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Engineering

Research in Engineering at Surrey spans a number of well-established areas, including aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, materials and mechanical engineering. This is one of our especially strong disciplines, with top ten ratings, award-winning multidisciplinary research programmes, magnificent facilities and an exceptional network of industry links. There is no better place than Surrey to enhance your career in engineering and start to work towards the coveted title of Chartered Engineer.

Research Environment

The University is justly proud of its reputation for engineering expertise, and has invested on a sustained basis to create an outstanding range of facilities:

  • The Surface Analysis Laboratory – best of its type in Europe
  • Environmental Flow Research Centre (EnFlo) – NERC National Centre for Atmospheric Science
  • Thermo-Fluid Systems University Technology Centre – supported by Rolls-Royce
  • Centre for Environmental Strategy – International reputation for work on sustainability
  • Materials and Structures Testing Suite
  • Water Technology Facility – WHO accredited
  • Human Movement Laboratory
  • Electric Vehicle H-I-L Laboratory
  • Centre for Osmosis Research and Applications

Key Research Areas

  • Sustainability for Engineering and Energy Systems Industrial Doctorate Centre
  • Micro and NanoMaterials and Technologies Industrial Doctorate Centre
  • Sustainable infrastructure design
  • Fluids and vehicles
  • Materials and structures
  • Water and chemical processes
  • Biomedical engineering
  • Process systems engineering

Research Centres and Groups

Fluids and vehicles

Fluids and Vehicles bring together a number of leading researchers in a range of overlapping areas. These include power systems and aerospace, vehicle dynamics, mechatronics and robotics, and environmental dispersion.

Fluids

This research encompasses all aspects of research on fluids, including applications in:

  • Aerospace
  • Turbulent flows
  • Turbomachinery
  • Wind engineering/atmospheric dispersion
  • Environmental flows and dispersion
  • Vehicle aerodynamics

The Environmental Flow Research Centre (EnFlo) is an NERC National Centre for Atmospheric Science and houses two major large-scale facilities that, together with our other wind tunnels, provide a nationally unique resource for studying a wide range of environmentally important flow and dispersion problems. Micro- and local-scale meteorology and dispersion are the current focus of the research activities, with growing interest in the characterisation and modelling of nanoparticle emissions. Developing research in wind power is supported through large multi-partner consortia. The Thermo-Fluid Systems University Technology Centre (TFS UTC) is supported by Rolls-Royce and specialises in turbo-machinery for aero-engine and power generation applications. The TFS UTC focuses on advanced computational modelling, and is involved in a number of national and international research collaborations.

Vehicles

Surrey’s Advanced Vehicle Analysis Group aims to provide a world-class research technical capability function for vehicle analysis in the following key areas:
hybrid power trains, vehicled dynamics simulation, tyre dynamics simulation, design and simulation of vehicle subsystems (brakes, steering, suspension, chassis control systems design), design of experimental test benches and vehicle aerodynamics. While continuing its interest in terrestrial mobile systems, the group is now concentrating on the development of robotic systems for space applications and works closely with the Surrey Space Centre.

www.surrey.ac.uk/mma/research/fluids_vehicles

Materials and structures

This is a multidisciplinary group of researchers whose interests cover the complete range of length scales from nano-materials and nano-characterisation, through solid mechanics and materials engineering, to large-scale structures and reliability engineering of large infrastructure systems.

Materials Science and Engineering

Research within this area addresses processing– microstructure relationships across the full range of engineering materials. The work is underpinned by excellent facilities within the Microstructural Studies Unit and Surface Analysis Laboratory, which, in addition to enabling research students to have access to state-of-the-art instruments, provide a service for industry across a comprehensive range of techniques.
There are three overlapping sub-groups:

  • Engineering Ceramics and Metallurgy
  • Particulate and Multiphase Process Engineering
  • Surface and Interface Reactions Group

In ceramics, there is an established reputation for research on localised fracture, as a result of indentation, wear or thermal shock, and long-term stability in a range of environments. Monolithic ceramics, in bulk and thin layer form, and ceramic matrix composites are also studied. In the area of metallurgy the study of phase transformations is central to our research programmes.
Research in particulate multiphase engineering is focused on the study of particulate matter and gas, and liquid-borne dispersed systems for the development of new and improved processes, techniques and instruments. It is based on the investigation of microscopic properties and phenomena, and the identification of relationships between microscopic and macroscopic bulk behaviour.

Mechanics of Materials and Structural Systems

An underpinning theme in this strand of research is the identification, characterisation, modelling and consequence assessment of ‘damage’, as applied to adhesive bonding, skeletal structures, composites, concrete, steel and structural systems.
The group has excellent facilities for fabrication and testing of composite materials and structural units. Work includes continuous fibre composites based on a range of reinforcement types (non-woven,woven fabric, stitched fabrics) and short fibre systems. In addition, novel nanomaterials are being investigated, including nanocomposites, bio-composites and drug delivery nanopolymers. Design and lifeing are important thematic areas, including work on design, impact damage in composite structures, the behaviour of composite beam systems and the stochastic modelling of composite materials and structures.
In construction materials, recent work has considered the effectiveness of surface coatings and their ability to prevent the access of corrosive materials, such as chloride ions, to the reinforcement of concrete bridges. Investigation of materials for the water industry is another major theme.

