Imperial Design Engineering 2024: Complete Guide to Personal Statements, Interview Prep, and Independent Exploration
The Imperial Design Engineering Course
The Imperial Design Engineering course integrates design, engineering and innovation in a multidisciplinary approach to learning. With a strong focus on product development, technical engineering, and entrepreneurship, by the end of the Imperial Design Engineering course you’ll be professionally accredited and meet the requirements to register as a Chartered Engineer. The Imperial Design Engineering course also allows you to undertake a sixth month paid work experience placement in your third year to gain vital design and engineering skills.
You’ll undertake extensive project work in the Imperial Design Engineering course, with an emphasis on engineering fundamentals (e.g control systems and advanced manufacturing), all while maintaining a focus on human-centred design. In your final year, you’ll even get the opportunity to expose one of your products to market reaction to give you greater insight into, and experience of, real industry practice.
Some of the modules you’ll get to study on the Imperial Design Engineering course include Human-centred Design Engineering, Materials and Manufacturing, Industrial Design Engineering, all while maintaining an in-depth focus on Engineering Mathematics, Mechanics and other key principles. You can view a full break down of the modules on the Imperial Design Engineering Course, here.
To find out more about the Imperial Design Engineering Course, watch this admissions talk from the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London, here.
Imperial Design Engineering Key Info
A*AA entry requirement with A* in Mathematics
4 years, integrated masters
7:1 admission rate
You’ll also need to sit the ESAT admissions test. You can find out much more about the ESAT and our advice on how to maximise your ESAT performance for the Imperial Design Engineering Course in our dedicated blog. If you’re successful in this, you’ll be invited to an online interview between November and March.
Join our Imperial Design Engineering Course
Hosted by an Imperial Design Engineering Graduate and application mentor, these sessions are designed to help you develop your interest in Design Engineering and give you a hands-on way to get involved with Design Engineering, starting to build your portfolio and giving you an interesting experience to discuss in your Imperial Design Engineering interview.
Crafting an Imperial Design Engineering Personal Statement
When writing an Imperial Design Engineering personal statement, you should think about how you can showcase crucial Design Engineering skills and interests, particularly ones relevant to the Imperial Design Engineering course.
Imperial has some really useful design engineering resources available online. To better understand the Imperial Design Engineering course, and the subject in general, we recommend:
Imperial have published less of their recommended reading online, so you may find it helpful to follow some of Cambridge’s recommendations. Here you can find their Design Engineering modules. Look for ones that overlap with the Imperial Design Engineering course content and explore the reading suggestions.
You may also like to listen to some podcasts to keep up to date with design engineering innovations and updates:
Or this useful lecture:
Ash Amin Lively Infrastructures Lecture
These are just some initial independent exploration suggestions. It’s important you develop your own interest areas as you explore and carve your own path through your reading.
As the Imperial Design Engineering course is highly skills and industry-focused, it’s also important to show ways in which you have taken initiative in practising design engineering skills and meeting design engineering briefs.
You can come up with prompts based on your reading and practise meeting briefs, or alternatively, you may prefer some more structured learning in Minds Underground's Design Engineering Course which runs weekly. Run by a graduate from the Imperial Design Engineering course, this course breaks down Design Engineering and the different stages of a design engineering project. Over the course, you will work on your own independent Design Engineering project, supported by the course leader. In the final session, you will have the opportunity to present and pitch your project and receive valuable feedback. This is a really great way to add to your Design Engineering portfolio, demonstrate your enthusiasm and practical engagement with the subject, and hone your skills. Find out more information and book your spot, here.
We also run a 'Design a Wearable' engineering innovation challenge on Minds Underground, perfect for the Imperial Design Engineering course. View the full details here.
When you write your Imperial Design Engineering personal statement, find a thread that runs through all of your reading and preparation. Perhaps reading lots on sustainability led you to want to explore a design engineering project focused on sustainable design. How did this project help change or develop your ideas?
Excelling in the Imperial Design Engineering Interview
There are different stages to the Imperial Design Engineering Interview and you should break down your preparation to meet the different requirements and skills the Imperial Design Engineering interview tests for.
