Academic matters

[pimspired]

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller

On the 22th of September, the new term is about to start. However, since the end of last term, everything has changed. Instead of starting the new term at the Eindhoven University of Technology, I will be attending Queen Mary, University of London for the Autumn Semester. It took us - I will be going along with Jules and Simone, two fellow students from Eindhoven -  almost four months to arrange everything, but eventually we did it. The contracts are (finally) signed, accommodation is arranged and the mental preparation period has been started.


   

The Queen's Building (main building) and the Sir Christopher France House (student residences) The courses
As an official Associate of Queen Mary, I will be attending four modules from the Medical Engineering undergraduate programme, part of the Science and Engineering Department. These modules contain both lectures and more practical projects. The modules I will be attending are:

• Biomechanics
• Functional Materials in Medical Engineering
• Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
• Computer Aided Engineering for Solids and Fluids

They sound pretty awesome, don't you think? I only don't know the level: it might be harder than Eindhoven, but it might also prove to be a bit easier after all. To be honest, I don't mind an intellectual challenge, so I actually hope the modules will be quite advanced. I already paid a visit to the campus, and it looks awesome.

The campus
The Mile End campus, with the Queen's Building (main building) and the People's Palace (lecture theatre, great hall) is just huge, and situated in the heart of east London. Naturally, it was quite abandoned due to the summer holiday, but it had that aura of a peaceful academic environment, located directly next to Mile End Park. This eastern area of London is a mixed area: people living here originate from various countries, although the majority has Indian/Bangladeshi roots. The famous Brick Lane is also know as the UK's Curry Capital.


London, as seen from the air
The accomodation
Naturally, one needs a house to live in. After the private secttor presented itself as a mission impossible, I decided to go for homestay. A homestay agency supplied me with some options, and a few ldays later everything was arranged. The next few months I will stay at the Ms. Parker's and Mr. Straupmanis' place. Jules will also be staying there, so that is quite awesome. The family further consists of three sons (resp. 17, 18 and 19) and no less than five cats. The house is located south of the river Thames, in a district with the rather Dursleyan name East Dullwich. I am confident my stay with them will be a nice and cosy one.