It’s hard to believe that 3 years has already passed since I first enrolled in Southampton. A few Materials and Design modules later, here I am at the final stage of the course. Looking back, I can’t help but be at awe at the number of things I’ve done, skills I’ve picked up and the lessons I’ve learnt over these past few years.
With Semester 1 almost done, just thought it might be a good time to give everyone an insight on how fourth year is. Having undertaken the Sustainable Energy Systems theme, I have had much more flexibility with my modules compared to some of the other themes. In total, there are 8 modules in the academic year, with 1 module, the group design project, running for the entire year just like the individual project in the 3rd year. This applies to all themes. For myself, the only compulsory module was advanced management which will only be in the 2nd semester. I chose to do 4 of my modules in the first semester (excluding the group design project) considering that most of the project work will only kick in during the second semester. Depending on choices, classes are practically the same format as 3rd year, which means three 1 hour lectures in a week per module (for most modules).
This year is the year where you really start to see your theme more clearly. The choices of modules you can select are based on your theme and these modules are all very specific and rather in depth. I can really see the difference in level as the amount of thinking, reading and work in general beyond lectures is much more demanding. This is probably something I said every year but that goes to show that every year the bar is raised.
I think the 4th year modules have been the most interesting modules throughout my years of studies. The modules are not just math and physics based anymore, there’s a little economics and more in depth study of practical application of some technologies.