Civil Engineering Summer Activities
As the beginning of your civil engineering course approaches, we understand that you might be looking for ways to enrich your knowledge and experience over the summer. Our academic team has put together a list of recommended activities, reading materials, and resources to help you gain deeper insights.
These are all friendly recommendations - it's completely up to you how much (or little) you decide to do!
- Dream Big: Engineering Our World (Netflix / YouTube)
- Megastructures, National Geographic Channel (Disney+ / YouTube)
- Practical Engineering, YouTube
- The B1M, YouTube
- Engineering with Rosie, YouTube
- Grasshopper Tutorial for Beginners | Parametric Modeling, YouTube
- Computational Design Mastery, YouTube
- Rare Earth – BBC Radio 4 (53 mins)
- The infrastructure Podcast
- Engineering Podcast – Various
- #71 - Heatherwick Studio, Computational Design, AI, Technology,YouTube
- An Engineer Imagines – Peter Rice
- Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures – Roma Agrawal
- Nuts & Bolts: How Tiny Inventions Make Our World Work – Roma Agrawal
- Civil Engineering: A Very Short Introduction – David Muir Wood
- Engineering: A Beginner’s Guide – Natasha McCarthy
- Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down – J.E. Gordon
- Engineers: From the Great Pyramids to Spacecraft – Adam Hart-David
- She Engineers: Outsmart Bias, Unlock your Potential, and Create the Engineering Career of your Dreams - Stephanie Lynn Slocum
- AAD Algorithms-Aided Design – AA Bookshop - Arturo Tedeschi
- Design your dream bridge: Sketch a bridge over your favourite natural landmark.
- Sketching for Engineers and Architects – Ron Slade
- Sketching for Engineers – ExpeditionWorkshed
- Sketch like and Engineer – David Di lenno
- Solve real-world problems like flood prevention or retrofitting for earthquakes.
- DIY Experiments: Popsicle stick bridges, spaghetti towers, rainwater harvesting models. More things to do at home can be found on the ICE website.
- Use free tools: Tinkercad, GeoGebra, Bridge Designer.
- Join competitions like ICE CityZen, ICE QUEST Scholarship or CREST Awards.
- Engineering Landmarks: Tower Bridge, Thames Barrier, Battersea Power Station, HS2.
- Museums: Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Learning and Exhibition Centre, Science Museum London, Design Museum, Brunel Museum, Crossness Pumping Station in Abbey Wood, Thinktank Birmingham, Weald & Downland Living Museum in Chichester.
- Open Doors site visit, March every year.
- London Architecture Guide: 10 structures to visit
- Explore Current Global Issues: Civil engineers are on the front lines of addressing the impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels, increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. How can engineers help mitigate climate change? What do Civil Engineers do in humanitarian crises, like earthquakes? How do we build smart infrastructure to monitor aging roads, bridges and water systems? Visit the ICE website for ideas.
- NetZero and decarbonisation
- Biodiversity and environmental conservation
- Adaptation and climate resilience
- Energy transition
- Social justice and gender equality