Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing Systems
Industrial transformation in Uganda is constrained less by machinery than by the absence of engineers who can design, digitalise and lead a production system. This professional engineering masters is the practice weighted counterpart to the School's research MSc: it is built for working ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Manufacturing systems engineer
- production engineering lead
- digital manufacturing engineer
- industrial automation lead
- operations engineering manager
- process and quality engineering lead
- manufacturing consultant
- technical founder
Employer types
- Manufacturers and industrial parks
- agricultural and food processors
- automotive and assembly operations
- packaging and consumer goods firms
- engineering consultancies
- development agencies supporting industrialisation
- government industrial programmes
- and the graduate's own venture
- incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This professional masters is built for practising engineers and manufacturing professionals and supports senior technical roles and consulting. Progression routes include doctoral study for those who move toward research.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Postgraduate programmes carry work integrated learning inside the taught structure rather than the twelve month undergraduate cooperative education placement. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing Systems. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 501 | Applied Intelligence for Professionals Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 502 | Research Evidence and Method Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MEAM 510 | Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Processes Both | 6 | 3-2-2 |
| MEAM 511 | Production Systems Design and Optimisation Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| MEAM 512 | Digital Manufacturing and the Industrial Internet Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MEAM 513 | Automation, Robotics and Smart Production Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 503 | Governance, Ethics and Leadership of Intelligent Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MEAM 520 | Quality, Metrology and Reliability Engineering Performance | 7 | 3-2-4 |
| MEAM 521 | Manufacturing Data Science and Analytics Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MEAM 522 | Lean, Flow and Operations Leadership Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MEAM 523 | Advanced Manufacturing Elective Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MEAM 524 | Manufacturing Systems Elective Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEAM 530 | Industrial Systems Project and Dissertation Performance | 20 | 0-2-12 |
| MEAM 531 | Doctoral and Research Preparation Seminar Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
| MEAM 532 | Research Translation and Commercialisation Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
Total credit units: 90
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing Systems
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 30 COMPETENCY UNITS
Year 1 · this step is worth 30 CU
Cumulative
30
Programme total
90
30 CU of 90 CU completed by the end of this step (33%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
Critical capabilities for this programme: Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Design a production system from product requirement to commissioned line, justified against cost, quality and throughput.
- PLO 2Digitalise a manufacturing operation: sensing, data, control and the digital twin.
- PLO 3Integrate automation and robotics into production safely and profitably.
- PLO 4Engineer quality and reliability into a production system and measure it.
- PLO 5Model, simulate and optimise a production system before and during operation.
- PLO 6Lead the scale up of a product from pilot to industrial line.
- PLO 7Apply intelligent systems to manufacturing decisions while retaining human oversight.
- PLO 8Lead an engineering team and a change programme with evidence and a financial case.
- PLO 9Deliver a major industrial project inside a real plant with a measured outcome.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Industrial transformation in Uganda is constrained less by machinery than by the absence of engineers who can design, digitalise and lead a production system. This professional engineering masters is the practice weighted counterpart to the School's research MSc: it is built for working manufacturing professionals and for engineering graduates who intend to build and run production systems rather than study them. The emphasis throughout is on the deployable system, the commissioned line and the measured improvement, and the programme terminates in a major industrial project delivered inside a real plant.
Admission requirements
A good first degree (second class or above) in engineering or a cognate technical discipline, or substantial manufacturing engineering experience admitted through recognition of prior learning; plus a short technical task scored against Capabilities C5 and C7. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: recognition of prior learning against the admission profile under Part G, including substantial professional practice in lieu of the named first degree field. Online components require the Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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