Space Structures Research Centre

Founded at Surrey in 1963, the centre has been highly active ever since in promoting the utilisation of space structures. Current research is aimed at enhancing the methods of analysis and design, as well as understanding the behaviour of all forms of space structures under extreme loading. Research in civil infrastructure systems examines the response of individual structures and networks to extreme events, such as blast, impact and earthquakes, as well as the effects of long-term wear and deterioration. Development of probabilistic methods and reliability assessment is a key part of the research, with significant contributions in fatigue assessment and corrosion of metallic and concrete bridges, and the progressive collapse of multi-storey frames under extreme loading. Development of structural health monitoring technologies links much of the materials and structures work. Fundamental and applied work is carried out using optical fibre sensors, damage limitation using shape-memory alloys, process monitoring using optical fibre sensors, and the robustness of corrosion sensors in concrete structures.  

www.surrey.ac.uk/mma/research/materials_structures

Water and chemical processes

Chemical and Process Engineering

Research is conducted into both experimental and theoretical aspects of multiphase flows, mixing in chemical and biological situations. For the latter it uses advanced experimental and mathematical modelling techniques to investigate the growth of biological cells for the treatment of brain and other tumours. This research, ‘from bench to bedside’, is helping to develop advanced radiotherapy techniques and to advise government on radiotherapy planning and demand. Other applications of the research include: the measurement of mass transfer in gas-liquid flows related to industrial fementers; modelling the action of microorganisms on contaminated water from an old gas works; investigating the mixing in sparged stirred tanks containing particles and liquid (relevant to methyl methacrylate production); measurement and modelling oil and gas production flows.

Process Information and Systems Engineering

Research is conducted on process integration and systems analysis for sustainability of resources and energy efficiency, supported through industrial membership and interactions with R&D centres around the world. Notable successes in this area include design technology for chemical reactors and chemical process flowsheets, optimisation solvers, the knowledge management h-TechSight and a long array of synthesis tools.

The Centre for Environmental Health Engineering

Research projects are undertaken covering the entire water cycle. These encompass water resources surveillance, modelling and management, water treatment, supply and regulation, wastewater treatment, disposal and safe reuse, and pollution control and waste management. The group is a designated World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for the Protection of Water Quality and Human Health (with the Robens Centre for Public and Environmental Health), and has recently been invited to join the UNICEF WASH cluster group of relief agencies as a centre of excellence in water and sanitation. CEHE provides support to overseas governments through international agencies (WHO, PAHO) and relief organisations (such as Oxfam and MSF).

Centre for Osmosis Research and Applications

The centre is well equipped with state-of-the-art experimental facilities for desalination and membrane separation processes, and high-speed computational facilities. The centre’s most recent activities have resulted in the discovery of the novel manipulated osmosis technology (MOT) which addresses most of the key shortcomings and limitations of the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane separation, thermal desalination methods, water treatment of cooling towers, secondary oil recovery of water injection/flooding operations and other technologies used commonly in the desalination of seawater and brackish water.

www.surrey.ac.uk/cce/research/water_chemical

Biomedical engineering

The Centre for Biomedical Engineering

The Centre for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Surrey is one of the longest established in the UK, and has links to hospitals, companies and research universities throughout the world. The centre’s goal is the application of engineering and technology to problems in medicine and biology, from the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of disease to a better understanding of the way in which the body works. Research in the centre can be divided into a  number of main areas: human movement and virtual reality; biosensors and bioelectronics; neural interfacing; functional electrical stimulation; biomechanics of injury; osseointegration and orthopaedic implants; blood flow and vascular grafts; cerebrospinal fluid dynamics.  

www.surrey.ac.uk/mma/research/biomedical_engineering

Research Academics

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Career Development

Engineering research at Surrey is focused on solving challenging, industrially relevant problems. As a consequence our PhD students can expect to collaborate with both academic and industrial experts working at the cutting edge of their field. This is exemplified by our EngD doctoral students who, as part of their collaborative research project, spend the majority of their time working at the offices of the industrial partner organisation.

Successful completion of taught or research programmes at the University of Surrey is an important first step on the road to achieving the much prized accolade of being recognised as a Chartered Engineer (CEng). Our taught postgraduate programmes are run in close co-operation with the Institutions of Mechanical (IMechE), Chemical (IChemE), Civil (ICE) and Structural (IStructE) Engineers. This ensures that the skills learnt are relevant to the needs of professional engineers and includes academic knowledge, research skills and effective communication.

Studying on one of these programmes, you will spend time not just in the classroom but also undertaking a personal research project. This allows you to apply and extend new found knowledge and will often be linked to part of wider, industry-focused research activity, allowing the potential to undertake a subsequent placement or internship. Examples of positions achieved by our students after earning their postgraduate engineering qualification with us:

  • Fugro Consultants – Civil Engineer
  • GlaxoSmithKline – Process Engineer
  • University of Surrey – Lecturer
  • Airbus – Stress Analyst
  • DePuy – Product Development
  • Ferrari – Vehicle Dynamicist
  • Noble Engineering – Production Engineer
  • Arup – Structural Engineer
  • Vestas – Materials Engineer
  • QinetiQ – Project Manager
  • DePuy Orthopaedics Worldwide – Bioengineer
  • Vestas Wind Systems – Materials Engineer

I knew the University of Surrey was one of the best in the UK for engineering and it was a good choice.

Shahid Jaura
MSc Civil Engineering

My ambition is to build bridges. I knew the University of Surrey was one of the best in the UK for engineering and it was a good choice. I completed a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering. However, after graduating, I wanted to change direction and studied Civil Engineering for my Masters.
Having covered much of the academic work in my fi rst degree, the lecturers gave me plenty of help in catching up with the other aspects of the subject.
Being a graduate of the University of Surrey gave me the skills and opportunity to work in the UK or anywhere in the world. Surrey is a great university for overseas students. I liked the campus. It is a safe place, yet it is only half an hour away from London by train.
My older brother came here to study Management and he recommended it. Both my parents appreciate the value of education in the UK and that is why they sent their children here. I’ve travelled round the country in the holidays and particularly like Edinburgh. It has been a great experience; I made a lot of friends at the University from all over the world and we’ll keep in touch in the years to come.