British Science Museum (South Kensington)

On Saturday morning, May 30, the EIL students visited the British Science Museum in South Kensington.  They were able to see several Boulton and Watt Steam Engines and Babbage's Difference Engine (Models 1 and 2).  Professors Berry and Dickerson awarded trivia winners with candy afterwards.  The group photo (with EIL banner) is taken in front of the 1903 Mill Engine manufactured by Burnley Ironworks Co. This sophisticated 700-horsepower engine was installed in the Harle Syke Mill, near Burnley, Lancashire in 1903.  It powered hundreds of looms in the mill, via belts driven by the huge 20-tonne flywheel.  The mill was dismantled in 1970 and moved to the museum in 1979. 

Royal Institution (Faraday Laboratory)

On Friday evening, May 29, the EIL Students along with Profs. Berry and Dickerson visited the Royal Institution (Michael Faraday Museum) near Green Park. After visiting Faraday's Laboratory, having dinner at some of the local restaurants, the students attended a (Friday) Discourse lecture entitled "Photodynamic Therapy: Physicists and physicians unite to heal with light" by Professor Stephen G. Bown (Cambridge University, UK). The students were introduced to Photodynamic Therapy (or PDT) that offers a revolutionary new treatment option for a range of diseases, particularly cancers. Prof. Bown's lecture was given in the Royal institution's lecture hall, where Michael Faraday started the Christmas lectures in 1825. The RI today is known for its science education programs, a continuation of the tradition of scientific lectures as enlightened entertainment. The Friday Night Discourses were formal affairs with the audience in evening dress and the speaker by tradition had to start and stop his address as the auditorium clock struck consecutive hours. J. J. Thomson announced the discovery of the electron in his 1897 lecture in this room. The Christmas Lecture program, begun by Michael Faraday and continuing through today, is the oldest continuous science education program for young people.

City Tour and the London Eye

On Wednesday, May 27, the EIL students were joined by IES Abroad London's Customised Programmes & Projects Manager Lewis Liming  and Profs. Berry and Dickerson on a 2.5-hour walking tour of the City of London.  Under the direction of our tour guides (Owen Joseph and Tom Maddison), students were given a good orientation and history of the City with chances to take photos near Borough Market, Westminster Abbey, Household Calvary Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Globe Theatre, and the Millennium Bridge over the Thames River.  The tour also included a bus ride on one of London's iconic double-decker buses from Covent Garden in the West End to St. Paul's Cathedral. The tour ended on the Millennium Bridge Square giving the students the opportunity to have lunch at Borough Market before the group's scheduled entry to the London Eye, on the south bank of the Thames River.  The London Eye is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with over 3 million visitors annually.

Arrival Day for EIL 2026

Tuesday, May 26 was arrival day for most of the EIL 2026 students.  All thirty-two students have arrived and are settled into the flats in the Hoxton.  Hoxton is located in the London Borough of Hackney, located just north of the City of London's financial district. Lewis Leming with IES Abroad provided the students a safety and health orientation in the IES Centre right after a pizza lunch.  Yogi Mistry from Anglo Educational Services (AES) also provided a housing orientation for the students in the IES Centre.  Students were able to check out fans for their flats before being released for the day.

 

 

 

Sheffield Farewell Dinner

On Saturday evening, June 28, the Engineering in London (and Sheffield) students wrapped up the 4-week program with a scrumptious three-course dinner at Grappa Ristorante & Bar on West Street in Sheffield.  Special thanks to our corporate and alumni sponsors of the EIL 2025 program: Tickle College of Engineering,  Cisco, MilleniTek, Rebecca Collins, Denise Gosnell, Jackson Moore, McKenzie Brogan, and the Larry and Yosiko Shell Global Initiative. Special appreciation goes to Jo Mackenzie, Laura Wilson, and Andrew Garrard at the University of Sheffield for their hard work in arranging the week at the Diamond for the EIL program.

 

 

Coursework Completion at the Diamond

On Friday, June 27, the Engineering in London students completed their last quiz for both ECE 301 and ME 331. Students receive six credit hours toward their engineering major along with a lifetime of memories of visiting the historical venues of engineering from London's Victorian era and the soldering of their circuit board and determining the efficiency of a piston under gas temperature changes at the Diamond in Sheffield.

Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer and Dynamics Laboratory (Day 2)

On Thursday, June 26, the EIL students worked on two laboratory assignments from 1pm to 3:30pm (with a 30-minute break) in the Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer and Dynamics Laboratory in the Diamond.  The two learning outcomes of the first laboratory assignment that focused on heat engines were to i) visualize the conversion of heat to mechanical work using a simple apparatus, and to ii) calculate the efficiency for a heat engine.  The two major learning outcomes of the second laboratory assignment that focused on heat exchange were to determine i) the entropy production for both hot and cold streams, and ii) the total rate of entropy production for the Hilton heat exchanger apparatus.  Both of the lab assignments were designed by Dr. Robert Woolley, Multidisciplinary Education, University of Sheffield. 

Before the afternoon labs, Dr. Robert Woolley and Prof. Stephen Beck helped answer students' questions regarding review problems that Prof. Dickerson assigned.