Courses

Headstart Courses are divided into four distinct categories: Engineering (broad-based), Focus (single discipline), Insight (girls only), and Science and Society.

Choose five courses which interest you after looking through the tables below. We will take these into account when allocating places.   Dates, locations and features are provisional, so check the website again in November.  Courses will be allocated first to British subjects: students from other nationalities will be considered thereafter. 

The cost to attend is the numeric part of the course code - eg. CAR/210 explains the fee to attend Headstart at Cardiff is £210. This includes all accommodation and meals during the course, but not travel costs to and from the University.  Some bursaries are available where financial hardship would prevent attendance, and many schools will help with the course fee.

The date of your course will be confirmed by Headstart in March if you are offered a place, and the University will send Joining Instructions 3/4 weeks before the start.

For courses starting on Sunday, register at the university by 4pm.  Registration on weekdays is 10am.  Courses finish by mid-afternoon on the last day.

Science and Society Course - Energy and the Environment

Headstart at Aberdeen will focus on the environment, renewable and traditional energy resources.  Participants will explore how we interact with our environment and natural resources, how our actions and energy needs are likely to shape the environment for future generations, and what role physical sciences and engineering will play in  finding solutions to the problems we are facing.

Workshops include:

• Coastlines: Learn to predict the effects of climate and sea level change on resources and communities
• Water: Despite rising sea levels, water is the next vanishing resource.  How can we manage and protect water supplies?
• Renewable Energy: Review alternative energy systems, then design, build and test your own version
• Oil and Gas reservoirs of the future: See how we can maximise the economic dividend from our oil and gas reserves.

The programme will include lab, field and professional workplace sessions featuring the natural environment, alternative energy and oil, gas and water resources. 

Participants will experience the way undergraduates live at Aberdeen and get an overview of the contribution physical sciences and engineering make to technology and enterprise, and towards protecting the unspoilt East coast of Scotland.  A visit to explore the City of Aberdeen will be arranged during the week.

The Summer Engineering Academy (SEA) is held in the College of Engineering at The University of Arizona in Tuscon. The program consists of multiple one-week sessions of an intense engineering curriculum including lectures, demonstrations, hands-on activities, laboratory tours, project design and creation and most importantly, fun.

The program is run mainly by University of Arizona engineering undergraduates, which creates a very dynamic and exciting atmosphere.

This course has a focused engineering curriculum, though when at the university, undergraduates are given freedom to improvise and add any valuable engineering information to the students that they deem important. This is crucial in building a meaningful mentor/student relationship.

Throughout the week students attend lectures on aerodynamics, rapid prototyping and CAD programming. They are given the opportunity to apply this knowledge to a project of their design. Initially they design an aerodynamic car working in teams, using this new knowledge of technologies. Models of selected designs are built in an RP machine and tested in a specially built wind tunnel. As the week progresses they are given the freedom to design an invention under the theme of “Technology in Service of Society”.

Additionally, students participate in numerous hands-on activities: these simulate and demonstrate different engineering principles ranging from teamwork, time management or just the ability to build the tallest tower out of marshmallows. The goal is to encourage participants to think like an engineer - outside the box, around the box and how to make the box a circle.

In addition to the course fee, attendees are expected to make their own travel arrangements to attend this course.

Focus Course - Mechanical Engineering

Headstart at Bath will give talented budding engineers the chance to experience undergraduate life in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.  Within the broad topic of Mechanical Engineering we will aim to include topics relating to our degree disciplines of 

• Aerospace Engineering
• Automotive Engineering 
• Design 
• Manufacturing 
• Mechanical 
• Medical Engineering
• Sports Engineering

Based in the world heritage city of Bath students will live as undergraduates in our campus accommodation alongside some of the best sports facilities in the UK.  Guided by young and enthusiastic staff and students you will participate in a range of practical projects and lectures designed to encourage teamwork and competition.

Headstart’s course at the University of Birmingham provides you with an opportunity for a hands-on engineering experience in an excellent campus environment.  You will be involved in design and build exercises.  You will visit our laboratories, perform experiments and use some of our major facilities.  For example, you can visit the Automotive workshops where our undergraduates design and build their own racing cars.

During the week you will visit industry to see how products are designed and manufactured in real time.  In recent years, delegates have visited Jaguar Cars and toured the Cadbury chocolate factory.

