Getting into Engineering workshop

1. Getting into Engineering workshop Liam Madden MCGI MIET CEng FBCS CITP • Director of Course Operations • Admissions tutor for the MEng and MSc programmes • Module leader for BE1-Computing and member of the BE1-Mathematics teaching team Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London Email: L.Madden@imperial.ac.uk Dr Dave Britnell PhD CEng FIMechE • Director of Undergraduate Admissions • Departmental Senior Tutor School of Engineering, University of Warwick Email: D.J.Britnell@warwick.ac.uk

2. RAE: The UK needs graduate engineers c.f. http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/jobs-and-growth

3. School of Engineering: Entry Intake Targets 2015-16 • Home and EU 255 • Overseas 90 Entry Qualifications • A2 Mathematics A (or equivalent) • A2 Physics A (or equivalent) • Third subject is optional; prefer another science based subject: MEng A; BEng B (or equivalent) • No interview at Warwick • Admissions based on predicted grades and personal statement. (This is where the AS level is/was very useful!)

4. Faculty of Engineering admission requirements Acceptable subjects: Most departments require A* Mathematics; Exception: ESE, Design Eng., Materials accept grade A. Second subject is typically Physics; Exceptions: Chem. Eng. (Chemistry), Computing(Further Mathematics). Third subject is variable: Biology, Chemistry andFurther Mathematics always suitable. Departments with the longest and most diverse list of acceptable subjects: Computing, Design Eng., Elec. Eng., ESE. Published requirements:A*A*AA or A*A*A Computing. A*AAA or A*A*A Mechanical Engineering. A*AAA or A*AA Chemical Engineering.A*AAA Aeronautics. A*AA Biomedical Engineering. A*AA Civil & Environmental Engineering. A*AA Design Engineering. A*AA Electrical & Electronic Engineering. AAA ESE. AAA Materials. Most departments have a formal interview; Civil Eng. has an informal interview.

5. Department of Bioengineering admission requirements MEng(Hons) Biomedical Engineering (BHV1) Note: It is not necessary to register for either the Year Abroad or Year in Industry programmes. Registration occurs at the appropriate time during the programme. Note: The BEng(Hons) is to be retired from 2016 Pre-university international entrance requirements c.f. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/ug/apply/requirements/ugacademic/ If your qualification is not listed, then please contact me.

6. Flexible degrees at Warwick • One intake for all Engineering courses • Gap year students welcome • BEng and MEng courses • Final choice made at end of second year • MEng students must achieve 2:1 performance • Options at end of first and second years to change degree course • Ability to take a year in industry at any point after first year • Exchange years for MEng third year • Range of University partners worldwide including in Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan

7. Biomedical Engineering MEng years 1&2 provide the platform for specialisation The first two years provide a platform for specialisation in the final year(s) of the degree programme. MEng first and second years are required to take all of the following modules which integrate engineering concepts and practice with a wide range of medical applications:

8. Biomedical Engineering MEng years 3&4 electives are offered across the Faculty AE3-414 Computational Fluid Dynamics BE9-MBMI Brain-machine Interfaces CHE.431 Transport Systems for Biological Processes CO341 Introduction to Bioinformatics • Business & Humanities e.g. • Humanities Language/Non-Language • BS-0806 Entrepreneurship • BS-0815 Managerial Economics • BS-0820 Innovation Management • BS-0808 Finance and Financial Management • ME3-HDNVC Design Led Innovation and New Venture Creation EE3-08 Advanced Signal Processing MSE312 Nanomaterials ME4-MFEAA Finite Element Analysis and Applications

9. What else to look for: University Engineering course League table rankings Accreditation by Institutes of Engineering Flexibility versus specialisation Work experience • League table rankings • Campus based or not • Accommodation • Distance from home • Pastoral care

10. The UCAS application form • Capability. • Achieved grades – STEM subjects only. • Predicted grades. • Optional qualifications: AS, EPQ, STEP/AEA/MAT/BMAT. • Teachers reference. • Issues: • A-level electives. • Gap year. • A-level Mathematics in a year. • 3 A’s versus more A’s. • A-level reforms. • Widening participation. • I have no interest in non STEM-A’s. • A-level reforms? • Engagement. • Personal statement. Include extra-curricular activities including outreach events, open days, voluntary work, leadership, organiser etc… • Culture. • Achieved grades – non-STEM subjects. • Extra-curricular activities including non-academic.

11. The personal statement (PS) • Remember that more than one admissions tutor will read the PS: • Don’t punch the admissions tutor on the nose! • Do tell the truth! • Do acknowledge all the degree programmes in your application and show that you know what they have in common. Note an AT does not know where you have applied to except other departments in the same college. Therefore, to apply to multiple departments in the same college is a 2-edged sword! • Do reference outreach activities attended – anywhere. • Do describe your love of Science, from inception to where you want to be N years after graduation e.g. CEng, Medic specialising in Biomedical Engineering (BME). • Imagine that you are the interviewer reading your PS. Do be aware that everything that you write is a potential prompt for a (tangential) question in the interview e.g. job tracking, work experience, internships, voluntary work, watched a iTunesU video, interests, hobbies etc… • I am looking for • STEM breadth and depth. That’s is, a scientist that loves maths, with a preference for applied science and aspiring to work in healthcare as aProfessional Engineer or as a Medic specialising in BME. • Desire to acquire practical skills to complement your academic knowledge. • A little BME knowledge gained from extra-curricular activity e.g. first-aider, life-guard, sports. • Evidence of collaboration in a group activity e.g. organised an event, society etc… • Passion for BME.

