Blog posts

Wearing a boiler suit

MEng Aeronautical Engineering

On our first week of uni, we went to collect a fancy electric blue boilersuit. It was carefully embroidered, showing the world that we belonged in the Department of Aeronautics. At that moment I felt that this item of clothing was a bit too extra, as I didn’t really see the point of having one in thefirst year.

Now that we have been having  Workshop Manufacture sessions, I’m more than glad to own one. As part of our coursework, we have “L1 Applications”, which mainly consists of designing and building a structure that can be fit in a frame and that can resist 8kN of applied force.

Legal Graffiti

MRes Biomedical Research

Leake Street Tunnel is a hidden celebration of urban art in Central London.

Located just off the bustling Southbank, under Waterloo station is perhaps the most colourful tunnel in the UK. Spray painting is normally something that is shunned, but down in Leake Street it’s encouraged. The tunnel was last open to traffic when the Eurostar was located in Waterloo. But now, it’s a pedestrian only area, full of magnificent art.

In May 2008, the Bristolian artist Banksy curated the “Cans” Festival in Leake Street. The festival extended an open invitation to urban artists to come turn a dark forgetful tunnel into a vibrant, modern art exhibition.

All you need to know about I, Science

MSc Science Communication

At Imperial College London there is a wealth of extracurricular activities to get involved in. From ultimate frisbee to windsurfing, algorithmic trading to whisky; there is certainly a club for everyone! One activity unique to the Science Communication Unit that I have been involved in is the publication I, Science.

What is I, Science?

I, Science is a science publication run by students of the MSc Science Communication and Science Media Production courses here at Imperial. As well as producing an award-winning magazine three times a year, I, Science also has a website with regular news updates, features, reviews of exhibitions around London and a weekly radio show, broadcast on ICRadio.

Our first exam period

MEng Aeronautical Engineering

We have all experienced the pressure of sitting an exam but, oh dear, school has nothing to do with university. There are three main characteristics that differ school exams/A-levels to uni examinations: complexity, time consumption and uncertainty of performance.

First of all, the contents of the module to be examined are usually a whole new bunch of stuff you have never seen before. You only need to check out the names of the subjects: structural analysis, aerodynamics… where are my known physics, chemistry or biology?

Forget about being in a class where you revise previous years’ content, as this is very unlikely to happen in a lecture theatre at 9 am.

My Imperial Application

MEng Civil Engineering

Like a lot of imperial applicants, I applied around October, with a cheesy personal statement. Yes, cheesy, I still look back at it now and couldn’t resist a giggle here and there. But hey, it got me here. I remembered, when I was writing it I thought, how would anyone expect a 16 y.o. to know what they want to do for the rest of their life. In that moment, I stopped and wrote not what I thought would get me in, but I wrote what makes me who I am today.

After I applied, to the 5 university choices, I waited.

Netball does Charity Week

Mathematics and Statistics

Cancer Awareness in Young People Week (CAYP)

This coming week, Imperial College Netball Club (ICUNC) is set to bring you a charity week, hoping to increase cancer awareness in young people and also raise money for charity. Fil, our 1st team captain, has written an incredible article about our vision for the week in Felix.

The charities we are supporting include:

During the week we will be working with a number of other societies to host a variety of events that you can get involved in, from talks to netball, ACC and more.

A Day in the life of a SciComm student

MSc Science Communication

Applications for 2019 entry to the Science Communication Unit are open and will remain so until the 26th of February. For those interested in the courses on offer at the unit, here is an insight into a day of an MSc Science Communication student.

Tuesday 15th January

08:30 The alarm goes off and the day begins. Whilst having my breakfast I browse through The Conversation’s latest articles, an independent news publication which I recently discovered. It sources articles from the academic and research community and is written to engage the public. You are encouraged to keep up-to-date with science (and general) news whilst in the Science Communication Unit at Imperial and I find reading earlier in the day works for me.

Coming back home for the first time

MEng Aeronautical Engineering

5 things I was not expecting

Moving away from home is an experience which is talked about quite often, about its excitement or its sadness. On the other hand, no one really shares their feelings about coming back home.

On the last 14thof December, I flew back to Spain, where a few things surprised me.

  1. Where is my room?

You open the door to your old house and you feel a bit out of place. You go to your room, but it seems odd, should I call this my room anymore? Or is it just a temporary place before I go back to my reality.

3 Things that compliments my life at Imperial

MEng Civil Engineering

Located in South Kensington, Imperial is so close to all the best things in life. I wouldn’t imagine myself anywhere else. Here is the three things that kept me going even when uni life is hard. 

  1. Core Collective

Can I just emphasise that Imperial is not easy (Nobel prize winners aren’t build by living an easy life). For me, working out is a temporary escape from my study. Since Core Collective is 20 minutes away from uni, it has got to be one of my favourite way to sweat (hot trainers also helps *facepalm emoji*).

  1. Shopping Spree at Knightsbridge 

Can I just say that whoever says Oxford Street is the best shopping street in London is seriously disturbed.

Statistical resolutions

Mathematics of Planet Earth

Can you believe the time for New Year’s resolutions has come again? Maybe this year you can add to the traditional “I’ll eat healthily”, “I’ll stop smoking” and “I’ll hit the gym regularly” a new one: “I’ll look at statistics carefully”. You can start with these five simple tips. 

  • Reported averages might be meaningless 

An arithmetic mean (sum of all values divided by the number of values), often reported as the average, in fact doesn’t say much about the average value.  

Imagine you’re describing humans to extraterrestrial visitors. How many legs does an average person have? Slightly less than two.

Learn more about life at Imperial

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