Orange background with world globe in foreground and icons related to engineering

This highly interactive subject will expose you to a variety of engineering disciplines. Through specialist workshops, lectures and seminars, you will develop key skills and work in groups to find solutions to current engineering challenges. The programme will provide unique insight from Imperial academics with different engineering backgrounds, to help you understand the many applications of engineering in the real world. 

In the past, students have: 

  • Explored a range of disciplines and facilities within the Faculty of Engineering. 
  • Conducted practical experiments, collected and analysed data. 
  • Worked as part of a team to solve real-world engineering problems. 
  • Tested their design skills in a series of team-based activities. 
  • Built and tested models and prototypes using a range of materials.  

Students are split into one of two streams once they arrive on campus. Both streams include the same course content. 

Sample session outline

Welcome to Engineering

An introductory session welcoming students to the subject of Engineering at Imperial. Learn about the various engineering departments across the college and what to expect on your two-week programme.

Teaching staff

Aeronautical Engineering

The Department of Aeronautics at Imperial has achieved an outstanding reputation for its research in the aeronautical engineering field. You will be introduced to Aeronautical Engineering, meet a student panel and have the opportunity to learn about aerodynamics from staff who lead a research group in experimental high-speed aerodynamics at Imperial, utilising Imperial’s supersonic and hypersonic wind tunnels.

 This session is split into three parts: A, B, C. Part A will give you an insight into the broad range of activities we tackle in Aeronautics and what we look for in prospective students. Part B provides a taste of what a typical lecture for an Aeronautics student at Imperial is like. Part C is a chance to see some of our state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories.
 
Part A: Introduction to studying Aeronautics at Imperial
  • Welcome talk, comprising a description of our undergraduate course, admission requirements, and examples of teaching and research in the department, delivered by the Aeronautics’ Admissions Tutor Dr Ajit Panesar

  • Student Group Design Project presentation, on the conceptual design of a small-scale rocket flight test mission, from one of our current 3rd year UG students Timur Uyumaz

  • Q&A panel session focusing on the challenges and opportunities of studying Aeronautics at Imperial, led by Dr Panesar & current Imperial Aeronautics students

Part B: Technical Aeronautics lecture
  • “Principles of high-speed flight”: this lecture will give students a flavour of what to expect as a first year Aero student at Imperial, covering basic principles of aerodynamics and its applicability to real-world examples, delivered by Dr Paul Bruce.

Part C: Aero experimental facilities tour
  • You will be split into small groups and taken on a guided tour of the state-of-the-art experimental laboratories in the Aeronautics department. You will visit two of our large wind tunnels, the Aeronautics technology suite featuring 3D printers, the aerial robotics lab, mechanical testing lab, flight simulator and space engineering lab.

Teaching staff

  • Dr Ajit Panesar
    Senior Lecturer, Faculty of EngineeringDepartment of Aeronautics
  • Dr Paul Bruce
    Reader in High-Speed Aerodynamics, Faculty of EngineeringDepartment of Aeronautics
Chemical Engineering

Get ready to learn what chemical engineering is all about – they are the ones designing, operating, and continuously improving the manufacturing processes to make all kinds of things from green hydrogen to COVID-19 vaccines. They do so while also helping to manage the world’s resources and protecting the environment. In this session you will be introduced to some key principles of how chemical processes are modelled and operated and how chemical engineers combine physics, chemistry, mathematics, and computer simulations for this purpose.