12. Interviewing overseas applicants • We aspire for 50% overseas and 50% home + EU registered first years. • We don’t demand attendance in an interview but a face-to-face interview offers the opportunity for the applicant to demonstrate engagement , capability etc... It is also an opportunity for the applicant to discover about what we do and why we do it. • The applicants that we are interested in (i.e. Home, EU and Overseas) will be invited to an interview day – for the current admissions cycle we have had seven interviews days. Parents are welcome to attend. • If that is not practical, then we can organise an ad-hoc visit which includes an academic interview , informal meeting and tour. Parents are welcome to attend. This often coincides with the Oxbridge pre-Christmas interviews but can be at any time subject to UCAS deadlines. • If that is not practical, we will use Skype (audio-visual) for an academic interview.

13. On campus interviews for all applicants i.e. Home/EU/Overseas • We do not want to waste your/our time. • We are not trying to trick or shame you. • We are trying to provide you with an opportunity to shine – so use the PS to guide us to ask the questions you want to answer. • The interviewer could be an Engineer or Life/Medical Scientist. • You learn more about what and why we do, what we do. • It is an investigation into: • your ability to think, • your ability to collaborate, • your passion for BME. • It is not an examination. • It will inform decisions to be made in August.

14. What happens in August? • On a Thursday in August the A-level results are published to students. • University staff try to confirm the places of students holding them as their firm or insurance offer bythe day results are available to students. • For non A level qualifications: • If results received before the Thursday in August and offer met the place will be confirmed • If offer not met decision may be held until the Thursday August

15. What happens if I miss my offer? • In Engineering we aim to accommodate all firm offers • We will review all results that just miss the offer and in some cases will be able to automatically accept you • If you applied for MEng you have a dual offer for the BEng and will be accepted if you meet the BEng offer • If you hold us as insurance and miss your firm offer • If you have been rejected and met our offer your place will be confirmed automatically • If there is no decision – phone us • If all else fails go to clearing!

16. Clearing • Mad few days around results day where students who have missed their predictions try to find a place! • If universities are in clearing this will be advertised and usually a contact telephone number will be given. • It is the student’s responsibility to contact each of the universities that are in clearing to see if they can obtain a place.

17. What is UCAS adjustment? • An “adjustment period” is for students who meet and exceed the terms of their conditional offer • i.e. AAA against an AAB offer • Students have 5 (calendar) days to seek a place at another university while firm place is held for them • May enable the student to go to a higher ranked university • But they may be at the back of the queue for University accommodation

18. Pre-processing of the UCAS application form • In advance of the interview, I provide the two interviewers, a distillation of the key facts: • Predicted/achieved grades and how this relates to our standard offer. • I will know if they have applied to other Imperial departments, therefore, I look for programme coherence e.g. Mech. Eng., Aero. and BME are all accredited by IMechE, a Medic that wishes to specialise in BME. • I look for clues about applications to other universities or programmes e.g. Oct 15th, Medical school, Ivy League etc… • I highlight the PS looking for evidence • of engagement and broader issues e.g. Widening Participation, under/over age, attendance at outreach events etc. • The interviewers and the group activity • organiser provide me with quantitative • (i.e. capability, engagement) and • qualitative feedback. • The interview data informs my ranking • of the near-misses (re-considerations) • in the following August. Last year one • third of our places went to the most • highly ranked near-misses.

19. The BME offer and its consequences Most achieved grades are A* orA lower grades are mostly in the 3rd -5th A-levels Published grade requirements >= Offer grades >= Predicted grades If your Achieved grades <= Offer grades then the probability of being admitted increases the nearer you are to matching a high offer. Advertised requirements are driven by the achieved grades. In 2014 we admitted AAAA as equivalent to A*AA 32 admitted with at least A*A*A* 1 admitted withAAA (grades aren’t everything)

20. Reaching Chartered Engineer status Accredited MEng (4 years) Structured Training & Responsible Experience Chartered Engineer CEng Accredited BEng (3 years) Additional Learning

21. Accreditation • MEng engineering courses are accredited as fully satisfying the educational base for a Chartered Engineer (CEng) • BEng engineering courses are accredited as partially satisfying the educational base for a Chartered Engineer (CEng) • Note: BEng Engineering Business Management and BSc Engineering & Business Studies are not accredited as they do not contain enough engineering

22. MEng Biomedical Engineering programme with optional Year Abroad and/or Year in industry MBBS year 4 – Intercalated BSc ?

23. The End Over to you for any questions.