Engineering involves the study and application of mathematics and science, sufficient to model, design and build novel systems of benefit to mankind. Engineering occurs at physical scales ranging from nano- to kilo-metres, from the building blocks of electronic devices to chemical plants, and in areas as apparently diverse as signal processing, blood-flow in arteries, and the behaviour of soil foundations.

The engineering profession is extraordinarily wide-ranging, but our aim in the Engineering Science course at Oxford is to highlight the commonality of approaches and to emphasize what is fundamental and shared in the behaviour of many systems.

In the first two years, you will receive lectures on electrical, mechanical, fluid, materials, information and mathematical engineering, all complemented by practical work in the Department. The learning process is reinforced in College tutorials and classes, which aim to help students discuss engineering principles.

In the third year, students begin to specialize in the professional disciplines of civil, mechanical, electrical, information, chemical and bio-engineering, and are taught by specialist classes in the Department.

The fourth year sees each student undertaking an individual research project in his or her chosen area of specialism, attached to one of the Department’s many research groups.

Engineering Students at St Anne’s

We recruit undergraduates from a very wide range of schools within the UK and overseas. Without exception all exhibit:

• a real enjoyment of both physics and mathematics in theory and practice
• a curiosity about how things work – and fail to work
• creativity in problem-solving
• a high level of achievement, motivation and organization
• a sense of the ethical code of the engineer in society
• a desire to work constructively with others

Most of our undergraduates go on to become professional chartered engineers, finding their degree a passport to an international career. Some take this route after continuing to complete a doctorate.
For others, their engineering degree is an excellent grounding in analytical problem-solving and teamwork, and they enter the complete spectrum of careers.

See also Engineering, Economics and Management.

Follow this link for a student's view of Engineering at St Anne's.