You will meet lecturers from each of our main Engineering departments: Chemical; Civil; Electronic, Electrical & Computer; Mechanical and Manufacturing; and Metallurgy and Materials.  They will give you a flavour of student life within their departments and an overview of the career options available to you as a graduate.  You will also be introduced to some of our specialist degree options such as Biomedical Engineering, Sports Materials and our Sustainability and Disaster Management courses.

Your accommodation will be in a hall on or close to campus, within easy reach of the Engineering departments and the University’s extensive sports and leisure facilities.  Evening entertainment will include bowling, sports and an end of course restaurant dinner.  The whole course will be rounded off by a walking tour of Birmingham city centre followed by an ‘all you can eat’ lunch at the Big Wok in Birmingham’s China Town.

This Focus course at The University of Birmingham gives an overview of what it is like to study Civil Engineering as a student, and also what a career in Civil Engineering involves.

You've probably heard that Civil Engineers enjoy their job because every day brings a fresh challenge - usually away from the office - and seeing their design constructed gives a never-to-be-forgotten "I built that" feeling.

You believe that this career will allow you to apply your enjoyment of mathematics to something useful, but are not quite sure what Civil Engineers really do: in which case, this course is for you.

A range of hands-on activities in our laboratories is complemented by talks from practising engineers, and the course includes a site visit to one of the many construction developments in England’s second city.  Lecture sessions introduce the subject, but are kept to a minimum. 

You will work as part of a small team throughout the week as a Consultancy on a project involving a sequence of real design decisions, culminating in a presentation to the Client. 

The course is designed to be intense and informative, balanced by a range of evening social activities.  Accommodation is in a hall on or close to the campus, within easy reach of the Department, and also the University’s extensive sports and leisure facilities.

The Headstart course at Bristol will give budding engineers the chance to sample undergraduate life in the six departments within the Faculty of Engineering. Typical activities might include -

• Aerospace Engineering - rocket or land-yacht design competition
• Computer Science - wearable computers
• Civil Engineering – earthquake-proof design
• Electronic and Electrical Engineering – electronics-build project
• Engineering Mathematics - chaos theory
• Mechanical Engineering - hands-on challenge

This course is supported by GKN plc, lead sponsor for Headstart Grapevine at the University of Bristol.

You will be treated as though you are a first-year undergraduate, with lectures, experimental work and projects in the University's Department of Engineering. You will live in Jesus College and be taught in pairs by a senior member of the University. Some of the topics will stretch you considerably but you should enjoy them if you're good at mathematics and physics.

Topics likely to be included:

• Structures: Test full sized frames to see how they respond to loads
• Fluids: Learn why water may suddenly jump when flowing in a channel
• Materials: Test a number of materials and discover how they behave and why
• Engines: Strip down a diesel engine, rebuild it and get it going
• Control: Learn about the control of complex systems and try out ideas in simple experiments
• Design: Design, construct and race walking robots

Headstart at Cambridge includes the Spectrum module.

Science and Society Course - The Physical Sciences

The aim of this Focus course at the University of Cambridge is to introduce students to the way in which physical and biological sciences (including History and Philosophy of Science) are taught during the first two years of a student's life in the university. This is called the Natural Sciences Tripos and enables students to experience a wide range of subjects during their first two years of study. Then they specialise in one subject for their final degree: seventeen science departments are involved.

This Headstart course at Cambridge focuses on the physical sciences even though the Natural Sciences Tripos includes a very wide range of both biological and physical sciences. Faculty tutors (staff and current and recent students) will introduce you to a range of activities largely based on chemistry, materials science and physics. These will include:

• lectures and informal discussions
• tours with a scientific bias
• hands-on practical sessions
• admissions information
• examples of innovation and enterprise - entrepreneurship
• team projects

The programme gives a feel for the ways in which different courses are taught to first year students and how they can provide a basis for the scientific, business and commercial challenges that a graduate might face later in his/her career.   

Headstart at Cardiff will give you a good insight into the variety of engineering by examining degree schemes available at Cardiff, i.e. Architectural, Civil, Environmental, Integrated, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronic, and Medical Engineering, as well as an introduction to university life. You will be housed in one of the university Halls of Residence and have access to university sporting facilities. The Cardiff course is designed to sample different engineering disciplines by -

• Introductory presentations on each of the degree schemes
• A choice of hands-on laboratory sessions to explore practical principles in engineering
• A choice of visits to engineering firms / construction sites to see engineering at work
•  Group-based design, build and test projects 

During the course, you will have tours of the facilities in the School and the Student’s Union and opportunities to meet and question Admission Tutors. Postgraduate students will join the course in the social activities, and they can explain at first-hand the undergraduate student’s life.