You will:

  • Learn about the challenges of operating chemical processes and how chemical engineers are helping to automate tedious tasks while also ensuring safety of operations

  • Carry out hands on simulations to see how to control a process yourself and what difference automation tools can make to help make your job easier

  • Get to explore the Carbon Capture Pilot Plant of the Chemical Engineering Department – which is the most sophisticated of its kind in the world at a university

  • Get to see a how a hydrogen cannon can fire a ping-pong ball up into the air and learn all about hydrogen and how this new green fuel can change our world

Teaching staff

  • Dr Mehmet Mercangöz
    ABB Reader in Autonomous Industrial Systems, Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Dr Colin Hale
    Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Dr Tong Liu
  • Ed Rattner
    PhD student
  • Junyi Cui
    PhD student
  • Simone Livolsi
    Visitor
Civil Engineering
In this session, you will be asked to design a railway bridge for High Speed 2, a new high-speed railway linking London to the Midlands, the North and Scotland. You will set the geometry of the bridge and explore multiple constraints and impact associated with this choice within the following parameter considerations, geometry constraints, geology of the site, flooding risk, environmental and social constraints. The session will be divided into two parts.
 
Part one
In the first part of the activity, you will set the geometry of the bridge and explore the multiple constraints and impacts associated with this choice. The parameters to consider are:
  • Geometric constraints
  • Geology of the site
  • Risk of flooding
  • Environmental and social constraints
You will evaluate and prioritise these constraints to decide on the bridge type.
 
Part two
In the second part of the activity, you will design the bridge considering the following aspects:
  • Bridge typology
  • Construction materials
  • Construction methods
  • Estimated costs
You will finish by making a model of your bridge and testing its capability.
Teaching staff
  • Dr Sunday Popo-Ola
    Research and Teaching Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Alalea Kia
    Advanced Research Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 
Design Engineering

Design Engineers bridge the gap between traditional engineering and innovative design to help find solutions to global problems. In this session, you will have the opportunity to step into the shoes of a Design Engineer, working in teams to come up with creative, exciting, and practical solutions to a variety of engineering challenges.

You will:

  • Learn about what Design Engineers do and what it is like to study Design Engineering at Imperial.
  • Be introduced to key principles, such as design and ideation, rapid prototyping and technical application, alongside important considerations such as human factors and sustainability.
  • Work in teams to create a product that addresses a specific design engineering challenge.

Teaching staff

Earth Science and Engineering

How do you plan a mission to space? And what do you do when you get there? These are two key questions you’ll be answering during this interactive lecture. You will:

  • Learn about our solar system.
  • Consider how to plan a space mission.
  • Apply maths and physics to understand the Earth and other solid bodies in the solar system.
  • Discover how we can use scientific techniques to understand a planet’s environment and how it was formed.

Teaching staff

  • Dr Emma Passmore
    Principal Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering
  • Dr Lizzie Day
    Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Earth Science & Engineering
  • Dr Tom Davison
    Teaching Fellow in Computational Data Science, Department of Earth Science & Engineering
  • Dr Matt Genge
    Senior Lecturer in Earth and Planetary Science, Department of Earth Science & Engineering 
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Information Session (August programme only)

This information session will cover what it's like to study Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial. While it's not a practical session, you will learn about the various benefits of the course and get a true taste of the student experience at the College. 

Optional reading: Guru Madhavan’s Think Like an Engineer 

Teaching staff

  • Kay Hancox

    Department Education Manager, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Please note, this session will only take place during the August 2024 programme.
Materials Science (July programme only)
This session will provide an introduction to Materials Science through an exciting programme of live demonstrations planned by our Department of Materials.
Teaching staff
  • Dr Eleonora D'Elia

    Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of EngineeringDepartment of Materials

Please note, this session will only take place during the July 2024 programme.

Mechanical Engineering

After an introduction to Mechanical Engineering at Imperial, you will take part in a ‘Design, Make and Test’ challenge in teams. Your design will be tested to failure as you compete for the ‘heaviest lifter’ and ‘best design features’ awards.

You will:

  • Gain an appreciation of what Mechanical Engineering is.
  • Get to know other students better by working in a group.
  • Test your creativity, design and manufacturing skills.

 

Teaching staff

  • Dr Linda Stringer
    Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Idris Mohammed
    Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering 
GSS engineering students building robot

Engineering students are building a robot

Student building a science experiment.

Students building an engineering sumobot

The students sat around a table planning their project.

Students building a second prototype robot

Students building their second prototype sumo-bot.

Students starting to build their sumo-bot.