Join current student Shelly for a week in the life of an Engineering/Materials Science student at Birmingham.
Hi, I’m Shelly, a 3rd year undergraduate studying Mechanical and Materials Engineering. I’m currently in my 2nd semester during which I have 7-9 contact hours of lectures from the three modules I am taking: High Performance Materials and Advanced Manufacturing (HPM), Powertrain and Vehicle Engineering (PTVE), and Integrated Design Project 3 (IDP3). IDP3 has been keeping me particularly busy this week due to an upcoming assignment I have next week! IDP3 is a module in which students from different engineering disciplines (Mechanical, Civil, and Electrical) work together in groups of around 30 students to solve a challenge. This year, my group has been working on developing a sustainable offshore energy island.
Next week we will be giving a group presentation with all 30 members to present our project proposal, and discuss how we are integrating with the different disciplines to solve the challenge. Outside of lectures, I am also part of the UoB Gospel Choir society, and I am enrolled in a 5 week tennis course with the University of Birmingham Sports and Fitness Centre. Let’s take a look at my week!
Since my first lecture was at 11am, I had some time in the morning to go to the gym. After that, I came back home, had my breakfast, got ready and headed off to my first lecture, HPM, which lasted 2 hours. Today I also had an online meeting with my IDP3 team members at 3pm to practice our presentation. So, during the 2 hour gap, I was editing and finishing off some slides and discussing the project with my group members. Within our team, there are 3 mechanical groups, 2 electrical groups and 1 civil group. Each group presented their slides during the team meeting and then received feedback. I spent a couple of hours working on the feedback after the meeting before having to head off for choir practice. This semester, UoB Gospel Choir meets every Monday and Friday from 7pm to 9pm to prepare for the UGCY competition and other performances.
I’m currently in the process of applying for year in industry placements. I didn’t have any lectures today, so I went to the gym in the morning and then spent most of my time preparing for an interview and assessment centre. At 4pm I had a meeting with my mechanical group for our IDP3 project, so I went onto campus. After that I spent some time reviewing yesterday’s HPM lecture and making revision notes.
Today I had a lecture from 9am to 11am for my PTVE module. After the lecture I spent about an hour reviewing the lesson and making revision notes. On Wednesday afternoons, the Careers Network at the University of Birmingham offers weekly drop-in sessions. As I had an assessment centre and interview coming up, I decided to go to the drop-in session to get some extra advice. I found the session very useful, and it helped settle my nerves. At 2pm I had a meeting with my IDP3 team to do an in-person practice run for our presentation. After that I had a tennis session from 7pm to 8pm.
Today I had a workshop from 9am to 11am for IDP3. These workshops provide us with an opportunity to speak to the academic staff about our project, seek advice and discuss the next steps. I also had an online assessment centre today, so I spent the remainder of my day prepping and completing the assessment.
I spent Friday morning editing slides for the IDP3 presentation, then at 11am our mechanical group had a meeting with an IDP3 supervisor. During this time, we went through our presentation and received feedback and advice. For the rest of the afternoon, I was reviewing the lectures I had that week or editing slides in preparation of our presentation. Then at 7pm I went to choir practice.
My weekends tend to vary a lot. Sometimes I travel down to London to visit family and friends. Sometimes I meet up with friends in Birmingham. Sometimes I spend the weekend studying at the library - especially during exam season! And other times I spend my weekends relaxing. This particular weekend was quite chilled. I did some studying at the library, and then spent the rest of my time doing my weekly shopping, cooking, and doing hobbies such as sketching and painting.
Shelly is studying Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Birmingham.
