Welcome from the Head of Department

Engineering Science is the discipline underpinning all modern engineering practice. The key feature of engineering science is the development and use of computer models to understand, plan, and control our world. These models range from operational models such as those used every half hour to dispatch electricity generation, or those used every day to route delivery vehicles for a supermarket chain, to long-range planning models such as those that seek to optimise the drilling of wells and extraction of geothermal power. Models are also used to guide engineering design standards e.g. for road construction or making components from composite materials.

Good models rely on sound physics and mathematics, and the majority of students in engineering science are very strong in these areas. The development and use of optimisation models is a key feature of the degree. A BE(Hons) degree in Engineering Science is a highly respected qualification that has become a sought-after stepping stone to careers in business consulting, finance, software development, energy modelling, and consulting engineering.

Bioengineering operates at the interface of biology and engineering. The emphasis in the Auckland degree is on biomedical engineering, which relates to the development of engineering solutions for medical applications. This could be developing and using computer models to test new drugs, or designing a new heart pacemaker. Many students undertaking this degree pursue postgraduate research in the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, a world-leading research institute with strong connections to the department.

Our department has an outstanding international reputation for the quality of its research activities, in operations research, continuum mechanics, and biomedical engineering, in research fields as diverse as staff rostering and scheduling, optimal radiotherapy, network design and simulation, electricity market optimisation, geothermal and oil reservoir modelling, and the mechanics of composite materials. We welcome enquiries for doctoral and masters study and invite you to explore the profiles of the departmental staff for their respective research fields.

Associate Professor Piaras Kelly
Head of Department