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Cambridge's undergraduate Engineering course is different to most universities' in that the start of the course is broad with specialism not occurring until the 3rd year (or 2nd year in the case of Chemical Engineering). Instead of applying directly for the specialism they wish to follow, applicants apply for the Engineering Tripos. The course differs from the course at Oxford in that Chemical Engineering is a separate course in Cambridge which is branched to after the first year, unlike in Oxford where it appears as a specialism option in the third year..

Contents 1 Admissions 2 Teaching and Assessment Styles 2.1 Lectures 2.2 Coursework (1st and 2nd year) 2.3 Coursework (3rd and 4th year) 2.4 Supervisions 2.5 Examples classes 2.6 Exams 3 Course Structure 3.1 Overview 3.2 First year 3.3 Second year 3.4 Third year 3.5 Fourth year 3.6 Chemical Engineering 3.7 Manufacturing Engineering (M.E.T.) 4 Optional Activities 4.1 Language Unit 4.2 Outreach 4.3 Engineers Without Borders 5 Links

Admissions

Lots of information on this on department website.

Typical offer: AAA. Some colleges have been known to give offers based on AEAs you are taking too.

Further maths is highly recommended. Not only does it add to your application a lot but it is the first term's maths pretty much sorted.

Teaching and Assessment Styles

Lectures

The good old fashioned way... lecturer standing at the front of a packed hall with a powerpoint, OHP or blackboard and sometimes a demonstration. Notes are given out either complete (yay, sleep time) or with occassional gaps so missing the odd lecture is manageable. Lasts 1 hour.

Coursework (1st and 2nd year)

2 hour session. Attendance compulsory which is a bugger if they're at 9 on a Monday morning. "Standard credit" system (1st and 2nd year only) means that as long as you put in the minimum considered acceptable effort you effectively get full marks - this is to stop you spending too much time worrying about labs when you should be worried about your exams.

Some labs are random ones which reinforce stuff from lectures (you might have not covered the lecture material by the time you do the lab). "Short" labs are simply ones where you turn up for the two hours required and get the marks. "Long" labs require a report to be written and marked up separately.

There's also projects which can go on for longer and will require some of your free time to be sacrificed in order to get them finished.

Coursework (3rd and 4th year)

Gone are the days of Standard Credit!

Supervisions

Two students to one supervisor (can be PhD student up to person who lectures the course which is always scary). You discuss examples papers which are question sheets given out with problems based on lecture material. These always come quicker than you can do them so expect a few to be left over from each term to do in the holiday. If you don't turn up to a supervision it's embarrassing and college can charge you the cost of it. Supervisors write reports on your progress each term but at the end of the day they're only there to get you through the exam. These are normally 1 hour.

Examples classes

Classes like mini-lectures run by whoever wrote the examples paper to see if there are common problems which they can help everyone with at once. Attendance strictly optional; some end up like supervisions when 2 or 3 people turn up. Several run at once for different topics in different rooms.

Exams

ARGH!

Course Structure

Overview

1st yr: All study a broad course.

2nd yr: Continue broad course similar to first year or branch to Chemical Engineering Tripos, a completely separate course.

3rd yr: Choose modules based on chosen engineering area or switch to Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (another completely separate course) or go on exchange to MIT in America, returning to do fourth year in Cambridge. Also option to switch to Management Studies which is not taken by many.

4rd yr: Continue specialised studies with more choice of modules.

The broad beginning is good but it does mean that in the first few years there will be subjects that you hate, and you will at times find yourself thinking "Why on earth am I studying field effect transistors, I want to be a civil engineer!"

First year

Four 3hr exam papers you'll be working towards taking:

Paper 1: Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics & Thermodynamics

Paper 2: Structures & Materials

Paper 3: Electronics, Electrical Power, Digital Electronics & Electromagnetic Fields

Paper 4: Maths & Computing

Maths is split into two lecture courses in the first term with one for those who've done Further Maths and one for those who haven't. Those who haven't done Further Maths cover material slightly more slowly, having one more lecture a week. After Michaelmas term it's all new material!