There will also be a presentation from a recent graduate to show what life can be like soon after graduation. Social activities include various sports, bowling and a course dinner.

The University of Colorado at Boulder is situated in a scenic valley 30 miles northwest of Denver near the Rocky Mountains, in the western part of the United States. The High School Honours Institute sponsored by the College of Engineering and Applied Science provides an opportunity for students in Year 12 to explore the engineering/engineering related disciplines – aerospace, applied mathematics, chemical, civil and architectural, computer science, electrical and computer, engineering physics, environmental and mechanical. Students will select 2 areas of interest for the major part of the programme and be introduced to 3 other additional areas.

Activities will include –

• Lectures, demonstrations and hands-on experiments in the new integrated teaching laboratory
• Contacts with major US companies such as Lucent, Sun Microsystems, IBM, Lockheed Martin
• Evenings at the CU Recreation Centre and Pool

Students accepted for Headstart in Colorado will need to ensure they make travel arrangements to arrive in time to register at Boulder by 3pm on the Sunday. In addition to the Headstart application form, you must complete a Colorado HSHI application, and may require a visa to visit the United States. Successful applicants interested in Colorado will be offered a UK course as an alternative, and will have the opportunity to take one or both. You must apply direct to HSHI to be considered for the Colorado course and will be expected to make your own travel arrangements.

Headstart at Durham provides a dynamic and enjoyable course spanning a variety of engineering technologies including elements of mechanical, civil, electrical and manufacturing engineering. You will take on three design, build and test projects during the week. Recent projects include electromagnetic cranes, marine vehicles to collect surface debris (table tennis balls) and a fully functioning lightweight hovercraft to carry the team. You will get to stay in one of the university's colleges and experience many aspects of student life. Activities include:

• Design construction and testing of three varied projects
• Industrial visits to local engineering companies and sites
• Interview and video presentation exercise
• Discussion of higher education options and careers in engineering
• Leisure evenings in Durham

The University of Durham Headstart experience reflects the broad-based approach of the School of Engineering to allow you to see the different branches of engineering and make an informed choice for your university options and future career in the profession.

Headstart at Durham features 'Dragonfly', an exciting new module for girls. See the website News Page for more details.

Headstart at Heriot Watt University allows you to experience a taste of the main engineering disciplines in pleasant campus surroundings just outside Edinburgh. During the course, you will see something of -

• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering

And how they interact in several important multi-disciplinary areas including:-

• Optical Engineering
• Robotics
• Automotive Engineering
• Energy Engineering

During the programme, you will experience engineering as it is taught to undergraduates, with lectures, practical's, projects and problem-solving classes. You will have the opportunity to meet with senior students including postgraduates to get an idea of what motivates and excites them about engineering.  Admissions Tutors and Lecturers will be available to meet informally, to talk about engineering careers and engineering education. Other activities include visits to local industry, the Falkink Wheel, and of course, the vibrant City of Edinburgh.

• The Honda wind tunnel
• Advanced structural and geo-technical research
• A design, make and test project
• Electronics and Computer Control Systems
• Information Technology
• A computer-controlled pilot plant
• Design studies and visit to Millennium Wheel
• Hands-on experience in hydraulics, vibrations, chemical technology and CAD laboratories
• Strength of materials

Headstart at Imperial includes the Spectrum module.

Focus Course - Physics

Course details under development

Insight Course - Girls only

The School of Computing, Science and Engineering provides an integrated approach by combining computing with engineering and the physical sciences. We are therefore able to offer a range of exciting undergraduate and postgraduate programmes that not only provide a solid grounding in a particular subject but can also allow students to broaden their knowledge and capability. This, we believe, is what students will increasingly require to enter the modern day workplace.

Headstart’s Insight at Salford involves team exercises and a one day project work in one of the following areas: physics, biomedical engineering, audio, video, acoustics, aeronautical engineering, mechanical engineering, electronics engineering, civil engineering, computing. You will also have a chance visit industry, participate in group presentations and listen to talks by practising women engineers and scientists, admissions tutors and careers services.

Visits to companies in the North West have included British Airways Engineering, British Aerospace Systems, Kellogg’s, Manchester Airport, Airbus and Ove Arup.

