Department of Engineering

Research Groups

Research Groups

The Laing O'Rourke Centre for Construction Engineering and Technology is part of the Construction Engineering Group and is a partnership between the Department of Engineering, Cambridge Judge Business School and Laing O'Rourke, the UK's largest privately owned construction company. The Centre was created as the result of a generous donation by Laing O'Rourke.The goal of the Centre is to precipitate innovation and provide a new vision for the shape of tomorrow's construction industry.

The Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group is home to nine academic staff, a computer officer, seven technicians, two administrative staff, two post graduate researchers and 56 graduate students. The interests of the group are wide, ranging from the fundamental mechanics of soils to encompass applications such as construction processes; infrastructure such as tunnels and shafts; environmental engineering; petroleum engineering structures such as offshore piles and pipelines; sustainable and renewable energy technologies like offshore wind farms and earthquake engineering including soil liquefaction.

The Structures Group is a sub-division within Civil Engineering with around 70 'core' members including graduate students, research associates and academic, technician and administrative staff.  The Group also reflects an extended community of MEng students, affiliated, honorary and emeritus staff, and interested parties from other groups and organisations.  

The Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD) was established in 2000 to introduce concepts of sustainability across all undergraduate engineering courses.  The Centre has grown to encompass the delivery of a one-year MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development (introduced in 2002) and a research community covering sustainable development issues.  Research in CSD covers aspects of water, energy and housing in both developed and developing countries, often using a systems approach and seeking multi-disciplinary perspectives to deliver knowledge that can improve practice.