The Brunel Museum is an educational charity located in Rotherhithe in South London, dedicated to telling the story of the world’s first underwater tunnel and the lives of those who built and used it. Construction of the tunnel began in 1825 and took 18 years to complete. It was built using revolutionary engineering techniques developed by Marc Brunel, the father of the more famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel. These techniques are still used today in civil engineering and tunnel construction projects worldwide. 

The museum has a small, dedicated staff and a group of volunteers who engage the public, especially families and local communities, in STEM education and heritage. However, the museum’s team lacks the specific engineering expertise required to fully understand and communicate the complex and innovative engineering methods used in the Thames Tunnel project to its audiences. 

The proposed project, ‘Engineering Meets History’ at The Brunel Museum, aims to address this gap through engaging with current undergraduate engineering students from QMUL as part of a 6-week community internship programme. They will collaborate with the museum’s community curator Ms. Emily Boldry and conduct research into the museum’s archive of historic drawings, prints, and watercolors, and those related to the Thames Tunnel at the Institute of Civil Engineers.

With the help of their technical knowledge and experience, students will reinterpret these historic sources through an engineering lens. They will then produce a short report and design engagement resources that explain the engineering methods used in the tunnel’s construction in a way that is accessible both to the museum team and its audiences. A final showcase event will be held at the end of the project for the students to share the knowledge gained and showcase their created resources to the museum’s staff and volunteers.