School of Technology

Graduate students in the School are working towards solutions to some of the most pressing issues of modern times, from secure computing to renewable energy, drug delivery and purification to corporate governance. Support in the form of studentships is vital so that the School can continue to compete effectively for the world’s most talented graduates. Under the supervision of world-leading experts in their fields, and using superb resources and facilities, these are the graduate students who will carry out the innovative, forward-looking and agenda-setting research on which solutions to these major issues depend, and go on to play leading and entrepreneurial roles across the commercial and public sector spectrum. Funding is also required for undergraduate bursaries, to ensure that the talented engineers and business people of the future are not lost for want of financial support.

From professorships to junior lectureships, opportunities exist across all of the School’s Departments and research centres to create new posts that will attract pre-eminent experts in their fields and rising academic stars. These posts, which cover the spectrum of engineering, chemical engineering, business studies and computing, represent exceptional naming opportunities. Funding is also required for teaching assistants; for the refurbishment of laboratories to provide state-of-the-art facilities for teaching and research; and for the public outreach programmes for which the School’s departments and institutes are held in high regard.

The range and depth of the School’s ground-breaking programmes is remarkable. From the renowned Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics to the highly successful Institute for Manufacturing – to name just two of the many institutions, centres and departments that comprise the School – these initiatives are advancing the boundaries of understanding. They are underpinned by a collaborative approach to learning, tremendous energy and momentum, and a fundamental aim to produce practical solutions to real-world challenges. The following sections outline in detail just some of the pioneering developments within the School, for which philanthropic partnership by individuals and organisations is sought.

One of the largest and highest ranked such departments in the world, Cambridge’s Department of Engineering is driving forward major projects that connect technical engineering research with work on developing frameworks to address its strategic themes. Sustainable Development is a theme of major importance within the School which, nine years ago, established the Centre for Sustainable Development. Funding is required for senior posts to provide academic leadership for this vital initiative. These include the Professorship in Engineering for Sustainable Development. Philanthropic partnership is also required for the Helios Fund for Energy, which exists to support graduate students researching energy efficiency. These fresh, dynamic approaches to sustainability have been harnessed by the Department itself, to inform its plans to renovate the current Engineering building into a modern, integrated, energy-efficient and sustainable space. This is a landmark project, with exceptional scope for philanthropic support.

The department of chemical enginerring has been created at Cambridge, with the merger in 2008 of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the acclaimed Institute of Biotechnology.

One of the world’s premier centres for teaching and research in chemical engineering, the Department of Chemical Engineering has a track-record of attracting the highest calibre students and academics from around the world, and consistently achieving the highest rating in the UK Government Teaching and Research Assessment Exercises. Former and current members hold or have held top positions in the chemical and allied industries and the associated learned bodies that support them. The award-winning Institute of Biotechnology has pioneered a holistic approach to research-inspired entrepreneurship and the formation of a ‘halo’ of spin-out companies exploiting research arising from its science base. Funding is now being sought for the construction of a new teaching and research centre on the University’s dynamic West Cambridge site, to accommodate the new Department and provide it with the space and facilities to exploit the immense potential of this exciting merger.

Since its establishment just 14 years ago in its iconic home in the refurbished old Addenbrooke’s Hospital building, Judge Business School (JBS) has expanded to become one of the world's leading business schools, placed in the elite category by the UK Government’s 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Such is its success in attracting increasing numbers of students and academic staff, and generating new collaborative centres of research, that JBS is today seeking funding to expand into two adjacent sites. In addition, support is required to establish posts within its pioneering new collaborative centres, and to enable students to take up fully funded places on the esteemed Master of Finance course.

The Computer Laboratory is internationally recognised as a pioneer, and continuing leader, in computer science and technology. The Laboratory’s staff has included two Turing Award winners, and Fellows of the major science and engineering academies in both the UK and USA. Students have become research leaders throughout the world and have established internationally successful businesses. Today, the Computer Laboratory seeks funding for the 2009 Computer Laboratory Research Students Fund, which provides vital support to its graduate students and ensures that the Laboratory with an outstanding record of achievement, continues to attract and nurture the best and the brightest by providing students with the freedom to focus solely on their research.