Over the last couple of years, the Department of Engineering has successfully brought in nearly £15 million in donations. This results from the commitment of leading academics, the strong support of alumni and the Department's close working relationship with the Cambridge University Development Office (CUDO) for the University's 800th anniversary campaign. Only one other department in the University has matched this performance.
Dr Alan Reece's £5 million donation for the Institute for Manufacturing's new building was the largest one-off gift given to a Department this year matching an earlier donation from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation for this project. Also thanks to philanthropy, Dr Garth Wells has been appointed as the first Hibbitt Lecturer in Solid Mechanics and a new Lecturer in Engineering for Clinical Medicine is planned to start in October. The Ashby Scholarship and two other research posts in Water and Gas Engineering have been recently funded, along with a number of other projects. More information about these projects and the generous donations that made them possible can be found either via the links from this article or will be published in future articles.
Looking forward, we are about to identify and define a series of new fundraising projects for a variety of posts and studentships in line with the core academic strengths of the Department and its strategic themes. We are gearing up for fundraising for the development of the Trumpington Street site, once the University gives the go ahead. We are also seeking support for outreach to schools.
The Department is deeply grateful for philanthropic funding for specific projects as well as funding that allows Engineering students and staff 'The Freedom to Discover' -- a critical 800th Campaign Goal. The latter enables our world-leading academics and students the unrestricted funding to pursue new ideas and push the boundaries of engineering in unexpected ways. While we have done very well so far in the 800th campaign, we have the ambition to do much more.
The Department is now in touch with over 15,000 of its graduates around the world. Quite a number have helped our campaign with not only money, but also ideas and networking. Our campaign is poised to really take off thanks to their generosity, the commitment of our academics and the support of CUDO.
More news of fundraising plans and successes will be forthcoming. Please do not hesitate to contact the Department if you want to get involved.
For further information please contact, Philip Guildford email: pg28@cam.ac.uk or Liffy Gorton email: eag26@foundation.cam.ac.uk.
For more information on the IfM new building click here.
