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Our team for the Engineering Foundation Year is friendly, approachable and experienced at helping students succeed.
Programme Leads
Dr Sophia Economides
As the co-lead for the Engineering Foundation Year programme, Dr Economides believes that people from all backgrounds should have access to higher education. She studied Electrical Engineering in Greece before doing a PhD and an MPhil in the UK, as well as an MA in Online and Distance Education. Dr Economides then worked in the space industry for a few years before going back to work in academia. After seeing some of the difficulties mature students and students with disabilities had accessing higher education, she became a hands-on advocate for widening participation. She has worked with a variety of young people from non-traditional backgrounds, supporting them to gain a university education and championing STEM careers.
Professor John Mitchell
A globally recognised expert in engineering, Professor Mitchell is the co-lead of the Engineering Foundation Year programme and a firm believer of driving equal access to opportunities in engineering. He gained his degree and PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from UCL, as well as a Master’s in Teaching and Learning in Higher and Professional Education. Professor Mitchell has received awards for teaching and led the introduction of the Integrated Engineering Programme to UCL. He is particularly well known for his work on optical and wireless access systems, and he is also the Co-Director of the Centre for Engineering Education.
Teaching and Learning Team
Dr Natalie Wint, Lecturer (teaching)
Natalie is a member of the teaching and learning team. She has a degree in Physics with Medical Physics and an MSc and EngD in Materials Engineering. Natalie has experience in working with mature students, as well as those with disabilities, much of which she gathered when leading an Engineering Year Programme within a different university in the UK. She is particularly passionate about demonstrating the need for engineers to bring a large range of experiences and perspectives to the role, as well as making students aware of the wealth of opportunities available within engineering, especially those who wouldn’t have normally considered it as a career path. She enjoys working with students to find out about their ambitions, values, and skills, and help them discover their place within engineering.
Dr Jumoke Oladejo, Lecturer (teaching) (on maternity leave)
Dr. Jumoke Oladejo is a lecturer within the Faculty of Engineering Sciences. She has an MSc in Sustainable Energy Engineering and a PhD in Energy Technologies. She is a certified BREEAM and WELL accredited professional (AP), and an accredited fellow (FHEA) of the UK Advance HE. For the past four years, she has taught on a wide range of courses in physics and engineering for foundation year students, as well as final year architecture and environmental engineering at a Sino-British University. She is also a sustainability enthusiast and believes deeply in encouraging diversity, equal opportunities and supporting students to achieve their potential, especially within the STEM field.
Dr Eleni Katirtzoglou, Lecturer (teaching)
Eleni, or Dr K as most of her students call her, is an Associate Fellow of the HEA and has a mathematics Ph.D. in Functional Analysis (Musielak-Orlicz spaces) from the University of Memphis. Eleni started her mathematical career as a researcher in the Basic Research Institute in the Mathematical Sciences (BRIMS) at Hewlett-Packard Labs in Bristol and then in the Department of Control Optimization and Stochastics at Delft University of Technology.
After completing a MSc in European Political Economy at LSE she dedicated her career in educating students who wanted to learn mathematics. Eleni held various educational roles at LSE, UCL and QMUL. Her contributions to mathematics education include the development of the round table model, an active-learning course design for teaching and learning mathematics that was successfully implemented to a number of courses at LSE. Her work has been recognized in teaching awards such as two LSE Excellence in Education Awards (2016 and 2021) and the LSESU Award for Innovative Teaching in 2016.
Fran Bowen-Watts - Senior Teaching and Learning Administrator
With a strong administrative background in Higher Education and Engineering, Fran is passionate about helping and aiding aspiring engineers with their studies. Fran has previously worked with the Education team at the Institution of Civil Engineers where she deepened her understanding and knowledge for the amazing work engineers do!
Costas Constantinou - Teaching and Learning Administrator
Costas has a passion for education in general, and has a diverse experience in higher education. Previously he has worked for an international higher education institution in London offering front-desk support to international students and more recently worked as a Teaching and Learning Administrator for the PGCE Secondary teaching training at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society.
Kate Wilson - Outreach and Marketing Manager
Kate started her post in August 2023. She is particularly interested in widening participation and understanding the needs, goals and skills of prospective students in order to develop provision of information and guidance that helps them make informed decisions about their futures.
Previously, she worked in the UCL Department of Chemical Engineering, focusing on communications, student recruitment for existing and new degree programmes, and coordinating outreach and school engagement activities. Before this, she provided project and administrative support at UCL in the IOE and CLIE, supporting the delivery of language teaching and teacher training in schools across the country. She has also worked as a teaching assistant in schools in East London.
When you begin the programme, you will also be introduced to your careers advisors, mentor, buddy and wellbeing support staff. Find out more about support for students.
If you want to discuss any aspects of the EFY, please contact efy@ucl.ac.uk