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Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering MSc

London, Stratford (UCL East)

From the manufacturing of lightweight, sustainable and durable materials, to revolutionising additive manufacturing, nanotechnology is shaping our future. When you’ve completed this specialist Master’s, you’ll have the technical skills and practical experience to design, and manufacture, materials and solutions at the nano and micro scales.  

UK students International students
Study mode
Full-time
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£20,500
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£39,800
Duration
1 calendar year
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 1

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

If you are intending to apply for a time-limited visa to complete your UCL studies (e.g., Student visa, Skilled worker visa, PBS dependant visa etc.) you may be required to obtain ATAS clearance. This will be confirmed to you if you obtain an offer of a place. Please note that ATAS processing times can take up to six months, so we recommend you consider these timelines when submitting your application to UCL.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree


This unique one-year MSc programme will get you industry-ready for a career as a manufacturing and materials engineer. 

You’ll put your learning into practice on every module of this programme, translating your theoretical studies into concrete practical experience through lab work, design activities or specially designed industry-relevant manufacturing challenges. 

Working in the world-class engineering facilities at our new, purpose-built UCL East Campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, you’ll learn how to achieve results in environments designed to replicate industrial settings. You’ll collaborate regularly with external industry partners, some of whom may also supervise your group project. 

In addition to the demonstrable hands-on experience with a broad range of manufacturing, machine shop, and characterisation techniques, and numerical toolsets necessary to work in nanoscale manufacturing, you’ll develop solid project management and design skills. This will give you an even greater chance of career progression in this rapidly expanding field. 

You can also shape your studies around your specific interests, with a wide range of optional modules that includes Nature-Inspired Solutions and Sustainability Analysis, allowing you to explore the vital research of safety issues, ethics and life cycle impacts of nano-engineered materials.

Who this course is for

This programme is for students with a background in chemistry, materials, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering or civil engineering, who are interested in deepening their understanding of materials engineering manufacturing. It will prepare you for leadership positions across a wide range of sectors, from energy and sustainable development, to healthcare and medical innovation.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

This programme offers you the following benefits and opportunities:

  • A postgraduate degree from a top-ranked university. UCL is consistently ranked among the best universities globally (ranked 9th in the latest QS World University Rankings 2025), providing you with a prestigious qualification that is highly regarded by employers worldwide. 
  • The chance to study at UCL Mechanical Engineering, the first in the world to introduce laboratories in engineering education in 1878. 
  • Advanced characterisation techniques to investigate the properties of different materials at the nano and micro scales. 
  • Ample opportunities to get hands-on, industry-relevant experience with the manufacturing, metrology, and testing of materials and structures.
  • Computational modelling techniques used to overcome challenges in material design. 
  • A comprehensive skillset for both ‘bottom-up’ processes such as additive manufacturing and ‘top-down’ approaches such as precision manufacturing, enabling you to work with the future needs of the manufacturing sector in mind.
  • Collaborate with peers and industry partners to solve real-world manufacturing challenges, implementing an entire engineering workflow to design, build and test a functional prototype. 
  • Study in the world's best city for university students (QS Best Student Cities 2024). 
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme
Making an impact
UCL Portico building with welcome sign between columns.

Case study: A Quest for the Exceptional, the Unique, and the Remarkable

Dr Eral Bele discusses how his materials research is pushing the boundaries of what is possible

The foundation of your career

The skills you will learn on this Master's will be immensely valuable in any industry that uses, designs, or manufactures materials. 

Recent graduates from UCL Mechanical Engineering have gone onto work for organisations such as Rolls Royce, SpaceX, Mercedes AMG and the Royal Navy. Others have successfully launched their own enterprises, including environmental firm Greenr, custom-fit cycle helmet company Hexr, and biomedical outfit Oxford Heartbeat.

I have thoroughly enjoyed studying future manufacturing and nanoscale engineering at UCL. The course is very hands on combining lab work and lectures, allowing me to apply my technical knowledge in a practical settings while providing ample opportunities to enhance key skills such as presenting. Collaborative learning is a key part of the course with numerous group projects throughout the year fostering teamwork, communication, and leadership which I feel has adequately prepared me for the workplace.

Headshot of alumna Maddalena

Maddalena De Cesare

MSc Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering

Employability

This programme’s emphasis on practical skill-building will provide you with valuable evidence of your technical prowess and ability to design, characterise, test and apply nano-engineered materials and manufacturing techniques. 

Your specialism will also qualify you to work in any industry that uses, designs or manufactures materials. This robust technical background will be supplemented with extensive training in practical problem solving and real-world application, along with an understanding of commercialisation, sustainability and how processes can be scaled to meet changing demands. 

