Dr Miles Stopher

Director of Admissions and Affiliated Lecturer, Department of Engineering, Cambridge Senior Lecturer, Fellow and Director of Studies in Engineering, Homerton College Bye-Fellow in Engineering at Fitzwilliam College

Dr Miles Stopher is a Senior Lecturer in Engineering at Homerton College and the Director of Admissions and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Engineering. He is a Bye-Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, having previously been Acting Senior Tutor. He has supervised and directed studies in Engineering for 10 years, across a number of colleges at the University, including his alma mater, Jesus College. He lectures Nuclear Materials for Part III materials scientists at Cambridge, An Introduction to Materials Science for Engineers, and Nuclear Materialsfor Engineers on the MPhil in Nuclear Energy. He has also lectured on nuclear safety. Miles supervises Part IA and Part IB Mechanics, Materials and Structures to engineering undergraduates at Cambridge. Prior to his arrival at Cambridge, he worked on the design of the Royal Navy’s Dreadnought-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

■ Course Content

Engineering has many branches, but the oldest and broadest is mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineers look at the design, analysis, and manufacturing of mechanical systems and machines that keep our world moving forward. Electrical engineering was born in the 18th century, known then as "the youngest of the sciences". Electrical engineers study electricity, electronics and electromagnetism, and their application in the design, development, and testing of systems. This intensive course offers a valuable insight into what it is like to study mechanical or electrical engineering at university, covering the most prominent specialisms within the fields. The course covers a broad range of topics carefully selected to build from one another. Students will follow the historical development of the respective technologies, learn and apply their shared principles, and gain an insight into future developments within these fields. As such, students should graduate from the course with a good understanding of the foundational concepts on which the respective specialisms are built and apply them to real-world problems, acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary to gain a head start in studying engineering at university.

*List of prerequisite knowledge:
The emphasis during the course will be on the physical understanding of the principles involved. Only elementary mathematical methods will be used. The key is the engineering and not the mathematics behind it. As such, I expect students to have a basic awareness of circuits and their components, alongside a basic understanding of mechanics (see below).
*Test your knowledge of the prerequisites! Can you answer the questions below?
1.Name the components (A, B, C, D and E) in the circuit:
2.A train travels from town A to town B ,as shown in the scale diagram.
a)The distance the train travels between A and B is not the same as the displacement of the train. What is the difference between distance and displacement?
b) Use the figure below to determine the displacement of the train in travelling from A to B.
c)There are places on the journey where the train accelerates without changing speed. Explain how this can happen.
d)The Figure below shows how the velocity of the train changes with time as the train travels along a straight section of the journey. Estimate the distance travelled by the train along the section of the journey shown.
*Office hours: to be determined closer to the time.
*Fitzwilliam College reserves the right to changes to the course content or the course instructor.
*For more course details, please click to view the handbook.