Undergraduate research (Crucible theme)
Cambridge undergraduates study one subject, and do that very thoroughly. In a university with no "minor" options, how do students build interdisciplinary skills? One way is to spend the summer pursuing undergraduate research opportunities in other departments.
A major Crucible initiative has been the development and maintenance of an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP). Initially based on the UROP programme at MIT, and developed by David Good within the education programme of the Cambridge-MIT Institute, the programme has since been maintained with funding from the Newton Trust, and from EPSRC (coordinated by Alan Blackwell)
http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/urops/
Crucible members have led a wide range of projects in which teams of undergraduates gained experience of design research, creating advanced technologies informed by human and social perspectives.
Major undergraduate research project teams:
UROP programme coordinators:
- Alan Blackwell
- Hugh Shercliff
- Igor Wowk
- Keith Johnstone
- David Buscher
- Robin Boast
Other design research opportunity for Cambridge students include:
- Computer science tripos group design projects
- Manufacturing engineering tripos design studio
- Masters in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment
- Cambridge Digital Studios
The Cambridge Design Education Forum involves members from each of these departments.
