Student blogs

Design week, the infamous week that we’ve all been hearing about since the start of the year. For those of you who do not know what Design Week is, it’s essentially a whole week dedicated to the Design and Manufacture module. In one week, all teams will have to design and complete a product for one of the 3 given problems. Yeah it’s crazy. Previously all design projects span for the term but now we will be doing all that in within one week.

Previously, it’s known to be the week where students compete to see who needs the least sleep but now the department has made significant changes to the structure of the week; having deadlines and tasks to be submitted by the end of each day and it’s godsend.

Read Design Week – 2nd Year Mech Eng in full

I love coffee. I drink coffee every single day and will probably do for the rest of my life <3. This is why I was beyond excited when I found out about the London Coffee Festival (LCF). I remember buying tickets with my friend last year during a sleep deprivation-induced haze- coursework life :). It ended up being one of the best experiences I have had in London so far.

The LCF takes place in the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane. This year marks its tenth anniversary and it is one of the biggest gatherings for coffee lovers in Europe!

Read The London Coffee Festival in full

When a professor asks you a question in a seminar how should you reply? According to one my hall seniors, you shouldn’t say anything, lest you embarrass yourself. Instead, you should “suck up” to professors by going to their office hours.

I found this sentiment quite surprising; I always thought that answering questions in seminars, God forbid raising your hand to try to answer, was a great learning opportunity. After all, the purpose of university for me has always been to learn, not just to memorise content for tests, but to become more confident, to try to tackle hard and interesting problems.

Read Mistaken participation – A faulty focus on status in full

Disclaimer: Views expressed below are based my own experiences and are not intended to hurt anyone 🙂 

As a traditional Indian living in London and recently moved out of Jakarta (Indonesia), I have thus far been part of three very distinct “worlds”. Below is a screenshot of a map showing all the places I’ve lived in so far. Interestingly, each of the countries I have lived in so far is different and at times ‘contradictory’ in multiple areas, from dietary habits and lifestyle to societal mindset and their respective systems.

Dietary Habits

India: It goes without saying that given the massive population and size of my country (with over 1.3 billion people who speak over 1000 languages and belong to various religions!),

Read The 3 Different “Worlds” I Belong To… in full

Not gonna lie, I was a little anxious about returning to Imperial after the Christmas break. UK Masters programs are only one year long, which is great in many ways (including for my bank account) but time passes incredibly quickly as a result. The arrival of the spring term meant that the pace and level of learning were sure to be kicking up into high gear. Two weeks in however, I‘ve found a lot to love about this second term. 

Focus 

Environmental Technology starts with a core course in the fall, which gets every student on the same page in terms of thinking about the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problem-solving.

Read Embracing Second Term in full

New Years Resolutions..

Lots of people say that they’re a bunch of rubbish, and that if you want to change, you can do it anytime. I’m a big proponent for them, though. For sure, New Years resolutions come with problems. I’ve been unrealistic with mine sometimes, with crazy past resolutions being hitting 100% in tests, getting 8 hours of sleep every night (never gonna happen, haha), going from a cheese obsessed vegetarian to vegan (I want to, but not overnight!).

New Years resolutions are great because with the start of a new year, the changes you make can be traced back to January 1st, and it feels more significant.

Read New Years Resolutions and a new term here at Imperial in full

I’ve really needed a job to undo my financial errors. To be blunt, I was very financially reckless last term, knowing fully well that I was spending more than I was getting, and that nothing could really bail me out. Therefore, I decided to return to my gap year job in retail.

Being the most busy season of the year, they welcomed me with open arms!

Working during the Christmas holidays has been a blessing, but not without its stresses. This blog post outlines the good and bad parts of Christmas retail.

The good parts

1. Money! Ultimately, I needed this job because the minus sign on my bank statement was turning my blood cold.

Read The Christmas Retail Rollercoaster in full