The Department currently runs undergraduate exchanges with MIT, Ecole Centrale (Paris) and the National University of Singapore. Cambridge students spend their third year abroad and an equivalent number of students come here.

CME: Cambridge-MIT exchange

Overview

In July 2000 the University signed an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to form the Cambridge MIT Institute. The primary goal of CMI was to undertake joint educational and research initiatives that would improve entrepreneurship, productivity and competitiveness in the UK.

MIT has separate departments representing the major professional engineering activities and this year the exchange will involve the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Aero-Astro Engineering.  It is possible for exchange students to study courses outside their home department including some offered by the Sloan School of Management and Harvard.

Cambridge students taking part in this exchange return to the UK with an MIT transcript with details of their course grades and are able the following year to continue with Engineering Part IIB or MET IIB just as if they had remained in Cambridge for their third year except that they do not have a 'class' at the end of year 3.  Students are required to be 'deemed to have deserved honours' on the recommendation of this Department in order to be of standing to take Engineering Part IIB or MET IIB.

Participating students will not be liable for any additional tuition fees by virtue of taking part in the exchange. Students will be charged 15% of the full fee for UK/EU students, or 50% of the full fee for overseas students. Each will receive a non-means-tested bursary to help cover the additional travelling and living expenses.

The fall semester of the MIT academic year begins in September and to participate students must be able to travel to Boston at the end of August. The spring semester begins in early February and finishes mid May although all Cambridge exchange students are expected to be at MIT, or participating in an MIT-organised project, during the independent activity period (IAP) throughout January.

Further information

• CUED CME website
• MIT CME website

The CME website will include downloadable application forms and an 'expression of interest' form. Completed forms should be submitted to your College referees and the CME Administrator by the due date in the Lent Term. Decisions will be announced by email.

Exchange with Ecole Centrale Paris (ECP)

Overview

We offer two or three places to spend an academic year at ECP in place of Part IIA  Engineering or MET.  Students taking part in the exchange will take a selection of modules from the second year options offered at ECP.  The exchange will be available for students wishing to study materials, structures, fluids, heat engineering, energy, aeronautical engineering, process engineering and electrical engineering.  Nearly all teaching at ECP is conducted in French and so students wishing to participate in the exchange should have a good level of the language.  Extra tuition (including a one week residential language course at Vichy) may be available to help students prepare.

At the end of the year abroad, the Cambridge students will be graded in the French system and, provided they achieve the equivalent of a third class honours pass, they will be able to return to Cambridge to take Part IIB Engineering or MET.

The academic year at Ecole Centrale starts in September and finishes in June.  The exchange will run under the framework of the Erasmus scheme from the European Union.  Participating students will not have to pay any additional fees to take part in the exchange. They will be charged 15% of the full fee for UK/EU students, or 50% of the full fee for overseas students, and will receive a non-means tested monthly allowance to cover additional travelling and living expenses.

Further information

• CUED's ECP exchange website
• ECP website

Students interested in this exchange should contact the Director of the Language Unit as soon as possible to discuss their language ability.  You are also welcome to discuss the program further with the Coordinator for the ECP Exchange, Dr Alexandre Kabla.The application form should be completed by the due date early in the Lent Term. Decisions will be announced by e-mail.

Exchange with National University of Singapore (NUS)

Overview

Up to two places are offered for Engineering or Manufacturing Engineering students to spend the third year of their degree at NUS.  Singapore is widely considered as 'soft landing' into Asia and provides a great introduction into technological innovations occurring in the region.

The course at NUS starts in July and ends in May of the following year. Exchange students will be assessed at NUS (by a combination of examinations, coursework and project work) and, subject to a satisfactory performance (i.e., the equivalent to a Cambridge third class honours or above) will be deemed to have deserved honours at Part IIA.  Note that, as with students participating in the other exchanges, students do not receive a degree classification for their third year.

Students applying for the exchange programme:

• must be available from mid July, when the course starts, until it finishes in May of the following year.
• should normally have obtained at least a II.1 at Part IA of the Engineering course and be expected to do likewise at Part IB.
• should be open to experiencing a different culture and different style of education.
• should not normally be natives of Singapore or of a country with a closely related culture. This is because the exchange would not represent an 'international experience' to the same extent for such students.

Courses at NUS are given in English so there is no linguistic requirement for the exchange.

Each student going from Cambridge to NUS will receive a Shell Engineering Exchange Scholarship to contribute to their additional costs while on exchange. They will be charged 15% of the full fee for UK/EU students, or 50% of the full fee for overseas students. Cambridge students will be responsible for paying for all their accommodation and living costs when they are away. There is a good chance that rooms in a hall of residence will be available. NUS is very experienced at supporting international exchange students and hosts them from all over the world.

Further information

• NUS exchange brochure
• NUS-CUED Exchange Programme
• Academic disciplines at NUS
• Campus life at NUS
• NUS website

Applications to NUS exchange

If you are interested in applying for the exchange you should contact the NUS coordinator, Professor Gopal Madabhushi to register your interest. You must complete a Declaration of Interest (a combined form for all the exchanges) which can be found here. This must be sent directly to the CME administrator (details on the form). Your application form, personal statement and CV should be submitted to your College referee (typically DoS, Tutor or Senior Tutor) early in the Lent Term, together with an NUS reference form. The application form may be found here and the reference form here. Students will be selected on the basis of their ability and the extent to which they would be likely to benefit from the exchange. They will be informed of the outcome of their application by e-mail.