Buro Happold principal Dr Mike Cook has been appointed Adjunct Professor of Creative Design at Imperial College London – a role which will see him lead the tuition of creative engineering design on the four-year undergraduate (MEng) course for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Following his appointment in March, Mike will launch a new series of week-long design workshops, which he has specially devised to complement the restructuring of the MEng syllabus later this year.
Mike will teach some 250 first and second year students on the MEng course, with the aim of developing their understanding and application of the creative aspects of the design process in different settings.
Professor David A Nethercot, Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said: “Our students will benefit enormously from Mike’s expertise, experience and insight, and we are pleased to have secured such a high-profile practitioner to lead our teaching on this critical subject, which is inextricably linked with engineering theory.”
Dr Cook commented: “The workshops will be very practical, with students experiencing all the normal stages of the design process. They will be encouraged to use their imagination and learn by drawing, designing and modelling a potential construction project.
“They will work in teams and experience the challenges and joys of collaboration. I hope that through this work they will all be able to develop their creativity, communication skills and confidence. The workshops will also help to provide a frame of reference for existing theoretical teaching, by allowing students to understand the relevance of theory in engineering practice.
“In effect we hope to show the students how things work in a real engineering practice like Buro Happold. I want the students to be inspired and excited by engineering – and to stay with it as a fantastically creative career.
“I am also excited that I will be joined by a team of young engineers from the practice who will talk to the students about their own experiences and inspiration and help them get the most from the project work. I have a feeling we will all learn as much as the students about creative design!”
Buro Happold is also supporting the teaching at Imperial through the Happold Trust, a registered charity that promotes education, research and training in the fields applicable to the construction industry, engineering, design, technology and architecture.
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Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976. We now employ over 1,700 staff in 21 offices worldwide, and our aim is to produce high quality engineering design in concept, in detail and in execution, on time, to programme and delivering excellent value for money. Our distinctive culture and ethos is still based on the same principles of care, value and elegance that were established when the practice was founded.
We offer structural, building services, civil, infrastructure and façade engineering, as well as a broad range of specialist consultancy services including sustainability, ground and environmental engineering, fire and security design, health and safety management, inclusive and urban design, project management, and specialist CAD and computer simulation provision.
