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Engineering

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Sidney is frequently noted for its warm and friendly atmosphere, and the Engineering community is no exception. Each year, the College admits between eight and twelve students to the General Engineering course who will go on to specialise in a particular engineering discipline as the course progresses. All our students will have taken Physics and Mathematics to A2 standard (or equivalent) and about half will also have taken A2 Further Mathematics. The A Level work in Mathematics must have included Mechanics, unless some other means of studying this essential subject is being proposed, in which case the College should be consulted beforehand. The Engineering Department issues several booklets of preliminary work to ensure that everyone has the required knowledge of Mathematics, Mechanics and Electricity before the course starts. Typically half of our Engineering students will have taken a Gap Year to gain industrial experience.

Almost all students stay for four years, finishing with a Masters Degree in Engineering (M. Eng.) although it is possible to leave at the end of the third year, gaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree (B. A.). The Engineering community at Sidney therefore typically consists of about forty Undergraduates, seven Fellows and about six Graduates, a size which reflects the strong tradition of Engineering in the College.

The College’s seven Engineering Fellows have research interests which cover the full breadth of the Engineering Tripos. Professor Keith Glover is a control engineer with wide interests in systems and information technology, and is currently head of the Engineering Department. Professor Ann Dowling is active in the fields of acoustics and fluid mechanics and is head of both the Aeronautical Engineering Division in the Department as well as the University’s Gas Turbine Partnership with Rolls Royce. She has a particular interest in the development of ‘silent aircraft’ and recently chaired the Royal Society’s Commission to study nanotechnology and nanoscience. Dr John Longley is a Senior Lecturer in the field of turbomachinery and works on modelling fluid flows in turbines. Dr Abir Al-Tabbaa is Reader in geotechnical engineering with interests in environmental ground engineering. Dr Andrew Flewitt is a Senior Lecturer in the Electrical Engineering Division with interests in microsystems and the driving electronics for flat panel displays. Professor Richard Penty is also in the Electrical Engineering Division and works in the field of photonic communications. Dr Michelle Oyen is a Lecturer in Engineering for the Life Sciences and works at the emerging interface between engineering and biology, with a particular interest in the mechanics of biological materials. Each undergraduate coming to Sidney would receive College teaching (called supervision) from at least three of these Fellows, together with other university teachers and research workers. The College maintains a tradition of broad based teaching for the first two years of the Engineering Tripos. In each of these years an undergraduate can expect to have two or three hours of College teaching per week in addition to Department teaching. In the third year undergraduates receive specialised supervision either from Fellows of the College or from others as appropriate.

One advantage of having such a community of Engineers is that we are able to sustain our own Engineering Society, known as the Stephenson Society, which is probably the most active college-based Engineering society in Cambridge. The Society, which is run by the Undergraduates, meets every fortnight during the Autumn and Spring Terms (or more properly known as the Michaelmas and Lent Terms). There is an hour talk by a speaker (usually from a company outside Cambridge and frequently one of our Engineering alumni) at each meeting, and this is followed by dinner in Hall. These meetings are usually attended by students and Fellows alike, and is undoubtedly one reason why the Sidney community of Engineers is so cohesive and outward looking.

At Sidney, we are always conscious of the fact that Engineering has Industry at its heart, and that it is essential to place academic study in a wider context. We have a broad and friendly community and we are always keen to find new people and aspire to help them find out how they can make their contribution to Society through Engineering.

If you’re interested in joining our vibrant Engineering community at Sidney as an undergraduate student, you can find out more about what reading Engineering at Cambridge is like and how the course is structured from the Engineering Department website (link below). However, the best way of getting an idea of what it's like here is undoubtedly to attend one of our Open Days (you can sign up online). One of these, at the start of July, is timed to allow you to attend the Engineering Department Open Day as well.