My Life at Cranfield University!

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My name is Siqi Wang and I’m a. MSc student in Advanced Chemical Engineering. My first impression of Cranfield is its beautiful campus, if you’re looking for a nice place free from distractions then Cranfield is the place for you! Also after four months of study, I am very satisfied and happy with my courses and the teaching quality of Cranfield University.

The thing that I like the most about our course is that we have the chance to work in the laboratories and have site visits. For example, during the past two weeks, for the module Pilot Plant Operations, we need to learn about the combustion process of coal and other biomass feedstocks. Firstly we carried out a pilot-scale experimental test in the laboratory, and we learned about the operations we need, the data that needs to be monitored and recorded throughout the test. Then we visited the biomass power plant of Cranfield to see the system that provides heating for our campus.

We also went on a field trip to the Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park to see how an industrial-scale waste recovery facility operates. I really liked this site visit because we seldom have the chance to enter a large-scale site by ourselves, but this kind of experience is very useful for us to better understand the theoretical knowledge that we learnt and see how it is applied to a real-life scenario.

During our classes, we need to work with other students to prepare our presentations. My classmates come from different countries, I enjoy working and talking with them because it gives an opportunity to learn about other cultures. Also, most of my classmates have working experience before coming to Cranfield, which I don’t, so we may have different perspectives when solving the same problem. Although we come from different cultural and working experience, our cooperation is always very pleasant.  

The assessment of our modules is based on the report that we write at the end of each module. There are computers in the library and other rooms, but the one that I prefer is the PC hub next to Lanchester Hall. The assignment is not easy, and the lectures given can’t cover everything in detail, so we need to take the time to look for information ourselves. By doing the assignment I learnt a lot, and these experiences are very useful for the upcoming group project.

In my spare time, I like to take a walk on our campus. The wooden trail in the woods next to Stringfellow Hall is a great place for a walk in the weekends.

The University also organises many interesting events. For example, during Green Week in November, I participated in the Honey Harvesting event and got a jar of Cranfield-branded honey. The Cranfield Student Association also organises events such as Movie Night and trips. Of course, the Chinese Student Association is also very important for us. On the Chinese Spring Festival this year, both of the associations will be holding the Spring Festival Gala, I’m really looking forward to them!

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克兰学习生活体验

我叫王思齐，是克兰能源与电力系高级化学工程专业的硕士学生。我对克兰的第一印象是其优美的校园环境，如果你想找个安静无干扰的地方好好学习的话，那克兰是个很好的选择。在经过四个月的学习之后，我也对克兰的课程设置及老师们的教学水平感到十分满意。

我们专业课程结构中我最喜欢的一点是我们有机会进入实验室和工厂。例如在这两周进行的Pilot Plant Operations课程中，我们需要学习煤及生物燃料燃烧的过程。我们首先在学校实验室进行了中试规模的实验，这样我们可以了解到实验从头到尾所需要进行的操作和需要监控及记录的数据。其次我们参观了学校的发电站，了解了克兰的供暖设备。

我们还一起参观了位于MK的垃圾回收站，以了解一个城市规模的垃圾厂是如何运行的。我尤其喜欢这一部分，因为平常我们自己很难有机会真正进到一个大规模的工厂里进行参观，而这样的体验可以让我们更直观的了解到理论内容是如何被运用到实际操作中的。

在课上我们需要和其他同学一起合作，准备演讲等等。我的同学来自不同的国家，我非常愿意和他们一起合作和交流，这让我了解了很多关于他们文化的知识。另外，我的大多数同学都有过在企业的工作经历，而我之前只有过实验室的实习经历，他们看问题的角度会和我有所不同，我也因此学习了很多。尽管大家的文化和工作背景都不相同，但我们的合作是非常愉快和顺利的。

我们的课程评价是基于每门课结束后所写的报告。学校的图书馆和很多其他教室都有电脑，但我周末最喜欢去的地方是Lanchester宿舍旁边的机房。作业不简单，大部分内容老师是不会在课上深入讲的，所以需要自己花时间查阅很多资料。但通过完成作业的确能学到很多知识，并且这些练习对之后写小组项目及个人项目的报告是很有用的。

在学习之余我们也需要适当的休息。克兰的校园虽然不算太大，但依然有很多可以去散步的地方，例如Stringfellow宿舍边上的森林小道，景色很美。

另外学校也会时常组织一些活动。之前Green Week那周组织的蜂蜜制作活动就非常有意思，参与者也每人得到了一罐蜂蜜。另外CSA也会定期组织看电影和出游的活动。当然对于中国同学另一个重要的组织是中国学联。中国学联会也会定期组织有意思的活动，在今年春节他们会举办一场克兰的春晚。