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The University of Southampton
Engineering

Expert services

We have extensive facilities across three campuses, including specialist workshops, laboratories and testing facilities.

Our engineering facilities are spread across both Highfield and Boldrewood Campuses. Boldrewood Innovation Campus , our newest campus, is a short walk from the main Highfield Campus. It was the result of the University’s collaboration with Lloyd’s Register: one of the largest business partnerships with any single university in the world.

Our engineering facilities include:

Anechoic chamber

Anechoic chamber

Our large anechoic chamber forms part of the Rayleigh Laboratories, and is one of the largest of any UK university.

Student workshops

Student workshops

Our students can design, manufacture and test their own prototypes in our student workshops on both Highfield and Boldrewood campuses.

Wind tunnel

Wind tunnel complex

Our wind tunnel complex includes the RJ Mitchell Wind Tunnel, which has been at the forefront of aerodynamics research for more than 35 years.

towing tank

Towing tank

Our 138m towing tank supports teaching, research and commercial clients, not just for conventional ship model testing but across the aerospace, energy, and transportation sectors.

The large reverberation chamber

Reverberation chambers

Our reverberation chambers enable us to generate high-intensity diffuse noise fields for acoustic fatigue testing of, for example, spacecraft and aircraft components.

Design studios

Design studios

Our design studios on Highfield Campus and Boldrewood Innovation Campus are available for students to use for their individual and group projects.

Boeing Flight Simulator

Boeing Flight Simulator

The new Boeing Flight Simulator Laboratory features a number of simulators, and plays an important role in the design, testing and manufacturing of aircraft.

Human Factors Research Unit Laboratory

Human Factors Research Unit Laboratory

The Human Factors Research Unit laboratories have a unique range of facilities for experimental studies of human responses to whole-body vibration, hand-transmitted vibration, and low frequency oscillation.

UAV Research Lab

UAV Research Lab

The UAV Research Lab is used by the Soton UAV team for designing, manufacturing and assembling UAV airframes for research. Facilities include 3D printers, soldering and electronic workstations.

MC3 vehicles

MC3 vehicles

The Mobile Command Control and Communication (MC3) vehicles support autonomous system testing, fitted with equipment including transponder interrogators and airspace virtual radar.

Spotter UAS

Spotter UAS

Spotter is a light UAS, designed for tasks associated with a maritime environment. These include environmental monitoring, search and rescue, and tracking of shipping movements.

Anechoic doak laboratory

Anechoic doak laboratory

The anechoic doak laboratory is used for jet and valve noise testing, and is equipped with an air supply that can achieve up to 20bar pressure

Geotechnics laboratories

Geotechnics laboratories

Our laboratories are equipped for both standard and advanced soil element testing, for instance to study stress rotation under rail axle loadings.

Bioengineering Laboratory

Bioengineering Laboratory

The Laboratory offers four main suites for tissue testing, cell culture, microscopy, and a fully equipped wet laboratory for chemical preparation and the design and fabrication of microfluidic devices.

nCATS facilities

nCATS facilities

The national Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton facilities include tribological rigs; corrosion and wear-corrosion measurement equipment.

Chilworth drop test rig

The drop test rig, situated at the University's Science Park at Chilworth, can measure 2D wedge-water impact phenomena.

Geotechnical Centrifuge

The centrifuge allows accelerated scale modelling of geosystems, spinning scale models to accelerations of up to 130 times Earth's gravity

Institute of Cryogenics

Institute of Cryogenics carries our fundamental and applied research in cryogenic engineering and superconductivity.

Graham Roberts Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Graham Roberts Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The jet lab is home to a supersonic ramjet, turbojet and rocket engine.

Video tours of our engineering facilities at Highfield Campus and Boldrewood Campus

Highfield Campus

Explore Highfield campus engineering facilities

Watch the video

Boldrewood Campus

Explore Boldrewood campus engineering facilities

Watch the video
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