Insight at Salford is a valuable introduction to engineering and science and life on campus, but it is not all work: you will make new friends at the social events - fun activities in the University’s own swimming pool, visit the theatre, a tour of concord at Manchester Aviation Park and the course dinner with an after-dinner speaker from industry.

Focus Course - Aerospace Engineering

Headstart at Liverpool is organised around the multi-disciplinary theme of aerospace engineering and is led by the Flight Science Group. This Group is currently working with industry and the civil and military authorities on a variety of projects including the European tilt rotor aircraft, CFD aerodynamics and display systems for flight in poor visibility. Course subjects include -

• airframe structures and materials
• avionics
• flight technologies and aerodynamics
• design and manufacturing issues for aircraft

During the programme, students work in small teams solving specific aerospace problems. CAD and other computing facilities are used, and there are opportunities to fly the Bibby Flight Simulator in fixed wing, helicopter or tilt rotor mode. The simulator offers a unique opportunity for students to develop new aircraft concepts during the week.  Optional sport and other evening leisure activities reflect the richness of life and work in the City of Liverpool.

This Headstart broad-based course at Loughborough comprises a blend of lectures, visits to engineering departments and a design project to demonstrate the broad range of engineering disciplines available to students. Lectures illustrate the impact of current research and challenging applications of engineering arising from the following disciplines -

• Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil and Building Engineering
• Electronic and Electrical Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

Opportunities will be provided to meet young engineering graduates and for evening social activities.

After the course has finished, and subject to availability of accommodation, a visit to a local RAF station for students who are interested will provide an understanding of the training programme undertaken by Engineer Officers.

Focus Course - Systems Engineering  
  
Systems Engineering is a relatively new and very exciting field, quite different in its approach from conventional engineering disciplines.

What do we mean by ‘Systems'? Systems are collections of parts brought together in a particular way to achieve a specific purpose: so just about anything we produce can be thought of as a system, including a telephone call centre, a mobile phone network, a jet fighter, a car, etc.

When even the simple things today are complicated, really big things are definitely more than one person's brain can handle. And that's where Systems Engineering comes in.

As a Systems Engineer you manage and implement complex, inter-disciplinary projects through all their phases including specification, design, development and maintenance. To do this effectively you develop in-depth knowledge across a wide range of subjects along with the ability to analyse a problem, organise work on solutions into manageable components and reintegrate these sub-systems into an efficient and effective whole. It is this special study of the interaction of sub-systems that sets Systems Engineers apart and explains why they are in such demand.

The principles of Systems Engineering are relatively simple but have an enormous effect and applied properly ensure the greatest possible chance of project success. Teamwork and communication skills are essential - Systems Engineers can't work on their own.

During the Focus week at Loughborough you will explore the application and benefits of these principles through a project which considers the whole lifecycle of a typical engineering system. You will meet real Systems Engineers, work with current undergraduates, and have a taste of how you could help shape the future of science and engineering.

Opportunities to explore the various student facilities at Loughborough will be provided during the week.

BAE SYSTEMS is lead sponsor for Grapevine at Loughborough's Focus course on Understanding Systems Engineering and also sponsors the undergraduate programme at Loughborough.

Engineering disciplines covered will include Chemical, Civil and Structural, Electrical and Electronics and Mechanical. Recent projects have included - 

• Chemical Engineering model pipe system
• Using CAD to examine distillation pilot plant functions
• Design of a water irrigation system for developing countries
• Design and construction of dam/suspension bridge models
• Using and programming microprocessor boards
• Construction of a modulated radio receiver
• Visualisation of fluid flow dynamics using smoke tunnels and hydrogen bubble tanks
• Examining the static and dynamic properties of engineering materials

Opportunities to meet lecturers, undergraduates and other staff will be provided to ensure you experience living and working at university to the full during your stay at the University of Manchester.

This course includes the Dragonfly module for young women.  More details about Dragonfly are available on the website News page.

Headstart at Newcastle is for those who are undecided about engineering as a degree or career option. You may be interested in an engineering degree but cannot be sure about what kind. A comprehensive range of disciplines is covered to help you make an informed decision. These include:-

• Civil Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture

The course will begin to develop key engineering skills such as teamwork and problem solving to help you perform to the best of your ability at university, interviews for sponsorship and for Year in Industry applications. The course is designed to help make sure you know where you want to go, and to prepare you for getting there.

Headstart at Newcastle includes the Spectrum module.

