This information is produced by the Undergraduate Teaching Office at the Cambridge University Engineering Department (CUED).  You will be issued with full course documents and briefing notes on your arrival in the Department.  The Offer-holders website gives important advice and documents which will enable you to prepare for your arrival and to read Engineering at Cambridge.

Preparatory Problems for Engineering

All students coming to Cambridge are asked to complete a set of Preparatory Problems for Engineers before arriving to start the course.  It contains questions on mathematics, geometry, mechanics, DC electrical circuits and electromagnetism, to help prepare you for lectures.  Your college will register you in due course on the Preparatory Problem page. Your Director of Studies will give you further guidance on tackling these problems, and may ask for the work to be handed in at the start of your first term, for discussion in your first supervisions.

Preparatory Programming

All incoming Engineering Students should have some experience of programming a computer, as many engineering tasks can best be accomplished in this way.  You should download and complete our preliminary exercise, which uses Scratch, and is designed to be accessible to those who have no prior programming experience.

Week 1 "Lego Mindstorms" activity

In the first week of the course all students undertake a hands-on design-and-build Lego Mindstorms project in groups of three, as a lively and enjoyable introduction to the world of Engineering.  It is a good idea to start preparing for this in advance and details can be found here.

Industrial Experience requirement

There is an industrial experience requirement for students taking the Engineering Tripos and the Manufacturing Engineering Tripos.  Although you do not have to undertake any industrial experience before starting the course, it may be possible for you to count relevant experience obtained between school and university towards this requirement.  It is therefore important for you to understand the rules in advance, details of which can be found on the industrial placements website.

Pre-residence Reading

Whilst there is no required reading, you may find that reading some of these books before you start the course will help you to get the most out of it.  It is not necessary to buy Engineering textbooks before you come to Cambridge - you can find out what you need once you get here.

Calculators and Watch in University Examinations

The University has strict rules about the use of calculators in examinations.  We provide this information to new students in advance to avoid the problem of students buying a new calculator before coming to university and then finding that they are not allowed to use it in the examinations.  Where possible, you are advised to wait until you arrive in Cambridge before purchasing your calculator.  University-approved models will be available for you at a discounted rate from the day you register at the Engineering Department (the first Tuesday of the Michaelmas term).  Full details of which calculators are permitted can be found at: http://teaching.eng.cam.ac.uk/content/exam-information-students.