An engineering projects community, bringing together all disciplines. Zero barriers to entry.
Join now

🏆 Winner of UCL's Best New Society Award 2026

Our Mission

Ingenium exists to bridge the gap between what you learn in lectures and what real engineers do in practice. We run structured, interdisciplinary projects where students work in teams to design, prototype, manufacture and test real systems, with mentoring, design reviews and access to technical resources along the way.

Whether you're a first-year looking to gain experience or a senior student wanting to lead and mentor, Ingenium gives you the chance to develop technical skills, teamwork, leadership and real project experience that stands out on your CV.

Alongside projects, we run hands-on workshops, hackathons, industry talks and site visits that connect engineers from across UCL with each other and with industry.

Why Join Ingenium?

Build real engineering experience: Work on hands-on, team-based projects that mirror how engineering is done in industry, from early design and prototyping through to testing and delivery.

Open to all experience levels: From our beginner line-following challenge to full product development, Ingenium is structured so everyone can contribute meaningfully and grow.

Boost your CV with real outcomes: Finish with tangible results you can talk about in interviews: prototypes, designs, technical documentation and teamwork experience.

Learn skills lectures don't cover: Workshops, design reviews and mentoring build practical skills like CAD, 3D printing, laser cutting, Python, MATLAB, electronics and project management.

Connect with industry: Industry talks and site visits give you a direct look at engineering careers.

Create real impact: From clean water and river clean-up to disaster-relief classrooms, apply your skills to challenges that matter, locally and globally.

Our Projects for 2026/27

🤖 Nano Labyrinth (Project Tier A and above)

Design, build and program a robot, based on the Micromouse competition.

  • Beginner challenge: build a line-following robot, with a £30 reimbursement cap
  • Advanced class: build a robot that solves an unknown 8×8 maze on its own, within an 18 cm size class and a £50 reimbursement cap
  • Advanced category in development for senior students
  • Accessible to all skill levels, teaching electronics and coding

 🛠️ Classroom in a Crate (Project Tier B and above)

A design-and-build challenge: turn one 1200 mm crate into a full classroom for four learners and a teacher.

  • Must deploy and re-pack in 10 minutes without power tools
  • Entries tested for structural stability and roof-water performance at our Expo
  • Helps disaster-prone areas relocate schools quickly so children's education can continue year-round
  • Develop architectural and engineering skills on a real-world problem

🌊 River Cleaning Robot (Project Tier B and above + Robotics Society membership)

An autonomous, electric robot that navigates rivers and collects floating litter for proper disposal.

  • AI cameras detect and map litter
  • Potential phase 2: a self-docking station to offload waste and recharge
  • Rivers are the main highway for plastic into the ocean, so this tackles the problem at source and cuts the cost of manual clean-up
  • Includes a supervised UK river field trial

💧 Compact Water Recycling Plant (Project Tier C)

A low-cost, modular water-treatment plant that turns contaminated surface water into safe drinking water.

  • Targeting 10,000 litres per hour
  • Removes sediment, turbidity, organic matter and microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and protozoa)
  • Built for rural, low-resource and disaster-relief settings: cheap, simple to maintain and no specialist expertise needed
  • Over 2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, and the goal is a field-deployable unit for a partner community

Membership Options

🔓 Taster Membership — Free

For students who want to learn and explore engineering skills:

  • Society updates and project showcases
  • Access to open events such as our meet & greet

💼 Networking & Careers — £5

  • Fortnightly technical workshops: two-hour classes covering software and technical skills from different engineering disciplines
    • Starting with CAD and moving on to broader skills like Excel, Python, SQL and MATLAB, plus 3D printing and laser cutting tutorials
    • Beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, so there's something for everyone
  • Industry talks
  • Site visits
  • Our UCL Engineering Expo, where our members showcase their projects and you can network with industry guests

Keep an eye on our Instagram @ucl.ingenium for workshop announcements!

🛠️ Project Tier A: £15

Everything in Networking & Careers, plus:

  • Take part in Nano Labyrinth (beginner or standard class)
  • Automatic access to our hackathons (otherwise ticketed)

⚙️ Project Tier B: £25

Everything in Project Tier A, plus:

  • Take part in Classroom in a Crate or the River Cleaning Robot (Robotics Society membership also required)
  • Structured teamwork, design reviews and mentoring from senior students and industry professionals

🚀 Project Tier C: £35

Everything in Project Tier B, plus:

  • Take part in the Compact Water Recycling Plant: full product development, from concept to field-deployable unit
  • Components, prototyping support and manufacturing access