The University of Cambridge Department of Engineering is the largest department at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and one of the leading centres of engineering in the world. The department's aim is to address the world's most pressing challenges with science and technology. To achieve this aim, the department collaborates with other disciplines, institutions, companies and entrepreneurs and adopts an integrated approach to research and teaching. The main site is situated at

Trumpington Street Trumpington Street is a major historic street in central Cambridge, England. At the north end it continues as King's Parade where King's College is located. To the south it continues as Trumpington Road (the A1134), an arterial route out of ...

, to the south of the city centre of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

. The department is the primary centre for

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

teaching and research activities in Cambridge. The department is currently headed by Richard Prager.

History

In 1782, the

Reverend Richard Jackson of Torrington The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

, former fellow of Trinity College, died leaving a substantial portion of his estate to endow a Professorship of Natural Experimental Philosophy. This became forerunner to the Professorship of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics, first held in 1875 by James Stuart. The first engineering workshop at Cambridge was constructed in 1878, a wooden hut fifty by twenty feet. The department now boasts several sites around Cambridge: Cmglee_Cambridge_University_Engineering_Department_Trumpington_St

Cmglee_Cambridge_University_Engineering_Department_Trumpington_St

* The main buildings are located at Trumpington Street and Fen Causeway on the Scroope House site, where most of the

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

teaching in the Engineering Tripos is carried out. The Baker Building was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh,

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, on the 13th November 1952. * Various sections which could not easily be accommodated on the main site have moved to the university's

West Cambridge West Cambridge is a university site to the west of Cambridge city centre in England. As part of the ''West Cambridge Master Plan'', several of the University of Cambridge's departments have relocated to the West Cambridge site from the centre ...

site, including the Whittle Laboratory (a

turbomachinery Turbomachinery, in mechanical engineering, describes machines that transfer energy between a rotor (turbine), rotor and a fluid, including both turbines and gas compressor, compressors. While a turbine transfers energy from a fluid to a rotor, a ...

laboratory, founded by Sir John Horlock, in 1973), The Geotechnical Centrifuge laboratory, the Microelectronics Research Centre (1992), the Electrical Engineering Division building and the

Institute for Manufacturing Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) is part of the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge. The IfM integrates research and education with practical application in industry. It disseminates its research findings via a university ...

(IfM). * A few of the smaller buildings on the Old Addenbrooke's Site, in Trumpington Street opposite the Scroope House Site, have been used by the department from time to time. Currently, the

Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, formerly the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership and the Cambridge Programme for Industry, is part of the School of Technology within the University of Cambridge. The Instit ...

is in the end building of that site, 1 Trumpington Street, having expanded and moved there under its previous name of Cambridge Programme for Industry in 1991. * In 2016, the construction of The James Dyson Building was completed in front of the Baker Building - providing additional office space, and seminar/meeting rooms for use by the department. * Over the course of the next 10 years, the department plans to consolidate the Department of Engineering entirely on the west Cambridge site.

Notable companies and projects founded by students and alumni

* Cambridge University Eco Racing, a student run team which designs builds and races solar electric vehicles. *

Innocent Drinks Innocent Drinks is a company that produces smoothies and juice sold in supermarkets, coffee shops and various other outlets. The company sells more than two million smoothies per week. Innocent is over 90% owned by The Coca-Cola Company. His ...

, best known for the Innocent Smoothie brand. * Cambridge Consultants, an international technology development and consultancy company. *

Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company was a company founded in the late 1870s by Robert Fulcher. The original use of the company was to service instruments for the Cambridge physiology department. In the beginning, the company was financially dri ...

, first manufacturer of the scanning electron microscope.

Undergraduate education

There are about 1,200 undergraduate students in the department at any time, with about 320 students admitted each year. The first two years are essentially the same for all students and aim to give a broad overview, covering mechanical and structural engineering, as well as materials, electrical and information engineering. From the third year, students are required to specialise, undertaking either the Engineering Tripos or Manufacturing Engineering Tripos. In the Engineering Tripos, students may specialise in one or more of nine engineering disciplines: *Aerospace and aerothermal engineering *Bioengineering *Civil, structural and environmental engineering *Electrical and electronic engineering *Electrical and information sciences *Energy, sustainability and the environment *Information and computer engineering *Instrumentation and control *Mechanical engineering It is also possible to not specialise and receive a degree in General Engineering. Meanwhile, the Manufacturing Engineering Tripos provides an integrated course in industrial engineering, including both operations and management.

Graduate education

The Department of Engineering currently has about 190 faculty and PI-status researchers, 300

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

s, and 850 graduate students. Post-graduate education in the consists of both taught courses and research degrees (

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

and

MRes A Master of Research (abbr. MRes, MARes, MScRes, or MScR) degree is an internationally recognised advanced postgraduate research degree. In most cases, the degree is designed to prepare students for doctoral research. Increasingly, the degree may ...

). The majority of research students study for a PhD degree while around 10 per cent follow the one-year MPhil (research) programme. The department also has a number of

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to univers ...

(EPSRC) Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), which follow a 1-plus-3 year model where a one-year MRes course is followed by a three-year PhD. Full funding for four years is provided through these centres. In addition to the CDTs, the department has a limited number of EPSRC PhD studentships available for British and EU students.

Research Evaluation

The department was ranked 2nd among UK engineering departments in 2021

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...

(REF). It also ranked 2nd in 2014.

Notable alumni and researchers

;Fellows of the Royal Society * William Dalby *

Alfred Ewing Sir James Alfred Ewing MInstitCE (27 March 1855 − 7 January 1935) was a Scottish physicist and engineer, best known for his work on the magnetic properties of metals and, in particular, for his discovery of, and coinage of the word, '' hy ...

