Teaching
HEAD Lab contributes core modules at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, taught by Prof Mazdak Ghajari. Both modules are designed to enhance student engagement through practical projects, the catapult and the water tower, that students consistently rate as a highlight of the year.
Free educational material from the lab, alongside our formal teaching at Imperial.
A 15-video lecture series covering the fundamentals of finite element analysis, released free on YouTube, the same material taught in HEAD Lab's DE2 Finite Element Analysis module at Imperial.
Prof Mazdak Ghajari
DE1 · MEng year 1
The fundamentals of mechanics, dynamics, statics, and mechanics of materials, taught with practical examples and demos. The mid-term project Ancient Mechanics: Catapult sees groups of 4-5 use energy balance and projectile motion to predict catapult launch parameters, then test them on the challenge day in medieval-themed costumes.
Lecturer: Prof Mazdak Ghajari
DE2 · MEng year 2
Truss, beam, and solid elements; failure analysis; buckling; vibrations; non-linear FEA. Flipped-classroom delivery: theory in short pre-class videos, hands-on lectures with discussion. The water-tower challenge has students design and optimise a full-scale lightweight tower, then build it and test it to failure on the day.
Lecturer: Prof Mazdak Ghajari
Student enquiries
MSc, MEng, and UROP students interested in impact biomechanics, FE brain modelling, or helmet testing are welcome to email us with a short note about their interests.