Your interviewer will certainly want to hear about your motivation and interest in Imperial Design Engineering. Make sure you show a solid understanding of what Design Engineering is (you will have grasped this from your reading), and make sure you are clear on why it is Design Engineering that interests you, not just Engineering or Architecture. Equally, they will want to know why it is the Imperial Design Engineering course you want to study, not any other. You should read up on the course modules and industry placement to give you a better understanding of how to answer this question, but it’s important to emphasise the practical and industry exposure of the Imperial Design Engineering course. You should also make sure your preparation shows how you align with the course, getting stuck in with research and design projects.
A key part of the Imperial Design Engineering interview tests your mathematical knowledge and abilities. Be prepared for estimation questions (including slightly bizarre ones like “how would you estimate the total length of all the hairs on someone's head laid end to end?”), integration and graph drawing. Interviewers often give graph equations describing a real system which they then ask you to draw. You can practise these questions beforehand to be better prepared. Make sure you also practise articulating your thought process so an interviewer can see your logic and how you think!
Some other questions to consider:
What do you think will be the next “big thing” to come out of design engineering?
What challenges do you think you could face as a Design Engineer in 10 years time?
As a Design Engineer, what project would you like to work on most specifically?
What are the key differences between engineering and physics?
If you’d like the opportunity to practise an Imperial Design Engineering Interview, sign up for our mock interview days. On these days you’ll have two one-to-one interviews and a group interview, and receive in-depth feedback for each of these. This is a great opportunity to experience the kinds of questions that come up in an Imperial Design Engineering Interview and practise responding to them in a constructive interview environment. Find out more and sign up here.
In order to really excel, it’s important you can show you’ve taken time to consider Design Engineering principles before the interview. This will come out in the questions they ask you about human-centred design, a key component in the first year of your Imperial Design Engineering course.
At the end of the interview, you will be given a maximum of two minutes to present some examples of your own work or projects. This is a really important opportunity to show your enthusiasm for the subject and how you have already got stuck in with Design Engineering. You should try and research and design your own Design Engineering project, focused on an area of design engineering that interests you. For example, try the question:
Design a washing machine for someone visually impaired. You should take into consideration usability and safety.
As an alternative to our Design Engineering course, you may find it useful to work on a Design Engineering project one-to-one with a specialist U2 Design Engineering tutor. In these sessions, you will choose from a selection of projects, designed to teach you different Design Engineering skills and break down the different phases of the project, from understanding the project and brief and ideation, to designing and pitching a final concept. This experience will give you lots of exciting aspects to discuss in your Imperial Design Engineering interview and demonstrate your ability to craft effective design briefs, a skill Imperial places strong emphasis on. View our independent research projects, here.
Looking for support for your Imperial Design Engineering Application?
There are a number of ways in which U2 can support you through your Imperial Design Engineering application. Our Design Engineering course is a really valuable way to develop design engineering experience for your application.
If you prefer to work one on one with a U2 Imperial Design Engineering tutor, who has graduated from the Imperial Design Engineering course, they can lead you through a research project in an area of your own interest, as well as support you across all areas of the Imperial Design Engineering process.
You can book a free consultation to find out more about the range of ways U2 can support you and boost your application for Imperial Design Engineering.
The Process:
1) We recommend a Design Engineering graduate as a tutor and provide their full CV for review. Our tutors have extensive knowledge of the admissions process for Imperial Design Engineering, as well as other leading institutions. They are well-equipped to guide you through personal statement development, portfolio preparation, ESAT preparation, and the interview process.
2) We typically begin with a 1.5-hour informal assessment or taster session, during which the tutor will evaluate the student’s current ability, including any test (if applicable) and interview. Following this, we provide a feedback report and outline a structured plan to best support your preparation.
3) U2’s approach for regular Design Engineering application sessions: The primary focus of the tutorials will be to explore material that can be discussed in the personal statement and during the interview. Tutors ensure each student refines their interests within Design Engineering and is exposed to a range of approaches and concepts, guiding students in their reading and exploration of the subject. They will also have the opportunity to undertake a Design Engineering project.
The frequency of sessions is flexible and can be decided between the student and tutor. Students may opt for ad hoc sessions, or we can structure a comprehensive preparation programme, which may include further co-curricular opportunities such as our Design Engineering Course, research projects, and mock interview days. Design Engineering tutoring offers a unique opportunity to learn from and be inspired by exceptional academic minds. We would be delighted to support you through this challenging but highly rewarding process.
Sessions from £75/h.