Typical workload:

Lectures: 11/week (Mich & Lent), 13/week (Easter)

Labs: 4/week (Mich & Lent), 3/week (Easter).

Supervisions: about 2/week (Mich), 3/week (Lent & Easter)

Examples classes: 1/week

Timetabled things stop only a couple of weeks before your exams in the Easter term which is unlike how it works in many other unis.

Labs are mostly based on material in lectures though there is a computing course (C++ programming) and also a drawing course which is half traditional (projections etc) and half CAD using ProEngineer. There's also an exposition course once a week in the first term where you practice presentation and report-writing skills.

Structural Design Project takes up a few labs (and several afternoons) in Mich or Lent and is quite fun - you build a truss bridge or cantilever out of aluminium bars to carry a specified load. There's also a (completely theoretical) design project over the Easter vacation where you design something.

Plus unless you've got it in the bag already you're expected to spend 8 weeks of your summer holiday doing relevant work experience.

http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/index-ia.htm for more info including detailed syllabus descriptions.

Second year

Instead of staying with Engineering for the second year there's the choice to move to Chemical Engineering which is a totally separate subject.

Eight 2-2.5 hr exam papers:

Paper 1: Mechanics

Paper 2: Structures

Paper 3: Materials

Paper 4: Thermodynamics & Fluid Mechanics

Paper 5: Electrical

Paper 6: Information (Linear systems, Fourier transforms etc)

Paper 7: Maths

Paper 8: Introduction to Business Economics + 2 options

Paper 8 is the start of specialisation process as students can choose two of seven modules which each correspond to one of the disciplines they may choose in the third and fourth year.

Typical workload:

Lectures: 11/week (Mich & Lent), 8/week (Easter)

Labs: 4/week (Mich & Lent), none (Easter).

Supervisions: about 3/week (Mich & Lent), non except revision ones (Easter)

Examples classes: 1/week

Labs are similar to Part IA but with no drawing course; instead a course in Matlab / Octave is given. There is a slightly greater emphasis on independent investigation as a series of experiments on buildings in earthquakes culminate in you devising an experiment yourself and presenting your findings to other people.

The lab sessions of half of one of the terms are given over to the Integrated Design Project. This is a project where students work in teams of six to design, build and program a mobile robot which follows markings to navigate round a course and perform a task which normally involves picking things up and placing them in the correct place depending upon their properties. Towards the end of this you're likely to find yourself spending afternoons and even some of the evening in the department trying to get it finished in time, especially if you're doing software. It's a real test of the skills you've learnt so far and is fun but stressful.

http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/index-ib.htm

Third year

There's the option to switch to Manufacturing Engineering (M.E.T.) for the rest of the course. Alternatively there is an option to stay with Engineering but take this year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA, returning for the fourth year.

Engineering students get to mix-and-match from a large range of modules, though six of them must be from one of the following "Engineering Areas" which will ultimately be the title of degree they get:

Mechanical

Energy and the Environment

Aerospace and Aerothermal

Civil, Structural and Environmental

Electrical and Electronic

Information and Computer

Electrical and Information Sciences

Instrumentation and Control

Engineering for the Life Sciences

Fourth year

Chemical Engineering

Students have the option of transferring to Chemical Engineering for their second year onwards where they are joined by others who have transferred from Natural Sciences Tripos.

Manufacturing Engineering (M.E.T.)

Optional Activities

Language Unit

Students can take classes run by native speakers within the engineering department for French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. Self-teaching resources for other languages are available. There is (unfortunately) homework, but second years can use it as one of the "Selected topics" on Paper 8 and Fourth Years can use it as a module. The Language Unit also runs trips to visit the France, Germany and Spain in the vacations where you can see the countries from an engineering perspective.

Outreach

The department runs activities for local schools and at the Cambridge Science Festival which can be a fun way to use some of your spare time.

Engineers Without Borders

Links

CUED website: http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/

CUED undergraduate prospectus: http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/admissions/