Science and Society Course - Climate Change

This Headstart Science course at Newcastle focuses on how changes in the global and local climate affect the environments in which we live.  Participants will examine the complexities of environments, the effects of shifts and changes we are witnessing and also how researchers at Newcastle University are trying to predict and plan for what will happen in the future.

The course is a collaborative project between the biological, physical and computing sciences as well as maths.  We aim to demonstrate how a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach is required to solving complex problems.

Workshops include:

• Lectures, discussion and debate
• Field work at the various field stations operated by the university
• Laboratory and practical sessions
• Skills development sessions including team-working and communication
• Advice, guidance and careers sessions

Participants will also get the opportunity to experience how students live at Newcastle University, staying in halls of residence and enjoying a full and enriching social programme in the evenings.

This course will show you how the work of scientists at The University of Newcastle has a direct bearing on society and the world in which you live.

Headstart at Nottingham is designed to challenge potential engineers.  This course includes teamwork, lateral thinking, design, innovation, construction of test rigs and carrying out experiments.

Each group has 4 days to carry out an integrated project within the four Engineering schools.  Electrical and Electronic, Manufacturing, Materials and Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Mining.  Activities include:

• virtual reality
• electronic engineering
• civil engineering
• chemical engineering
• environmental engineering
• mechanical engineering
• materials engineering

Opportunities are provided to discuss engineering careers and degree courses with lecturers, undergraduates and recently qualified engineers, as well as to learn about the social aspects of living at university.

The Nottingham project finishes with a prize for the best presentation.

Focus Course - Chemical Engineering

The Focus course on Chemical Engineering at The University of Nottingham is based entirely around hand-on experiments and problem solving. Different challenges during the course will require considerable teamwork and centre on the three fundamental stages of process engineering, namely:-

• Preparation
• Reaction
• Separation

The subject matter can be described as “the science of processing materials on a commercial scale” and applies to a vast number of industries and commercial markets, including plastics, bulk chemical manufacture and nuclear power, right through to the production of clean water and other environmental priorities.

Chemical Engineering is an essential part of society and necessary for large scale processes where the net value of the product is sometimes relatively low (for example, extracting petrol from oil), as well as small-scale processes where the product has a high net value and is produced on a small scale, for example in the pharmaceuticals industry.

Headstart’s Focus course at Nottingham will give participants and opportunity to see what Chemical Engineers can be involved in during their career, as well as a chance to work with academics, undergraduates and postgraduates already involved with this degree course, during their stay at Nottingham.

Headstart at Oxford provides the opportunity to taste undergraduate life with lectures, experimental work and projects in the University's Engineering Science Department, where students will experience social life based on one of the University's colleges.

Topics expected to be included are:

• Civil engineering: design, build and testing of a structure
• Fluid mechanics: see interesting things happen when water flows at high speed
• Properties of modern materials
• Electronics: build and test an electronic circuit
• Optoelectronics: see signals go down an optical fibre
• Robotics: learn to write a control program for a robot

In addition, there are visits to a local industrial company, opportunities to experience the University's facilities, and a design competition.

Focus Course - Materials Engineering

This Focus course at the University of Oxford aims to give an insight into Materials Science, or Materials Engineering as it is also known.  The course will give insights into what it is like to study at Oxford University by residing in one of Oxford University’s Colleges attending lectures covering a range of Materials topics, taking laboratory sessions aimed not only at giving a general idea about Materials Science, but there also conducting experiments similar to those performed by undergraduates.  A project aimed at simulating the commercial aspects of scientific research will also be carried out.

Materials Science is a vast interdisciplinary subject – which frequently brings together researchers from different physical and engineering sciences, but can also involve the Life and Medical Sciences, too.  Essentially, it is the Materials Scientist who makes good use of the science developed by physicists, chemists and engineers by making it possible to improve and even develop new materials for novel purposes and help to maintain the role of the UK as a leading Industrial Nation.

Some of the areas which may be covered in the course include:

• Aeronautical – Designing materials to make jet engine turbine blades.
• Biomedical – Can we make a bone analogue material to coat metal implants – and one day produce replacement organs for transplant?
• Ceramics – Superconducting materials.
• Electron Microscopy – Scanning EM and Transmission EM.
• Entrepreneurship – How scientists become businessmen to market their own discoveries.
• Nano Technology – Engineering at the atomic level.
• Polymers – Applications of conductive polymers to produce cheap polymer photovoltaic cells.

