Racing Engine Systems

• We are known as a premier institution for Motorsport education - our motorsport legacy is recognised worldwide and many of our graduates progress to work for most advanced high-performance engine manufacturers, such as Ferrari and Mercedes HPP, all F1 teams and major suppliers to motorsport industry, such as Riccardo, Xtrac, Prodrive, and Hewland.
• Our programme has been developed with and delivered in collaboration with the automotive and motorsport industry: you will be taught by staff with many years of racing engine experience, from performance road cars, Rally, IRL, Kart and F3 right up to F1 and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, that include four engine test cells, analytical and mechanical test equipment and the latest 3D printing technology, in addition to a range of racing cars. Industrial aspect of delivery is enhanced by our visiting speakers from business and industry, providing professional perspectives, preparing you for an exciting career.
• Our close industry links can also be seen through research projects and consultancies that enable us to feed the latest technology and developments into our teaching as well as providing opportunities for students to undertake projects with neighbouring companies, also based in the UK Motorsport Valley, whilst our well-funded research programmes in areas of current concern such as vehicle end-of-life issues, modern composite materials and electric vehicles offer. In the most recent REF (2014) 57% of the department's research was judged to be of world leading quality or internationally excellent with 96% being internationally recognised. Our research incorporates the latest developments within the sector with high profile visiting speakers contributing to our invited research lectures.
• Regular visits to F1 teams, Formula E teams and major suppliers to the motorsport industry provide students with opportunities to explore technical challenges and the latest technology -- to get a flavour of the activities, visit our news and events webpage.

Be a part of our award winning racing team   

Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR), is an award-winning team from Oxford Brookes University that has competed in Formula Student since its inception in 1999. The team designs, builds and races a single-seat Formula Student car, and is made up of approximately 200 students from across the department’s engineering courses.

You can see the latest updates from the team on their Instagram and Facebook pages.

The course is structured around three time periods: Semester 1 runs from September to December, Semester 2 from January to May, and the summer period completes the year until the beginning of September.

To qualify for a master's degree you must pass the compulsory modules, one optional module and the dissertation.

Compulsory modules:

• Advanced Powertrain Engineering provides an understanding of areas such as powertrain system requirements, energy flow in the driveline, engine and powertrain modelling concepts for evaluating the performance of powertrain systems.

• Engineering Business Management provides you with an understanding of the management skills and knowledge that are important in engineering industries.

• Advanced Strength of Components develops knowledge and skills in fatigue and fracture analysis which are used to predict the conditions for fatigue failure and fracture and the life of mechanical components.

• Racing Engine Systems will give you a thorough understanding of the theoretical and practical considerations associated with the design and functioning of a racing engine. You will learn to perform advanced design analysis on each area, such as the block, valve-train, head design and thermal management. Practical analyses will be carried out using advanced analysis tools such as GT-Power, ANSYS, and ADAMsEngine.

• The Dissertation (core, triple credit) is an individual project on a topic from race engineering, offering an opportunity to specialise in a particular area related to high performance engines. In addition to developing your expertise in a highly specialised field, including use of industry-standard software and/or experimental work, the module will also provide you with research skills, planning techniques, project management. Whilst a wide range of industry-sponsored projects are available (e.g. McLaren, AVL, VUHL etc.), students are also able undertake their own projects in the UK and abroad, to work in close co-operation with a research, industrial or commercial organisation.

Optional modules (choose one):

• Engineering Reliability and Risk Managementcovers the principles and techniques for improving the reliability of engineering components and systems, predicting their life and managing technical risk.

• Data Acquisition Systems and Computational Modelling will provide you with an understanding of the theoretical and practical issues relating to data collection and data use, alongside knowledge of advanced modelling techniques and analysis. It covers data acquisition systems, including sensors, conversion, logging, signal processing, data merging, and data analysis, and models are built using programming and Simulink. Furthermore, acquired data is used for modelling and validation of complex systems.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly, the choice of modules available may differ from those described above.

Teaching and learning

Teaching methods include lectures and seminars to provide a sound theoretical base, and practical work to demonstrate important aspects of theory or systems operation. Visiting speakers from business and industry provide valuable insights.

Approach to assessment

Coursework exercises, essays, presentations and laboratory exercises form the basis for continuous assessment.

Assessment methods include examination and coursework reflecting the development of academic content from the more practical aspects to the more conceptual.

Specialist facilities

We have purpose built teaching and research facilities with the very best equipment and resources required to study and practise motorsport engineering, including a four-post test rig, state-of-the-art engine test cells, analytical and mechanical test equipment, scanning electron microscope and the latest 3D printing technology. 

The department also makes use of Computational Fluid Dynamics techniques for in-cylinder combustion modelling. Our dedicated computer suites provide access to the latest industry-standard design software.

Programme changes

On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our Changes to programmes page.

Tuition fees

Home/EU - full time fee: 2019/20: £7,270 2020/21: £8,500

Home/EU - part time fee: 2019/20: £3,710 2020/21: £4,250

International - full time: 2019/20: £15,160 2020/21: £16,000

Where part time fees are quoted this is for the first year only. Fees will increase by up to 4% each year.

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course, if any, are detailed in the 'This course in detail' window above.

Questions about fees?
Contact Student Finance on:
+44 (0)1865 483088
finance-fees@brookes.ac.uk

Funding and scholarships

If you are UK/EU student, this is a great year to study Masters in the UK as the UK government has just introduced a new scheme, available to all students (under the age of 60).

Postgraduate loan scheme: /studying-at-brookes/finance/postgraduate-finance---uk-and-eu-students/postgraduate-loan-scheme/

Departmental scholarships: /ecm/courses/scholarships/

UK/EU: /studying-at-brookes/finance/postgraduate-finance---uk-and-eu-students/sources-of-funding-for-postgraduate-uk-and-eu-students/

International: /studying-at-brookes/finance/postgraduate-finance---international-students/funding-options-for-postgraduate-international-students/

A number of external organisations are also offering awards of up to £2,000 which you may be interested in to supplement any other funding you find. As these are external awards, please contact the companies involved if you have any queries:

Findamasters: http://www.findamasters.com/fundingAwards/

TARGET Courses: http://targetcourses.co.uk/bursarycompetition

Postgrad.com: http://www.postgrad.com/editorial/bursaries/

Entry requirements

You should normally hold a first degree, equivalent to at least a British lower second-class bachelor's degree, in mechanical, automotive or motorsport engineering or a related discipline. Applicants with relevant professional experience will also be considered.

How to apply

Careers

Our graduates enjoy the very best employment opportunities, with hundreds of engineering students having gone onto successful careers in their chosen industry. Many of our students go on to work with leading motorsport companies, including directly into F1 teams and suppliers. Click here to view a range of student profiles.

Students are also able to make full use of the University Careers support system.

How Brookes supports postgraduate students

Supporting your learning

From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.

Research highlights

The results of the most recent REF (2014) exercise showed that 96% of research in the department is internationally recognised, and 57% was judged to be of world leading quality or internationally excellent, compared with 45% in 2008. More specifically, 50% of the impact case studies returned were judged to be internationally excellent, and 72% of the research outputs were judged to be internationally excellent or world leading.

Research areas and clusters

The emphasis in our research groups is producing high-quality research for the real world. Staff have close links with industry through research projects and consultancies. Click here to find out more about our research.

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