In 2001 the RMIT University in Melbourne will be offering for the first time a Bachelor of Engineering (Automotive) degree. The new course has resulted from demands of industry as well as from school leavers. It builds on a core course of mechanical engineering and offers specialist subjects, enabling graduates to be immediately effective in the automotive industry as automotive engineers.
Automotive engineers are employed in the car companies as well as in many other industries that require specialised mechanical engineering skills. The major car, truck and bus companies as well as racing teams and parts manufacturers all employ automotive engineers. Previous students of RMIT are now working locally in Ford, General Motors, Mitsubishi and Toyota, as well as in Audi, BMW, Daimler-Chrysler and Bosch overseas.
The course provides a basic grounding in engineering and manufacturing before going on to specialise in automotives. "The course is structured with a front end of mechanical engineering and manufacturing. It's when students get to the last couple of years that they specialise in automotive areas - some will go to placement in industry for a year, for example," says Associate Professor Simon Watkins of the RMIT Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering school.
Subjects covered in the internationally-accredited course include Vehicle Power Systems, Computational Vehicle Design, Vehicle Handling and Control, Vehicle Aerodynamics and Styling, and Vehicle Noise and Vibration. And is it possible to sneak in some work on your own car? Simon Watkins pauses before answering, "Those that come back from their industry placements often bring with them a project - it might be door closing efforts on Commodores, or it might be the Aurora solar race car, or water pump design for Ford. And yes, some students indeed do Final Year Projects on their own cars."
An alternative is to work on the Formula SAE racecar: "The Final Year Project can be almost anything, which gives us the flexibility to do lots of different projects. For example, we currently have 15 students who are doing their Final Year Project on the Formula SAE racer."
And how can you gain entrance to the course? "There are a number of paths that you can come in by. One is that if you have done exceptionally well in a TAFE course - like an Advanced Diploma - you can go on to do the degree. But the mainstream of the students come straight from school. The reality is that the cut-off score - the entry score required to get in - is on a competitive basis. To gain entrance will require a fairly high cut-off score, and applicants will need skills - certainly in mathematics and almost inevitably in physics and some of the other science subjects. I would imagine that the required cut-off score will be in the low to mid-nineties. We've already had my inquiries about this course than any of our other engineering degrees..."
The full-time course normally takes four years to complete, with most classes are held during the day.
www.mm.rmit.edu.au
Applicants must apply through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC), 40 Park Street South Melbourne, and must follow any extra requirements listed in the VTAC Guide. The VTAC Guide can be purchased through newsagencies. For further information contact VTAC on 1300 364133 or visit the VTAC website: www.vtac.edu.au
International and non-Australian resident applicants are advised to obtain further information from RMIT International Pty Ltd, GPO Box 2303U, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia, telephone +(61 3) 9925, fax (61 3) 9663 6925, e-mail isu@rmit.edu.au International applications maybe made using the web site at www.ip.rmit.edu.au/internat/is
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