By meeting staff and postgraduate students, you will gain even greater insights into the world of Materials Research but most of all, you will enjoy finding out what makes Materials Science so important and interesting – and lets not forget that the whole course is fun, too.

Headstart at Portsmouth brings you an insight into life as an engineering student studying at the heart of the Solent. You will stay in our modern Halls of Residence, visit state-of-the-art companies and learn about some underlying principles and exciting new developments in engineering.

Portsmouth is a centre for aerospace and maritime engineering: among the companies that we plan to visit are VT Shipbuilding in its new facility within the Portsmouth naval base. Hands-on experience in a helicopter flight simulator and with laser cutting in a manufacturing environment are also on the schedule. On these visits you will see something of the challenges and excitement of an engineering career.

You will spend much of the time carrying out problem solving work in our civil, electronic and mechanical engineering laboratories. Typical activities that we plan to include are:

• Visualising airflow past a car in a wind tunnel and then deciding how to reduce drag.
• Programming a wheeled robot around an obstacle course.
• Designing an electronic system using a programmable digital logic chip.
• Designing, building and testing a bridge structure.
• Designing and setting out a road.

Our evening plans include a visit to Portsmouth's 170m Spinnaker Tower, the highest tower in England outside London, and with spectacular views over Portsmouth Harbour.

To get you nearer to the sea, we also plan a boat tour of the harbour.

The aim of Headstart at Plymouth is to show that engineering is fun, interesting and can lead to a great career. We will do this by involving you in some exciting, hands on activities and visits which may include: 

• Destructive testing of a model bridge you’ve built  
• Visit to Brunel’s famous rail bridge and the road bridge (the bits most people don’t see) over the River Tamar 
• Racing a mousetrap powered model car or boat 
• Visit to see million pound yachts being built 
• Programming and interacting with a new humanoid robot unique to the University of Plymouth 
• Experiencing a “typical” university lecture

The course will allow you to explore careers in: 

• Civil, Coastal and Structural Engineering 
• Construction Management and Building Surveying and the Environment 
• Mechanical, Marine & Materials Engineering 
• Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering 
• Robotics and Computing 
• Mathematics & Statistics

You will also: 

• Stay in student Halls of Residence 
• Socialise with undergraduate and postgraduate students, lecturers and practising engineers to explore career choices 
• Participate in leisure activities such as bowling, a boat trip up the Tamar, a BBQ (weather dependent!), tobogganing and an end of course dinner in a restaurant. 

This Headstart course includes a ‘Dragonfly’ module, where younger students from local schools are mentored by some of the girls attending the main course earlier in the week.

Do you enjoy Maths and Science? Think you might enjoy a career in Engineering? Not sure which field interests you most? Want to experience life at university? If the answer to any of these questions is 'Yes' then you should think about attending Headstart at the University of Sheffield.

During your four days at Sheffield you will carry out exciting, interesting and challenging activities associated with several different engineering disciplines including:

• Aerospace
• Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
• Bio-engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil and Structural Engineering
• Computer Science
• Electronic and Electrical engineering
• Engineering Materials
• Mechanical Engineering

Activities will include, design and build a waterslide out at Rother Valley Country Park,  how efficient is your diesel engine?, fly in a flight simulator, how to mend a broken heart,  why does candy floss?, why do corns pop? And many more exciting projects.

You will gain an insight into all aspects of university life while you live in a university hall of residence during the course, meet current undergraduates, meet graduates who are now working in industry and have opportunities to meet and discuss engineering with members of the academic staff.

Social aspects of university life are also important and you will be able to relax in the evenings by taking part in activities which last year included bowling, sports evening, barbecues and karaoke.

Focus Course - Marine Engineering and Nautical Science

During this Focus course at The University of Southampton, you will learn the basic principles of designing ships, yachts and marine structures in order to understand how the world's oceans can be exploited to harness environmentally safe energy, all under the guidance of expert staff and students in Ship Science at the School of Engineering Sciences.

During the course, you will:-

• discover how to make a structure strong enough to survive the harsh marine environment
• carry out experiments in a towing tank to discover what it takes to power a ship
• find out what it takes to design a marine propeller

Talks, lectures and seminars from graduates in Ship Science, research and the marine industry will show you a wealth of subjects and careers to be gained in the marine world, from designing autonomous robot submarines to marine environmental energy extraction to advanced racing yacht design.