Bertram Hopkinson Bertram Hopkinson (11 January 1874 – 26 August 1918) was a British patent lawyer and Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics at Cambridge University. In this position he researched flames, explosions and metallurgy and became a pioneer ...

* Sir Charles Edward Inglis * John Baker *

John Horlock Sir John Harold Horlock FRS FREng (19 April 1928 – 22 May 2015) was a British professor of mechanical engineering, and was vice-chancellor of both the Open University Brian Spalding Dudley Brian Spalding, FRS FREng (9 January 1923 – 27 November 2016) was Professor of Heat Transfer and Head of the Computational Fluid Dynamics Unit at Imperial College, London. He was one of the founders of computational fluid dynamics (CFD ...

* Robert Mair * Michael Gaster * Daniel Wolpert *

John Arthur Shercliff John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

* John Denton * Alistair MacFarlane * Christopher Calladine * Richard V. Southwell *

Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with inventing the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 f ...

Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE RDI FRS (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft. Early life and education Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockere ...

* Sir Bennett Melvill Jones *

Charles Oatley Sir Charles William Oatley OBE, FRS FREng (14 February 1904 – 11 March 1996) was Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Cambridge, 1960–1971, and developer of one of the first commercial scanning electron microscopes. He was ...

Harry Ricardo Sir Harry Ralph Ricardo (26 January 1885 – 18 May 1974) was an English engineer who was one of the foremost engine designers and researchers in the early years of the development of the internal combustion engine. Among his many other works, ...

* Andrew Schofield * Ann Dowling *

Zoubin Ghahramani Zoubin Ghahramani FRS ( fa, زوبین قهرمانی; born 8 February 1970) is a British-Iranian researcher and Professor of Information Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He holds joint appointments at University College London and ...

* Keith Glover *

Melvill Jones Sir Bennett Melvill Jones, (28 January 1887 – 31 October 1975) was Francis Mond Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Cambridge from 1919 to 1952. He demonstrated the importance of streamlining in aircraft design. It had b ...

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians *J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926), ...

Mark Welland Sir Mark Edward Welland, (born 18 October 1955) is a British physicist who is a professor of nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge and head of the Nanoscience Centre. He has been a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, since 1986 and st ...

* Roberto Cipolla * Stephen Young * Gareth McKinley * William Hawthorne * Alec Broers * Kenneth Bray * Andrew Clennel Palmer * Morien Morgan * Christopher Hinton * David J. C. MacKay * Michael F. Ashby * Kenneth L. Johnson *

Norman Fleck Norman Andrew Fleck FREng, FRS (born 11 May 1958) is a British engineer, Professor, and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Micromechanics. He is a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He earned a B.A ...

* Vikram Deshpande ; Members of the Order of Merit *

* Christopher Hinton * Ann Dowling ;Timoshenko Medal Recipients * Richard V. Southwell * Kenneth L. Johnson * James N. Goodier ;Notable people for their contributions * John Baker, developer of the plasticity theory of design. *

Brian Spalding Dudley Brian Spalding, FRS FREng (9 January 1923 – 27 November 2016) was Professor of Heat Transfer and Head of the Computational Fluid Dynamics Unit at Imperial College, London. He was one of the founders of computational fluid dynamics (CFD ...

, a founder of computational fluid mechanics. *

, English engineer, best known as the inventor of the

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, ...

. * Sir Charles Edward Inglis, under whose leadership the department became the largest in the university. * Sir Bennett Melvill Jones, who demonstrated the importance in streamlining in aircraft design. * Ian Liddell, designer of the Millennium Dome. *

, developer of one of the first commercial scanning electron microscopes. *

Nicholas Patrick Nicholas James MacDonald Patrick (born 19 November 1964), is a British-American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. His flight on the 2006 '' Discovery'' STS-116 mission made him the fourth person born in the United Kingdom to go into space ...

, astronaut. * W. E. W. Petter, aeronautical engineer, designer of

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...

and the

Folland Gnat The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft. Envisioned as an affordable light fighter in contrast to the rising cost and size of typical combat aircraft, it was ...

, major contributor to development of the

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...

. * Andrew Schofield, pioneer in centrifuge research. * James Stuart, first true professor of engineering at Cambridge appointed in 1875. *

Constance Tipper Constance Tipper (born Constance Fligg Elam; 16 February 1894 – 14 December 1995) was an English metallurgist and crystallographer. She investigated brittle fracture and the ductile-brittle transition of metals used in the construction of w ...

, metallurgist, crystallographer and first woman to serve full-time as faculty in the department. * Carol Vorderman, former

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

host and mathematical television personality. *

, inventor of the

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

. * Reverend Robert Willis, the first Cambridge professor to win an international reputation as a mechanical engineer. * James N. Goodier, co-author of "Theory of Elasticity" with

Stephen Timoshenko Stepan Prokofyevich Timoshenko (russian: Степан Прокофьевич Тимошенко, p=sʲtʲɪˈpan prɐˈkofʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tʲɪmɐˈʂɛnkə; uk, Степан Прокопович Тимошенко, Stepan Prokopovych Tymoshenko; ...

. * Morien Morgan, sometimes referred to as "the Father of Concorde". * Christopher Hinton, supervised construction of

Calder Hall Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former activities included nuc ...

, the world's first large-scale commercial nuclear power station. * James A. Greenwood, winner of Tribology Gold Medal, known for the Greenwood and Williamson model of contact interfaces. *

, who proposed the

Split-Hopkinson pressure bar The split-Hopkinson pressure bar, named after Bertram Hopkinson, sometimes also called a Kolsky bar, is an apparatus for testing the dynamic stress– strain response of materials. History The Hopkinson pressure bar was first suggested by Bert ...

method to measure dynamic stress–strain response of materials.

References

{{Authority control 1875 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1875 Engineering, Department of Engineering, Department of