Welcome to your 2020 Mechanical Engineering Alumni Newsletter
Introduction to alumni by Duncan Shepherd, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering
I hope this newsletter finds you well. As I left my office on 19 March 2020, I did not imagine still working from home in August and writing this introduction to the Mechanical Engineering newsletter from my bedroom. As I write, the Engineering Building is about to reopen and laboratory research can restart and then we start to prepare for the new academic year.
Throughout the world the COVID-19 Pandemic has led to many new ways of working. Zoom video conferencing was not a software I was aware of until Lockdown started, but it is amazing how many activities we have managed to move online. Talking to colleagues and students, student assessment, a virtual open day and a virtual graduation ceremony have all been successfully achieved online.
In the last year we have recruited a number of excellent new academic staff, including Dr Adel Abdel-Wahab, Dr Gerard Cummins, Dr Ziyun Ding, Dr Imran Qureshi and Dr Yueting Sun.
Looking ahead, we will be welcoming our new Mechanical Engineering students in September. Teaching for the next academic year will be bimodal, where lectures will be online, but there will still be face-to-face teaching for examples classes and laboratories. The new School of Engineering Building is in the final stages of construction and we expect to start moving into the building in February 2021. Our first cohort of Mechanical Engineering students at our Dubai Campus enter their final year and we look forward to a graduation ceremony in Dubai in July 2021.
In this newsletter you will find news on our latest research developments, students successes including the launch of innovation new societies and projects, and achievements of our staff such as international accreditations and awards for inspiring the next generation of engineers. You'll also here from some of your fellow graduates who share their an insight into their careers, and some of their memories of the University.
Finally, a big thank you to the 25 Mechanical Engineering alumni who have kindly volunteered with the Department over the last academic year. This includes mentoring our students, advisory board members, an international alumni group leader, offering careers or project advice and featuring at Open Days or outreach events. Thank you, you've made a real impact here! If you'd like to get involved too, please get in touch with our Alumni Relations Manager, Grace Surman on eps-community@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
Best wishes,
Professor Duncan Shepherd
Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering