Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) / MEng

The area I teach in is thermal fluids, so that's to do with thermodynamics. That's the study of energy and also fluid mechanics, which is the study of flow of air and water and other gases.

I'm going to show you how a wind tunnel works and how we can use it to understand the performance of a wing. 

Things like wind tunnels are used in areas like Formula One. If you are looking at aerodynamic design and making alterations to try and improve the performance of your car, if you were designing a new train or looking at a lorry design, all these things move very fast through the air and they generate a lot of drag. The downside of that, is that it's expensive because you need more fuel to power your vehicle but also nowadays people are very aware of CO2 emissions and the more efficient you can get a system like a train or a lorry, then you reduce the CO2 emissions as well as reducing the cost.

What we've got set up in the wind tunnel at the moment is probably one of the main applications and that's looking at an aerofoil. Now with an aerofoil, you do generate drag, but also very importantly, it generates lift. The lift is generated by the flow over the top of the aerofoil being different to the flow that goes round the bottom. That gives you a difference in pressure and if the aerofoil is working correctly, then you have high pressure in the bottom, which is pushing up and lower pressure at the bottom, which is sucking the the wing up. And that's what keeps the aeroplane in the sky.

What we're able to do with this lab is change the angle of attack to see how the wing operates in different circumstances and we're also able to directly measure the pressure over the top and the bottom surfaces. That allows us to measure the lift but also to see how that changes very quickly as we go through stall point.

My name is Israk Ali.

I am a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin.

The thing that appealed to me most about the University of Portsmouth is going along to the open day, I quite liked a lot of the lab facilities and it seemed like a good balance of practical and theoretical work.

I got on with a few of the lecturers as well and it seemed like a course I'd really enjoy doing over the next few years.

When I joined University of Portsmouth, I also joined the MMA Society and the Islamic Society as well.

Alongside my studies, I tutored GCSE Maths, English and Science.

I thought it was a good way for me to use some of my academic experience and stuff I was learning in university to help children at the same time.

You realise that all the things you are learning has those real world applications.

By using the Careers and Employability Service and doing interview prep and preparing early, I was able to get my job secured at Lockheed Martin so I could do my masters year.

Then as soon as I graduated, I could start working straight away.

I initially started Lockheed Martin as part of a graduate scheme, so that covered two years where I'd rotate between different areas.

I've covered a lot of things like marine engineering, air space, mechanical hands-on work and working on the training facilities.

There was one time when I was out at sea for two weeks and I was able to work on developing a radar system and test that while we were out at sea.

It's really satisfying feeling for me, knowing that I've been able to work on designing a system and then having that actually being used in real life.

It gives me a massive sense of pride just to see what I've been working on all this time and also how other people would be able to use it as well.

The University of Portsmouth has really helped me to realise my potential.

As part of the Lockheed Martin Outreach Scheme, they do a lot of work in the local communities with schools and one of the challenges we had was to work with a school, help them build an electric go kart.

I helped out with that, help them get more into engineering and see what it takes to build a go kart.

I went down to Whale Island at the end of the session and they raced against all the other kids from the other schools and it gave me a big sense of pride actually, to show the kids that they can achieve things like building a go kart.

The thing that drives me most is being able to create and develop things that will progress the field of engineering that has immediate impacts, but also in the future can be further developed and push the realms of what we can actually do and and achieve.

In my placement, I went to Prysmian Cables in Eastleigh.
I was an Assistant Project Engineer working in the high-voltage cable installation design team.
Looking into the phasing of the cables, whether it needs to be concrete or CBS-surround.
If it's in a highway or is in a countryside, so just everything.
The placement office literally do everything, the amount of times I went in with my CV, five different times a week for five different jobs.
It's lovely, they just do everything and anything to help you.
Prysmian were lovely, they really made me feel like a valued member of the team.
I had to work with people that I never met before, different age groups, different diversities, different specialisms.
Going into my third year, we've all had different experiences and we've been able to build on that together, especially with the group coursework, so it's made it a lot easier.
If I hadn't done a placement, I would definitely find the final years of my course a lot harder.
Being able to do essays and my practical skills in CAD, I got to learn stuff that I would never pick up at university.
Following my placement, I definitely say that I'm more employable.
I've done a year working which is not something most students can say.
I would say I'm more confident.
I've managed to get my part-time job, I've got a promotion there and I've definitely got references that I wouldn't have had if I didn't do a placement.