoustics, digital signal processing, audio recording techniques, audio reproduction techniques, 3D sound synthesis and reproduction and other selected topics.
This module will develop your competence in scoping, analysing and developing creative interventions for behaviour change. Possible interventions include wearables to improve health, products for more sustainable consumption and policy to improve tech-enabled business models.
The module focuses on core principles in micro-economics, accounting, finance, uncertainty modelling, and decision-making needed to assess the economic performance of engineering systems and products.
This module aims at giving relevant basics to the students to analyse interaction within systems as games. It introduces the principles to describe agents and the type of games they are involved in.
The objective of this module is to de-mystify the topic and expose students, in an accessible manner, to both the basics of machine learning and to some of its most important methods.
Testimonials
Teaching and assessment
Balance of teaching and learning
Key
- Taught modules
- Independent Study
- Specialist Events
Balance of assessment
- 17% Lectures and practicals
- 31% Independent Study
- 52% Individual project
Teaching and learning methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Presentations
- Project Based Learning
- Technology Enhanced Learning
- Team Working
- Workshops and Lab Work
- Independent Study
- Industry Collaboration
Balance of assessment
Key
- Practical
- Coursework
- Exams
- 22% Practical
- 65% Course Work
- 13% Exams
Assessment methods
- Progress Tests
- Project-based Coursework
- Research Dissertation
- Physical and Digital Prototyping
- Exams
Entry requirements
We consider all applicants on an individual basis, welcoming students from all over the world.
How to apply
Apply online
You can submit one application form per year of entry. You can choose up to two courses.
Application deadlines – Round 1 closes on Thursday 16 January 2025
We operate a staged admissions process with several application rounds throughout the year.
Apply by 23.59 (UK time) on the closing date of an application round, to ensure you receive a response on your application by the relevant decision date.
Application rounds
Round 1
- Apply by Thursday 16 January 2025
- Decision by Thursday 6 March 2025
Round 2
- Apply by Thursday 27 March 2025
- Decision by Thursday 1 May 2025
Round 3
- Apply by Thursday 15 May 2025
- Decision by Thursday 17 July 2025
There is no application fee for MRes courses, Postgraduate Certificates, Postgraduate Diplomas, or courses such as PhDs and EngDs.
If you are applying for a taught Master’s course, you will need to pay an application fee before submitting your application.
The fee applies per application and not per course.
- £80 for all taught Master's applications, excluding those to the Imperial College Business School.
- £100 for all MSc applications to the Imperial College Business School.
- £150 for all MBA applications to the Imperial College Business School.
If you are facing financial hardship and are unable to pay the application fee, we encourage you to apply for our application fee waiver.
In addition to demonstrating you have met our entry requirements, we ask you to supply the following:
- Two academic references.
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A digital portfolio in PDF showcasing your past projects (up to five projects) highlighting your skills and technologies used, which could include clickable links to project outcomes, e.g. videos.
Find out more about the application process.
Candidates who are shortlisted after this initial application will be invited to attend an interview with an Academic member of staff. This will normally be conducted remotely online.
An ATAS certificate is not required for students applying for this course.
Tuition fees
Home fee
2025 entry
£18,500
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the College, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our , including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out .
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
The government has not yet published the loan amount for students starting courses in Autumn 2024. As a guide, the maximum value of the loan was £12,167 for courses starting on or after 1 August 2023.
The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Overseas fee
2025 entry
£42,900
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the College, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our tuition fees payment terms, including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out how we assess your fee status.
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
The government has not yet published the loan amount for students starting courses in Autumn 2024. As a guide, the maximum value of the loan was £12,167 for courses starting on or after 1 August 2023.
The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Scholarships
The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Industrial Design Studentships
Value per award
- Full tuition fees plus stipend.
Who it's for
- UK resident, recently graduated first degree, and intending to make a career in British Industry.
Scholarships and bursaries for home students
Value per award
- Varies
Who it's for
- Top UK home students who are eligible for home fee status
How will studying at Imperial help my career?
Drive and manage innovation initiatives within organizations as Innovation Leads.
Offer expertise in design thinking, user experience, and creative problem-solving to clients as Design Consultants.
Develop new physical or digital products, features, or services, overseeing the entire product lifecycle as Product Developer/Manager.
Start and lead your own venture, applying design and innovation principles to Entrepreneurship and Start-ups.
Contribute to the creation of innovative digital solutions in the Technology and IT sector.
Apply design thinking and innovation to optimize processes and improve customer experiences in E-Commerce, Healthcare, and Services Industry.
Further links
Contact the department
- T: +44(0) 20 7594 8888
- E: designeng-mscde@imperial.ac.uk
Course directors: Dr Shayan Sharifi and Dr Céline Mougenot
Visit the Dyson School of Design Engineering website.
Request info
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Events, tasters and talks
Meet us and find out more about studying at Imperial.
Terms and conditions
There are some important pieces of information you should be aware of when applying to Imperial. These include key information about your tuition fees, funding, visas, accommodation and more.
You can find further information about your course, including degree classifications, regulations, progression and awards in the programme specification for your course.
Programme specifications