MechSpace
MechSpace is a dedicated and well-equipped space for students of UCL Mechanical Engineering to design and develop engineering prototypes.
MechSpace is the department's student hub located in London King's Cross, a short walk from the main UCL Bloomsbury Campus. This is a dedicated space for students of UCL Mechanical Engineering, spanning six levels and around 12,000 square feet of workshops and study spaces. Here, our students meet, discuss, design and build prototypes for both assessed and extracurricular projects, with the help of our experienced team of dedicated technicians.
This is a space where our students can unleash their engineering creativity, and passion for making, to the fullest.
All materials and equipment are supplied fully by the department, not costing our students a penny, making this space an impressive benefit to all our students.
Example Equipment and Capabilities
- CNC machines to turn, mill and rout in a variety of materials including wood, plastic and metal in both 2D and 3D
- Laser cutters to cut wood and plastic in 2D
- 3D printers to rapidly prototype design concepts
- Facilities to recycle and reform scrap material
- Manual cutting and shaping tools for wood, plastic, and metal in 2D and 3D
- Electronics assembly and testing
- Precision 3D measurement equipment
- Computational modelling and high-performance computing facilities including Virtual Reality
Example Projects
- Formula Student engine building
- Unmanned autonomous vehicle (drones) construction
- Carbon fibre chassis design for Formula Student and Mars Rover vehicles
- Hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles
- Climbing robots
- High-speed vehicle aerodynamics and hydrodynamics
Home of UCL Racing
MechSpace is also home to UCL Racing (UCLR); where students are able to join one of our extracurricular project teams to practice and learn new technical and engineering project management skills. UCLR teams use our expansive MechSpace facility as a base to build their devices and vehicles, ranging from a Formula Student racing car all the way to a human-powered submarine. The current UCLR teams are:
- Eco-Marathon team
- Formula Student team
- Mars Rover team
- UAS team
- Rocket team
- Human-Powered Submarine team
The building also hosts a range of STEM outreach activities for younger students – like 'F1 in Schools' and 'Girls on Track' – and holds Repair Cafés for both the UCL and wider communities.
MechSpace Repair Shop
A system where students, staff, or anyone at UCL and the wider community can bring things to MechSpace to have them repaired. Check out the Repair Shop online portal below to learn more about this system and submit your items for repair.
Explore the MechSpace Repair Shop online portal
Watch: A glimpse inside MechSpace
Learn more about UCL Racing
Find out more about each of our six UCLR teams, including each team's core goals and photos of their devices, vehicles and prototypes – all created at MechSpace!
Photo credits
Matt Clayton and James Tye for UCL
