Laboratories and Workshop Facilities
The School runs a total of about 125 laboratories and workshops. These vary in size from 477 square meters down to 14. Each facility is overseen by a named member of staff, either an academic or a senior technician, depending on the type of structure and the activities which take place in them. Facilities are currently provided to members of staff in the School free at the point of usage.
Teaching
We provide well-funded laboratories and workshops, looked after by our Senior Technicians. The organisational structure largely mirrors that of our undergraduate courses, with three main groupings:
Architectural Civil and Environmental Engineering (ACE)
Laboratories in this area are the responsibility of:
These are largely centred on the western end of South Building. Potential students or research collaborators should in the first instance contact Des, who will be pleased to arrange a tour of the facilities.
Electrical, Electronic Engineering (EEE)
Facilities are managed by:
These laboratories are primarily located in the East Building. Potential students or research collaborators should in the first instance contact Paul, who will be pleased to arrange a tour of the facilities.
Mechanical, Medical and Manufacturing Engineering (MMM)
These laboratories are the responsibility of:
A dedicated engineering applications workshop has been established in the Central Building with other activities being conducted in the West Building.
The Engineering Applications Workshop is also available for staff and students who have been accredited as competent to use the workshops to carry out jobs of a mechanical nature that are within their capabilities. Potential students or research collaborators should in the first instance contact Alan, who will be pleased to arrange a tour of the facilities.
Computer laboratories
These are administrated by:
These are mostly located in Trevithick Building but large facilities also exist in the Central and West Buildings. A number of them are open 24 hours a day and specialised engineering packages are available in selected rooms. Potential students or research collaborators should in the first instance contact Syd, who will be pleased to arrange a tour of the facilities and induction packages.
Research
The School’s research laboratories, which in some cases also have a joint teaching function, are grouped around our six Research Institutes:
- Advanced Materials and Energy Systems (IAMES)
- High Frequency and Communications Engineering (HFCE)
- Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (IMEMT)
- Sustainability, Energy and Environmental Management (ISEEM)
- Machines and Structures (IMS)
- Theoretical, Applied and Computational Mechanics (ITACM)
Over the last five years the School has had £11 million of infrastructure and equipment related investment awards, in addition to the equipment funded through standard research contracts. Some of these facilities are used in collaboration with stakeholders from other universities, other departments of Cardiff University and many external customers.
Some of the pages of the Research Groups associated with the above Institutes provide a flavour of the facilities available to researchers within their specific areas.
A non-exhaustive list of some of the larger laboratories includes: Nano-technology with integrated Clean Room facilities (shared with the School of Physics and Astronomy), High Frequency, Digital Signal Processing, High Voltage, Bulk Material and Micro/Nano Scale Characterisation, Motion Analysis, Centrifuge, Combustion, Acoustic Emissions, Hydroenvironmental and Heavy Structures. Recent developments encompass the Communication Research Centre and the Characterisation Laboratory for Environmental Engineering (CLEER). The upgrade of a number of laboratories to provide a versatile testing, manufacturing and analysis facility for high performance and novel materials and structures, the Cardiff University Structural Performance laboratory (CUSP), is currently under development and will come on line in 2007. A current off-site development includes the relocation of QinetiQ rigs to South Wales with the creation of extensive testing and research facilities linked to the School of Engineering. The Geoenvironmental Research Park, based in Baglan, is entering its second phase, with the recent award of £5.8 million. Research activities are also directly supported by the School’s workshops.