Close
History
Established in 1998, the UCL Centre for Systems Engineering (UCLse) is a centre of excellence for systems engineering and the management of technology projects.
UCLse's founding aim was to share the knowledge and skills developed by the Mullard Space Science Laboratory from over two hundred successful rocket and space missions completed over the last fifty years with systems engineers in other sectors. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) sponsored the creation of a flexible/modular MSc programme to be delivered with GEC Marconi (now BAE Systems).
Around the same time, Prof Alan Smith of UCLse co-developed a Project Management training course accredited by the Association for Project Management (APM) and leading to the PMQ qualification.
This interest in both systems engineering and project management continues to this day, and we offer courses in each of these areas, recognising the importance of integrating the two disciplines. This is one of the five fundamental principles that we believe contribute to the successful delivery of complex projects.
Locations
Permanent staff are based at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, which has around 175 staff split between the main site in Surrey and the London office in Taviton St (part of UCL's main campus). For teaching (typically delivered on the London campus) and research projects, we work closely with staff in other departments to access expertise in a broad range of areas in engineering, physical sciences and social sciences.
People
Our staff balance the practical application of systems engineering in research and development projects with investigations into how to advance the practice.
All staff also teach undergraduate, masters, EngD and PhD students at UCL, and deliver customised training courses to industry. We sit on the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) UK advisory board, and have been members of IET's Systems Engineering Executive Committee. We have recently been awarded research funding by INCOSE UK, the Technology Strategy Board, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
UCLse also has an Industrial Advisory Board, with members from a range of industry sectors to advise on the content of our programmes.
Contact us
To find out more, please contact us:
Raúl Leal
Centre for Systems Engineering
3 Taviton St.,
London, WC1H 0BT, UK
T. 020 7679 4908
F. 020 7679 4911
r.leal@ucl.ac.uk