Working in teams, you will apply your imagination and new-found skills to see who can generate the most electricity from tidal energy. Applying specific design, build and test principles, you will present your findings in competition with other students at the end of the course.

Living in typical student halls during the week you will be able to ask students on this degree course what it's really like at university.

The Design Triathlon

Fly a plane, race a Greenpower Electric Car and design a power-boat during  the University of Southampton’s award-winning ‘Design Triathlon’ Headstart week.

Experience what Aeronautics & Astronautics, Mechanical Engineering and Ship Science are all about with hands-on projects under the guidance of expert staff and students in the School of Engineering Sciences:

• Design a plane, manufacture it, test it in a wind-tunnel and compete in the grand fly-off
• Build, setup and race Greenpower Electric Cars against other teams to see who is in pole position
• Get wet with power boat design, test in the towing tank and then compete in a nail-biting race in the University swimming pool.

Participants will do all of the projects to experience what each discipline has to offer at Southampton. Will you be able to triumph in all three races to win the triathlon?

Talks from recent graduates currently working in industry give you an idea of what you can achieve with an engineering degree.

Living in student halls provides a taste of student life and you will have the opportunity to ask current students what it is really like at university. There will be a different activity every evening and a night out on the last evening. See www.soton.ac.uk/ses/outreach/ for more details, photos and movies.

Design, build, test, float, fly & race - can you rise to the challenge?

Science and Society - Sustainable Energy Technologies

The Earth’s natural resources are running out.  Wind, wave, solar, hydro-electric, nuclear, tidal energies and fuel cells are our sustainable alternatives for the future.

The aim of this Headstart Science and Society course is to educate students on the generation of sustainable energy through different technology solutions, its distribution and the implications to society through environmental climate change.  The course is suitable for students with interests in mathematics, physics and chemistry and will focus on problems engineers encounter in providing solutions through lectures and visits to external organisations (e.g. National Oceanographic Centre Southampton). 

In groups, the students will undertake a design and build project with the artefacts tested in the School of Engineering Sciences’ facilities (design studios, wind tunnels, towing tank, and laboratories).

During the week students will experience life as an undergraduate, live in student halls and have the opportunity to talk to current undergraduate students about what living and studying is like in the School of Engineering Sciences.

Headstart at Strathclyde offers a challenging and fun-packed week with a range of activities from a number of the University's engineering departments:

• Electronic and Electrical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management
• Mechanical Engineering (including Aeronautical)
• Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
• Chemical and Process Engineering
• Architecture
• Prosthetics and Orthotics

The course focuses on project-based activities across a number of Engineering areas with an emphasis on hands-on problem-solving in teams.

A particular highlight is the outdoor team-building exercise in the Scottish countryside. There will also be competitions, a visit to an Engineering company, a careers seminar, chillout activities and a final dinner. Participants will have opportunities to experience the social life of Strathclyde University, meet current Engineering students and live in the University's student village in the centre of Glasgow.

The University has developed a dedicated website for students interested in Headstart at Strathclyde - www.strath.ac.uk/headstart - where more detailed information and photos of previous courses can be seen online.

Headstart at Surrey involves Chemical, Civil, Electronic, Materials and Mechanical Engineering, with Environmental, Biomedical, Satellite and Aerospace Engineering for good measure. The course aims, through lectures and hands-on activities in most areas, to allow you to discover what engineering is all about and to find out what a rewarding career it offers. You will -

• Spend half a day in each of the main areas - in laboratories, on design or on projects as well as a topical lecture
• Explore communication and leadership - games with a serious purpose
• Explore an up-to-the-minute research topic and then give a presentation on it
• Meet staff and former students to get inside information and find out about their experiences

You will visit a local company or industrial research laboratory and participate in regular digital camera updates of the course for the Headstart at Surrey website. Time will be made available to taste student life both at work and leisure and there will be opportunities for organised leisure activities or just for socialising.

Surrey will feature the new 'Dragonfly' module for girls - an extra day as described on the website News Page.

