Students' Views

Annie Spencer

College: Magdalene
Year: Part IIB

Chemical Engineering is by far the most sociable, and career enabling degree and part of this is down to CUCES. I have enjoyed numerous Christmas and Annual dinners, Chemical Engineering sport's days and curries ran by CUCES. However, where CUCES have really helped is in the diverse selection of companies they bring into the department to talk to the students about career opportunities. There has been around 2 events a week, from manufacturing companies to consultancies, which have enabled us to make an informed choice on the career to go into, and to make the vital networks necessary to find out more about these sectors.

Vaishnavi Girish

College: Kings
Year: Part IIA

What struck me most, during my first visit to the department, was the sea of unknown faces, and the knowledge that in three years time, I would (hopefully) know most of them. Considering the fact that we live in separate colleges, the CUCES has played a major role in bringing us together through their events. Organizing events from Christmas and Annual dinners to pub quizzes and punting tips with painstaking diligence, virtually all of them have been a success over the past year. They've done an exemplary job in exposing us to various opportunities in terms of careers as well. By organizing lunches and dinners to which companies hiring chemical engineers have been invited, we've had plenty of chances to talk to Cambridge graduates who are working in industry and learn more in terms of future prospects.

Helen Breewood

College: Queens
Year: Part IIA

I've found that the small size of the chemical engineering department has been a positive thing, since it makes it easy to get to know most of the people on my course. In this respect it's very different from my first year Natural Science lectures, where there could be several hundred people in one lecture hall and it was difficult to get to know people from other colleges. CUCES have been great at organising department events, both social events (e.g. Christmas Dinner, formal swaps) and those that are useful for learning about future career opportunities. In particular, the many company presentations given during Michaelmas term were very helpful when applying for summer placements.

Afxentis Afxentiou

College: St. Edmunds
Year: Part IIB

I'm a 4th Year student from St. Edmund's College. In the 3 years I have been in the department, CUCES has impressed me in the way they actively try to reinforce the family spirit. The events the committees have been organising throughout these years have helped me understand the breadth of opportunities available to me once I graduate