School_of_Mechanical,_Aerospace_and_Civil_Engineering

Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester

Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester

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The Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Civil Engineering (or "MACE") at the University of Manchester was formed from three departments in the 2004 merger between the Victoria University of Manchester (VUM) and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). The merged departments were the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering which was joint between both universities,[1] the Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering at UMIST[1] and the Manchester School of Engineering [2] at VUM.

History

Each of the former departments had long histories of excellence in engineering [3][4] including James Prescott Joule's part in the foundation of what was to become UMIST, Joseph Whitworth's contribution to founding both institutions and Osborne Reynolds's [5] study of Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics in the 1890s.

The Whitworth Engineering Laboratories of Owens College were opened in 1886. In 1909 they were replaced by larger laboratories on Coupland Street and Bridgeford Street (a building now used for the School of Music and Drama).[6] These in their turn were replaced in the 1960s by the Simon Engineering Building in Brunswick Street,[7] finished in mid-1962. The school became a department as part of a faculty-wide change in 2019.[8]

Present day

The roof of the Simon Engineering Building

As of 2018 the School has over 100 academics,[9] over 1000 undergraduate students, 400 taught full-time and part-time postgraduate students and 200 postgraduate research students. The range of research topics studied by the students covers many areas of engineering, and includes theoretical and computational research, experimental studies, systems, design and management. Staff expertise encompasses a wide range of topics including aerospace, manufacturing and laser processing, extreme loading and design, structural engineering, fire engineering, process industries, nano-engineering, energy, environment and climate change, management of projects and nuclear graphite technology.

As of 2018 the Head of School is Alice Larkin, Prof of Climate Science & Energy Policy.

The wide range of degree courses offered by the School are supported by extensive computational and experimental facilities such as the largest tilting flume in the world,[10] built in conjunction with the Mason Centre for Environmental Flows and a £6 million upgrade of the George Begg Building which was also recently[when?] completed.

Professors of Engineering in Owens College and the Victoria University of Manchester

These were:[11]

  • 1868-1905: Osborne Reynolds
  • 1905-08: S. Dunkerley
  • 1908-19: J. E. Petavel
  • 1920-49: A. H. Gibson
  • 1945-46: D. R. Hartree, Professor of Engineering Physics
  • 1950-unknown : J. L. Matheson

Professors of Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Technology of the Victoria University of Manchester (UMIST)

These were:[12]

  • 1905-13: J. T, Nicholson
  • 1914-17: A, B, Field
  • 1917-26: G. G. Stoney
  • 1926-39: Dempster Smith
  • 1940-unknown : H. Wright Baker

References

  1. [1]
    "UMIST - Academic departments". 7 June 2003. Archived from the original on 7 June 2003.
  2. [2]
    "The Manchester School of Engineering". 11 December 2004. Archived from the original on 11 December 2004.
  3. [3]
    Edward Fiddes (1937). Chapters in the history of Owens College and of Manchester University, 1851–1914.
  4. [4]
    D. S. L. Cardwell (1974). Artisan to Graduate: Essays to Commemorate the Foundation in 1824 of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution, Manchester. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-1272-4.
  5. [5]
    "Postgraduate Taught - MSC Thermal power and Fluid Engineering - Research (School of Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Engineering - the University of Manchester)". Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  6. [6]
    Charlton, H. B. (1951). Portrait of a University. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 170-71 & plan facing p. 172
  7. [7]
    Hartwell, Clare (2001) Manchester. London: Penguin; pp. 117-18
  8. [8]
    "FAQs - Structure". Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  9. [9]
    Alice Larkin. " "Welcome to MACE". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  10. [10]
    "New tidal flume available in UK for offshore testing". Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  11. [11]
    Charlton, H. B. (1951). Portrait of a University. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 176-77
  12. [12]
    Charlton, H. B. (1951). Portrait of a University. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 182
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