Engineering Summer School
Applications for Engineering in July 2024 are now closed. Limited spaces are available in August. Apply now to avoid missing out.
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 2024 students will:
- Explore a range of disciplines and facilities within the Faculty of Engineering.
- Conduct practical experiments, collect and analyse data.
- Work as part of a team to solve real-world engineering problems.
- Test their design skills in a series of team-based activities.
- Build and test models and prototypes using a range of materials.
Students will be split into one of two streams once they arrive on campus. Both streams will include the same course content. Please download a sample 2024 Engineering timetable for each stream below:
2024 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
- Professor Jason Riley
Vice-Dean (Education) for the Faculty of Engineering
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.
The session will include a guided tour of the Aeronautical Department with puzzles and challenges to complete in each lab. This will be led by current Imperial students giving you a chance to see the college’s excellent equipment, workshops and computing facilities and an opportunity to ask questions about what it’s like to study at Imperial as an undergraduate student.
Teaching staff
- Dr Ajit Panesar
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Aeronautics - Dr Paul Bruce
Reader in High-Speed Aerodynamics, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Aeronautics
Chemical Engineering
Get ready to learn what chemical engineering is all about. Chemical Engineers are responsible for designing, operating, and continuously improving our 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.
Teaching staff
- Dr Mehmet Mercangöz
ABB Reader in Autonomous Industrial Systems, Department of Chemical Engineering
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.
By evaluating these constraints, you will decide on the type of bridge to build and design it whilst considering:
- Bridge typology
- Construction materials
- Construction methods
- Estimated costs
You will then make a model of the bridge to test its capability.
Teaching staff
- Dr Sunday Popo-Ola
Research and Teaching 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
- Dr Samuel Cooper
Senior Lecturer, Dyson School of Design Engineering
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
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.
Teaching staff
- Kay Hancox
Department Education Manager, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Materials Science (July programme only)
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