Your combination of in-demand technical and commercial skills will be sought by a large range of future employers as nanotechnology becomes an ever-greater part of our daily lives. 

Nano-engineering skills are particularly prized in the automotive, aerospace and additive manufacturing (3D printing) industries, where you can take on roles such as design engineer, structural analyst or innovation consultant.

Networking

You’ll have regular opportunities to connect, collaborate and build professional contacts as part of your Master’s. 

  • Enjoy regular access to industry experts throughout the programme, including industry supervision over your group project. 
     
  • Explore tailored events at both the faculty and departmental level facilitated by UCL Careers, UCL’s alumni team, and UCL Innovation and Enterprise. 
     
  • Participate in and organise student-led events, such as industry visits or guest lectures, with a focus on specific industrial sectors relevant to your studies. 
     
  • Get enterprise-ready through the UCL Innovation and Enterprise entrepreneurship skills programme. You’ll access an entire ecosystem of startup support, with events, lectures, enterprise bootcamps, competitions and more.

Accreditation

The programme is in the process of being accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) on behalf of the Engineering Council as meeting the requirements for Further Learning for registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng). Candidates must hold a CEng accredited BEng/BSc (Hons) undergraduate first degree to comply with full CEng registration requirements.

Teaching and learning

This MSc programme is delivered through a mix of tutorials, lectures, laboratory work, projects and practicals, which draw upon real-life manufacturing challenges. 

Assessment is through examinations, presentations, coursework, and your individual research project. A practical manufacturing challenge is issued by each module, which has been formulated in collaboration with industry.

Full-time students on this programme can expect approximately 12-16 hours of contact hours a week. Contact time takes various forms, including workshops, design studios and practical classes and hands-on lab work (practical and computational), email, and student feedback sessions. This is supplemented by self-directed learning to build up knowledge and skills.

You will also have ongoing contact with teaching staff in each module’s online discussion forum, where you can clarify concepts or assessment matters, and access additional support where required.

Your project module (60 credits) will see you conduct research, write up your final report, and engage in regular contact with your project supervisor(s), who will guide and support you throughout your project.

Modules

This one-year programme is highly experiential. There is both a focus on ‘learning by doing’, and significant laboratory components (physical and computational) in all modules. We emphasise effective group work within diverse teams, to prepare you for the importance of this work in a professional setting.

In the first term, you will study the fundamental concepts of nanoengineering, and the experimental tools of characterising, measuring, and testing materials and structures in the nano and micro scales.

In the second term, you will study modules with specialist content, on nano and micro architected materials, designing materials for manufacturing, and precision manufacturing. In both the first term and the second term, theory will be put into practice in the Group Manufacturing Challenges module.

During the third term, you will work on an advanced research project in a small group, which will be directly supervised by an industry expert. This project will form part of a community outreach event.

Compulsory modules









Optional modules

East London Lab











Exploring Power, Inclusion and Exclusion with Local Communities


Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

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.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Where you'll study

Five students in mechanical engineering lab housing multiple computers and technical equipment on tables

UCL Mechanical Engineering’s facilities are fundamental to our students’ studies and research. From a Thermofluids Laboratory focusing on fuels and emissions, and our Fluids Laboratory, to MechSpace, a large, dedicated teaching lab that sees students design and build prototypes, honing practical engineering skills. The Department also offers excellent resources in our Advanced Propulsion Lab (APL), the Advanced Characterisation Laboratories for Materials & Manufacturing (ACLMM), and now UCL East’s state-of-the-art Manufacturing Futures Lab (MFL), where we take a multidisciplinary approach to the creation of next generation sustainable manufacturing technologies, supported by a Precision Fabrication Workshop (PFW).

Find out more

Visit us

All open days and events

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Where can a UCL Engineering degree take you - Alumni Perspectives

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Where can a UCL Engineering degree take you? Join us for a panel and Q&A event with UCL Engineering alumni. You'll learn what you can expect from postgraduate study at UCL Engineering and get application advice from previous students! This is an opportunity for all applicants to hear personal experiences of studying with us, but may be most relevant to those applying from the USA, Latin and South America.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £20,500
Tuition fees (2025/26) £39,800

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

There may occasionally be small, incidental expenses which can be reimbursed by the department once claimed.

Some elements of the project modules or practicals may require travelling to Bloomsbury campus, which will incur travel costs.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study future manufacturing and nanoscale engineering at graduate level
  • why you want to study future manufacturing and nanoscale engineering at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to this Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering MSc programme
  • how your personal, academic and professional background has prepared and qualified you for the demands of this challenging academic environment and the Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering MSc programme
  • where you would like to go professionally following this programme of study

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

graduate-info@meng.ucl.ac.uk

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