Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

Unleash your creativity and bring your ideas to life.On this BSc (Hons) Product Design and Innovation degree course, you'll combine the theories and methodologies of art and engineering to create and improve the products we use in efficient and cost-effective ways.You'll develop your understanding of engineering design, illustration and computer-aided design while also exploring how to create successful and sustainable products in a competitive market. By graduation, you'll be set up for a career creating and designing products.

- Use sophisticated computer software and rapid prototyping equipment to design new products and improve existing ones- Learn the fundamentals of illustration, computer-aided illustration, computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing technology- Learn how to use professional software to visually communicate your product ideas, including Photoshop, AutoCad (for precise 2D and 3D drawing), Creo (for computer-aided design modules and manufacturing simulations) and Keyshot (for photo-realistic renderings and animation)- Create a product for a professional organisation or design centre based on a brief submitted to you by the company's design manager – current students are creating a handheld controller for a yacht for Raymarine

This course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) for Incorporated Engineer status (IEng). It's also accredited as fulfilling the requirements for membership and Registered Product Designer status (RProdDes) of the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED).

The skills you learn on this course will prepare you to work in any industry you're passionate about, in areas such as product design, design management, consultancy, engineering, marketing and graphic design.Depending on the roles you go into and your experience in industry, you could earn up to £35,000 as a CAD technician, up to £45,000 as a product designer, or up to £35,000 as an exhibition designer. These average salaries all have the potential to increase in line with your experience and position in a company.Graduate destinationsOur graduates have worked for companies such as:- SAS Software- Celli UK- ETL- Ava Energy- CenTrakWhat jobs can you do with a product design and innovation degree?Our graduates now work in roles including:- project manager (transformation team)- customer success strategizer - design technology teacher- account executive- junior product designerOther graduates have continued their studies at postgraduate level or set up successful businesses with help and support from the University.