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The Client

As one of the largest departments in the university and the only unified department in the UK which offers accredited courses in all the major branches of engineering, the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford prides itself on students who leave the university with a broad view of the subject and in-depth knowledge of a range of specialisms, both of which are much appreciated by employers.

Every year around 160 new engineering graduates leave the Department of Engineering Science to go off into occupations varying from civil engineering, mechanical engineering (automotive, aerospace, etc.) and electronics to pharmaceutical manufacturing and healthcare. Other department alumni choose to focus on developing their managerial, financial or entrepreneurial skills and pursue a career in finance or commerce, perhaps even launching their own businesses.

The Brief

Founded in 1908, the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford came to us looking to redevelop their web presence by creating a contemporary look and feel whilst keeping the messages and values of the department consistent with their tradition of educational excellence and cutting-edge research. Alongside the web development project, the Department of Engineering Science also required detailed guidelines on the tone of voice, content, style and best practice for the web, which they could use in conjunction with their new site.

The Solution

Following a Discovery phase, during which we held workshops with key stakeholders from the department and used the output to create all the relevant documentation the Department of Engineering Science requested, we built an Umbraco site featuring a comprehensive list of functionalities.

We created flexible content landing pages and special categories for the News, Events and Case Studies of the Department of Engineering Science. We also designed a bespoke People listing functionality which allows users to tag news and events to staff members, then pulls through all tagged items on their profile page, enabling easier search and filtering.

Perhaps the most unique functionality we created for the Department of Engineering Science’s new website was the subsites option for individual Research Groups. This feature allows users from the department to set up independent sites through the CMS without our help, choose a colour scheme and create subpages, all while maintaining the general look and feel of the main website.

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