Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine (IMPERIAL) is a technological university having a strong international reputation in teaching and research across the main areas of science and technology. The College has around 1300 full-time members of academic staff supported by 700 research assistants/associates. In the last (1996) Higher Education Funding Council Research Assessment Exercise, covering all UK universities, eighteen of Imperial College’s twenty-four academic departments/centres were accredited with the maximum scores of 5/5* for international research excellence, including the Engineering section which would contribute to this project.
