Engineering

This course examines the full spectrum of energy systems used in modern society, including fossil fuels and renewable energy sources, with attention to power generation technologies, energy security, and sustainability challenges. Topics include energy conversion, utilization, and storage for renewable technologies such as wind, solar, biomass, fuel cells, and hybrid systems, grounded in fundamental thermodynamics concepts. The course also explores energy-efficient technologies in buildings, products, manufacturing, and infrastructure, as well as the environmental and social impacts of energy use. Through case studies and discussion, the course addresses debates and misconceptions surrounding sustainable energy systems, energy entrepreneurship, and the role of renewable energy in mitigating climate change and supporting contemporary lifestyles.

Blue Engineering focuses on ecological and social responsibility. The course facilitates creative and interdisciplinary debates on the issues posed by technology in society and in nature. It enables students to network beyond their university and even beyond national borders while exchanging ideas and getting ready to act. As the course focuses on sustainability, topics such as technology assessment, engineers' responsibilities, neutrality of technology, plastics, and gender/diversity. 

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have revolutionized portable electronics; from mobiles to laptops, Li-ion batteries are omnipresent within modern society. Furthermore, we are now seeing a global shift within the automotive industry towards the adoption of electric vehicles, predicted to be a trillion £ market by 2050. This course requires no prior knowledge of battery technology and cover all major aspects, from fundamental operation through to commercial application. This includes tours of cutting-edge research facilities, external speakers from the likes of NASA and perspectives covering: government policy, industrial production, project management, commercial business and marketing.

This interaction between actors in the energy market creates opportunities to use energy more efficiently and reduces the environmental impact of the energy system. It is therefore important to be able to understand the limitations and possibilities of the components and to optimize their usage within the energy system. This course provides engineering expertise regarding energy processes and components within energy systems, and provides the tools needed to argue, judge, and evaluate possible solutions. Prior knowledge of thermodynamics is required.

This course discusses the analysis and control of dynamic systems in continuous time as applied to aerospace systems. It examines the behavior of the systems by way of the classical control theory.  

Prerequisites: Calculus I, Calculus II, Linear Algebra, Programming

This course describes the mathematical underpinnings of Fourier theory, and digital signal processing, especially with regard to music and audio applications. The emphasis is on algebraic work, and on practical computation for sound analysis and synthesis.

The International Internship course develops vital business skills employers are actively seeking in job candidates. This course is comprised of two parts: an internship, and a hybrid academic seminar. Students are placed in an internship within a sector related to their professional ambitions. The hybrid academic seminar, conducted both online and in-person, analyzes and evaluates the workplace culture and the daily working environment students experience. The course is divided into eight career readiness competency modules as set out by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), which guide the course’s learning objectives. During the academic seminar, students reflect weekly on their internship experience within the context of their host culture by comparing and contrasting their experiences with their global internship placement with that of their home culture. Students reflect on their experiences in their internship, the role they have played in the evolution of their experience in their internship placement, and the experiences of their peers in their internship placements. Students develop a greater awareness of their strengths relative to the career readiness competencies, the subtleties and complexities of integrating into a cross-cultural work environment, and how to build and maintain a career search portfolio.