Imperial College London

This course develops an understanding of the principles of a variety of industrially-significant processes concerned with energy conversion and use, and of the design and operation of plant relying on those processes (including gas and steam turbines, boilers and heat exchangers, reciprocating engines, refrigeration and air-conditioning plant). It develops an ability to make thermodynamic analyses of the processes involved and to select and apply rational performance criteria and parameters. Students develop an awareness of the power and utility of thermodynamics in engineering design, both at the system and the component detail level, with recognition of the constraints imposed by materials, stressing, economics and the environment. 

This course establishes a strong foundation and understanding of elementary fluid mechanics. After establishing the basics of the mathematical description of fluids, fluid statics and dynamics are covered, the latter employing control volume analysis. The knowledge is put to application, particularly in the last part of the course which focuses on internal flows.

Students study core computer graphics concepts, including the mathematical principles used for computer-generated imagery, shading, and light approximations. They also learn different geometry representations and modelling techniques and learn to apply what they have learned to practical computer graphics problems, using modern shader languages and graphics accelerators.

This course exposes students to the engineering, safety, and socio-economic context of nuclear energy. It explores the technical, industrial, social, economic, and environmental issues related to nuclear energy and the interplay of the many technical (and economic and social) issues that arise in the use of nuclear energy. Students analyze, with the aid of appropriate simplifications, the economics of nuclear energy generation.