Automation Engineering / ¬

Applications from QQI Level 5 and 6 are welcome. Further details at www.tudublin.ie/qqi

Mature applicants (23+) are welcome. Further details at www.tudublin.ie/mature

Students choosing the Level 7 General Engineering programme in Tallaght Campus will have the option in Year 1 to choose Automation Engineering. They are still the same well known and highly commended programmes offered in previous years on the Tallaght Campus, only this year we combined the first few modules to give students more time to choose their specialisation.

Engineers are in extremely high demand right now in Ireland and globally with exponential growth in job opportunities, especially in the Automation sector.

With such rapid advances in technologies in the healthcare and medical devices sector, robotics, pharmaceutical, automotive, food and beverage industries, graduates of these three programmes will be at the forefront of new technologies to help improve our quality of life through new innovative designs.

Engineers Ireland have accredited our programmes for over 25 years now which means that graduates can travel worldwide and have their qualifications recognised abroad. 

The Level 7 programme takes 3 years to complete and we ensure that additional tutorials are available for any students who may require additional academic support. The three Engineering disciplines pride themselves on graduating students who are industry-ready after 3 years.

Students experience innovative teaching in modern laboratories and lectures. They can visit engineering companies, travel abroad for a semester or year to our partner Universities in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, China or seek work placements through our close links with engineering companies and past graduates in industry.

Engineering graduates are trained to be creative and inventive, and to solve difficult problems such as the development of new technologies from jet engines to robots to artificial hip implants to hybrid cars and train components.

Automation Engineers are closely linked to mechanical and software engineers. They automate solutions to physical activities to create faster and more efficient ways of doing things. They automate systems in airports, ferry ports, rail systems and in almost every manufacturing plant through use of vision systems, robotics, sensor measurement and control. With advances in network communications they can often control manufacturing plants remotely.

In your final year of all engineering programmes, you will carry out a project, often a design, build and test style project which will develop your problem-solving, design, and communication skills, a key skill that employers require. The project will give you a good opportunity to develop your design, selection of materials and machining skills.

Our past graduate of the Level 7 programmes often work in technical roles in companies such Intel, Aer Lingus, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Kerry Foods, Coca Cola, Siemens, Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson, Kenkel and Google. Many graduates also work in medical device companies, hospital laboratories and the energy sector. Our graduates often progress to Level 8 either full time or part time in order to progress to engineer roles.

The opportunities for engineers are numerous. Past  graduates have gone on to work as creators and designers of new technologies. Some are involved in research of fuel and energy, materials, heating and cooling processes, storage and pumping of liquids and gases. Other  graduates work as process engineers or project  engineers in the food, pharmaceutical, medical  device, semi- conductor and energy sectors. 

- Diarmuid Rush, Head of Department

Graduates of Mechanical, Automation, Biomedical Design Level 7 programmes may progress to Year 4 of their Level 8 programmes upon successful achievement of a GPA of 2.5 and an average 60% in Mathematics at Level 7.

Students who do not have the above may take qualifier exams in August before Year 4 as an attempt to achieve this standard.