UK engineering firm partners Imperial to teach creative design

A world leading team of engineers shares its wealth of knowledge with the next generation of undergraduates – News

31 March 2008
By Colin Smith

A world leading UK engineering firm and Imperial College London are working together to train the next generation of engineering undergraduates in a creative design course which started this month.

Academics from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are working with staff members from the engineering company Buro Happold to teach creative design to first and second year undergraduates studying for their Civil and Environmental Engineering degree at the College.

The module is designed to prepare students for their future engineering careers by providing up-to-date industry knowledge from leading professionals in creative design as well as developing their professional presentational skills including how to justify their design concepts in group situations.

Director of Buro Happold Dr Mike Cook has been appointed by Imperial as a visiting professor to help lead the course. He will join the College for one week of each term to oversee classes.

Dr Mike Cook from Buro Happold

Dr Cook has just completed his first visit to the College (10 to 14 March) where he, alongside Imperial academics, taught key design principles which included how to conduct feasibility studies, devise building concepts and create detailed designs of proposed structures.

Undergraduates learnt how to work in teams and apply these skills to real life engineering projects. As a first step, a succession of bridge, structural and infrastructure engineers from Buro Happold visited Imperial to discuss work on projects including the Millennium Dome and new schemes including the redevelopment of the Battersea Power Station.

Students were then asked to solve real life engineering problems faced by these projects, for example, designing and building miniature model pedestrian bridges as a solution to getting future residents and shoppers from the Battersea site across the Thames. In order to get a better understanding of how to communicate their proposed designs in future work scenarios, teams were then asked to explain them to class members.

One of the driving forces behind the course, Dr Sunday Popo-Ola from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said students were learning skills which complement those gained from other courses.

Dr Sunday Popo-Ola (centre) and students

“Project and problem based learning is increasingly becoming a way of teaching engineering students of the 21 Century and our creative design course at the College is leading the way in making sure that our future engineers have the relevant training,” he said.

Caroline Bailey, a first year undergraduate who took part in the course, said she had found it really challenging and relevant to her studies. Ms Bailey, who also has a scholarship from Buro Happold which assists with fees and professional placement at the company during the summer semester breaks, said she had found learning about their engineering projects inspiring.

Caroline Bailey, a first year undergraduate, with her model bridge

“I’m likely to be offered a job with Buro Happold after university so I found this course really exciting. It has also been really challenging to work in teams. Some students have strong points of view and it is a learning curve to work in this type of environment,” she said.

Dr Cook said he hoped students walked away from the course enthused and excited about creative design and hoped they gained a better understanding of the step-by-step processes involved in bringing an engineering concept to a final design stage.

“I was really pleased to be involved in this course. I really want students to get excited about engineering as a career, especially in the field of construction, and I am looking forward to bringing my team back next term to work with Imperial students and staff,” said Dr Cook.

Dr Cook, along with staff from Buro Happold, will return next term to teach creative design from the 16 to 20 of June.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s creative design course is part the Faculty of Engineer’s Envision strategy. Envision is a major scheme focusing on the way the Faculty of Engineering educates its undergraduates and prepares them for their future careers. It aims to build on the Faculty’s international reputation to improve and develop the staff and student experience and set a benchmark for excellence in engineering across the world.