Headstart at Swansea provides the opportunity to work closely with lecturers and postgraduates from several engineering departments: Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Materials and Chemical and Biological Processing. You will be part of a team which will take on 5 design, build and test projects. The focus of each project is the application of engineering in the design of a high performance balloon. Projects include-

• Civil Engineering - design and construction of a pneumatic balloon structure
• Mechanical Engineering - undertaking a product and design exercise to determine the properties of a high performance balloon pressure capsule
• Electrical Engineering - to develop a communications system similar to that used on the Breitling round the world challenge balloon
• Materials Engineering - using a Scanning Electron Microscope and other material engineering analysis techniques you are to determine the effects of weathering on balloon fabric
• Chemical Engineering - to determine the chemical and physical properties of ballooning material by carrying out comprehensive research

Grapevine at The University of Swansea is supported by The Welsh Assembly Government and there is a Dragonfly module running at this course.

Science and Society Course -
Biochemical Engineering For New Medicines

New antibiotics to overcome superbugs; next generation vaccines for AIDS; tissue repair to deal with accidents in fast moving lives; antibodies for cancer therapy - these are just some of the new medicines in the discovery pipeline.

How will the challenge of making these new medicines be met, in a safe and reliable fashion at affordable prices?

Headstart at UCL will explore this challenge and the key role played by Biochemical Engineers.

If you are studying mathematics or physics and chemistry or biology then you will be suitably prepared and ready to explore major biochemical engineering issues such as:

• How are bioreactors best operated to support growth of cells to produce new therapeutic materials?
• How can new medicines be produced economically at full scale?
• What routes should be explored to develop new vaccines?
• What are the challenges behind effective tissue engineering?

Team studies will be used to tackle these and other issues which will face the biochemical engineer of the future.

In addition to team activities you will be invited to social events organised by the biochemical engineering Students' Society to show something of university life in London. You will be accommodated in a local hall of residence and have plenty of opportunities to meet faculty tutors and alumni to discuss the life of Biochemical Engineers, their degree course, and career opportunities.

Headstart at Warwick is an opportunity to explore a range of Engineering disciplines and to understand something of their common source as well as their different challenges.

The unified School of Engineering has recently redesigned its degree courses to form a new suite of degrees with a novel new structure and approach to the discipline, described as 'exciting and bold' by a recent accreditation panel. You will access this expertise by engaging in activities related to -

• automotive engineering
• civil engineering
• electronic engineering
• mechanical engineering
• manufacturing engineering
• systems engineering
• engineering business management

Throughout the course you will experience what it is like to be an undergraduate at a modern and thriving campus university. Guided and supported by both staff and students you will experience lectures, industrial visits, problem solving, project and team working. The facilities of the University and its environs will ensure an active and enjoyable social life to complement your studies.

Focus Course - Electronics Engineering

This Headstart course at Warwick is focused in the area of Electronics. It will give participants an opportunity to explore this discipline of Engineering and to experience the challenges in a modern and dynamic profession that impacts all of us in our daily lives.

The School of Engineering at Warwick has recently redesigned its degree courses around a common structure that encompasses all the different engineering disciplines whilst still allowing students to specialise in one particular area of engineering.  We believe that this structure allows graduates to progress in the multidisciplinary environment that most engineers operate in their daily lives.

During the course you will experience and engage in activities related to:-

• Communication Systems
• Semiconductors
• Microprocessors
• Sensor systems
• Medical Electronics
• Power Electronics
• Energy Systems
• Automotive Electronics
• Aerospace Systems 

Throughout the course you will experience what it is like to be an undergraduate at a modern thriving campus university. Guided and supported by staff and students you will experience lectures, industrial visits, problem solving project and team working. The facilities at the university and its environs will ensure an active and enjoyable social life to complement your studies.

Focus Course - Computer Science

The Focus course on Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of York aims to communicate the challenges of and approaches to industrial scale software development. It explains the principles of developing embedded software used to control engineered systems, for example in cars and aircraft.

This course is intended to give students a flavour of life in York and particularly living on the University Campus. First hand experience and advice is offered by student helpers who reside with the Headstart students in campus accommodation. The course introduces -

• Quantum Computing
• Artificial Intelligence and its applications
• Security & Cryptology
• Safety Critical Systems
• Introduction to Programming using ALICE (see http://www.alice.org)

In addition, students will be involved in hands-on projects using a programming language eg the building and programming of a robot using Lego and Quicksort software language, demonstrations of modern software engineering tools, lectures on aspects of computer science and software engineering, application of working systems, visits to applications in modern aerospace projects, a visit to the Campus 'Smart House' and social activities including the famous "ghost tour" of York.

Departmental staff are available to offer advice on degree courses, university application procedures and career opportunities. The course includes tours of the university campus and facilities, and student helpers are on hand to assist with project work.