Australia is experiencing a stable and consistent economic growth, spouting new job opportunities. The demand for retail trade skills is on the rise, jobs in demand can range from mechanical and fabrication engineers, to skill intensive jobs such as construction workers and plumbers.
Furthermore, the industry is actually experiencing a shortage of engineers. Hence, international students studying engineering hold potential for high employability upon graduating.
As a result, this article’s purpose is to inform you about the best universities to study engineering in Australia, in order to better hone your skills.
The Basics of Engineering
Engineering is the study of building and designing machines through scientific methods and specific mathematical calculations. Engineering is just a generalized term for a broad field of knowledge, engineering courses in tertiary education usually comes with a major in a specialized area in engineering.
In this respect, each area puts heavier emphasis on particular skills in applied mathematics, sciences, and different applications. Below states the main branches of engineering:
Chemical Engineering
Chemical Engineering combines application of chemistry, biology, physics and engineering principles to execute chemical processes. It can lead to manufacturing commercial products such as commodity chemicals, speciality chemicals, petroleum extraction and refinery, microfabrication, fermentation and biomolecule production (source).
Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering is the construction and design of public and private infrastructure, e.g. buildings, roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, dams, etc. This field can even be specialized into more specific sectors, like structural engineering, environmental engineering, and surveying. (source)
Electrical engineering
Electrical Engineering is the principles of design and manufacturing electrical and electronic systems, including broadcast engineering, electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic devices, electronic devices, optical fibres, computer systems, telecommunications, etc. (source)
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering refers to the design and manufacturing of physical or mechanical systems, like power and energy systems, aerospace products, weapon systems, transportation products, engines, compressors, powertrains, kinematic chains, vacuum technology, vibration isolation equipment, mechatronics, etc. (source)
Recommended Universities to Study Engineering:
This list is based on the QS World Ranking for each university’s Bachelor’s program in Engineering. They are guaranteed to be credible, as they rank their subjects based on:
- High enrolment rate in the program
- High courses satisfaction rates among students and recent graduates
- High employment rate
1. The University of Melbourne
Program Name: Bachelor of Science
General Intake: March
Indicative fee (2019): AUD $39,628 – $43,520
Maintaining itself as one of Australia’s best universities, The University of Melbourne’s engineering program spearheads a ranking of #27.
They offer a range versatile majors under the same degree – Bachelor of Science. Thus, the majors available are as follows:
- Bioengineering Systems
- Biotechnology
- Chemical Systems
- Civil Systems
- Electrical Systems
- Environmental Engineering Systems
- Mechanical Systems
- Mechatronics Systems
- Physics
- Spatial Systems
2. The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)
Program Name: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
General Intake: February and September
Indicative fee (2019): AUD $43,920
Sharing the #27 spot with The University of Melbourne, UNSW is a reputable university providing students with a solid foundation in mathematics, natural sciences, and computing for specialisations within the degree. The wide array of majors include:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Bioinformatics Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemical Product Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
- Mechatronic Engineering
- Mining Engineering
- Petroleum Engineering
- Photovoltaics and Solar Engineering
- Renewable Engineering
- Software Engineering
- Surveying
- Telecommunications
3. Monash University
Program Name: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
General Intake: March
Indicative fee (2019): AUD $44,400
Next up, Monash University has always hold solid positions within university ranking systems. Standing strong at #36, they build solid groundwork for first year students with common core subjects. Then, they branch out into their respective specialisations and learn more complex concepts in their second year.
Monash University offers specialisations in many areas of engineering as well:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Materials Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mechatronics Engineering
- Resources Engineering
- Software Engineering
4. The University of Sydney
Program Name: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
General Intake: February
Indicative fee (2019): AUD $44,400
Famed as the number one university in Australia, The University of Sydney holds up a steadfast #39 position on their engineering courses. They offer a Flexible First Year in the entire program for students who are not sure which specialisation to study. They will dabble in all areas of specialisations before committing on a major in their next year.
The majors available are:
- Aeronautical Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mechatronic Engineering
- Software Engineering
5. The University of Queensland
Program Name: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
General Intake: February
Indicative fee (2019): AUD $42,768
To wrap up our list, we would like to recommend another reputable university in Australia. The University of Queensland upholds its engineering program on rank #64. The first year program provides versatility to mix and match introductory courses before majoring in a specialisation. Furthermore, students are even provided the option to choose one major, dual major or extended major based on the courses they select in the following years.
The options available are:
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemical and Biological Engineering (Dual Major)
- Chemical and Environmental Engineering (Dual Major)
- Chemical and Materials Engineering (Dual Major)
- Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering (Dual Major)
- Civil Engineering
- Civil and Environmental Engineering (Dual Major)
- Civil and Geotechnical Engineering (Dual Major)
- Electrical Engineering
- Electrical and Biomedical Engineering (Dual Major)
- Electrical and Computing Engineering (Dual Major)
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Dual Major)
- Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Dual Major)
- Mechatronic Engineering
- Mining Engineering
- Mining and Geotechnical Engineering (Dual Major)
- Software Engineering
And this concludes our summarized list of the best engineering programs available in Australia. Best of luck in building a bright future.
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About Post Author
Jude Chong
A content writer & a student of University of Nottingham studying Bachelor of Communications. I like indie bands and meeting new people 🙂