Part IB

The Metrology Laboratory

All students study seven core subjects for the first two terms of their second year. These are:

The third term contains options, one in each of the main professional engineering activities. Each student chooses two topics from:

(i) Civil and Structural Engineering
Design of steel and reinforced-concrete structures, soil mechanics.

(ii) Mechanical Engineering
Design, manufacture and management.

(iii) Aerothermal Engineering
Design of a jet engine.

(iv) Chemical and Process Engineering
Design for pollutant reduction in the exhaust gases from a power station.

(v) Electrical Engineering
Design of a fast transistor

(vi) Information Engineering Design of a network monitor unit.

The core papers create the educational breadth necessary in modern engineering science, continuing the philosophy of the first-year course. These more advanced topics include the dynamic forces in machine components, the behaviour of heat exchangers, control engineering, the characteristics of electrical machines, and the design of alloys. The optional topics permit the students to study their closest interests in greater depth.

A design project, based on a mechtronic system, demonstrates the integration and teamwork required in modern engineering. Students, working in teams of up to six, design, build and test a mobile robot vehicle. Various tasks, typical of those faced by the automated Guided Vehicles (AGV's) now frequently used in modern manufacturing plants, are set for the vehicles. Each team member is responsible for a particular sub-system, e.g.. structure and drive train, power supply, sensors, electronics, control or software integration, as well as contributing to the overall system design and optimization. The resulting vehicles are tested in a competition to determine the best.

Other coursework includes, about 20 experiments associated with the lecture courses, and a variety of assignments in numerical analysis, computing and management.

Parts IIA and IIB

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