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In 2016, Brunel celebrated 50 years as a university. However, our history can be traced back much further to 1798 through our predecessor colleges of Borough Road College, Maria Grey College, Shoreditch College, and the West London Institute of Higher Education and as well as through Acton Technical College then Brunel College. Our rise since 1966 has been impressive, and our reputation grows year on year. A university of 12,746 students – 3,309 students engaged in postgraduate and research study – our unique approach is to combine academic rigor with the practical, entrepreneurial, and imaginative approach pioneered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The decision to be named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel was taken after much discussion. Rather than name the new College after a location, Dr. Topping, the first Vice-Chancellor of Brunel University (and former Principal of Brunel College), pleaded that the name should be a well-known person preferably an engineer or scientist associated in some way with Middlesex or Acton. The agreement was reached in March 1957; that person would be Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) is one of the great British engineers of the 19th century. Isambard was born into an industrious family in 1806, and the Sophia Kingdom worked for the Royal Navy and father Marc Brunel, a prominent French engineer. Isambard took on formal training as an engineer and built twenty-five railways lines, over a hundred bridges, including five suspension bridges, eight pier and dock systems, three ships, and a pre-fabricated army field hospital. To add to this, he was a keen social engineer, building housing estates, churches, and hospitals. When Brunel was awarded its Royal Charter in 1966, we were given a distinct purpose and an incredible opportunity. The campus was the home of technological education, championing innovation and advancement, and giving the UK the knowledge base it needed to compete on the international stage. We conceived a brand of education, and later research, which was overwhelmingly geared towards the needs of industry and, echoing the spirit and vision of our namesake Isambard Kingdom Brunel, we did so with flair and rigor. Our ambition was to equip students for the world of work and address society’s global scale challenges. The challenges have changed, but our aims are as innovative and ambitious as they always were – to develop research and educational programs informed by and tailor-made for those who benefit and give students the academic education and personal skills needed to succeed in the real world. This publication identifies five distinct areas of focus – each of which underpins our vision until 2030. It recognizes the values upon which Brunel’s success is founded. Moreover, though our strategy as educators and innovators will change in the intervening years, these goals, values, and vision will remain at the heart of everything we do and the driving force behind our future achievements, ensuring Brunel continues to meet the needs of a changing world until 2030 and beyond. View full university

When Brunel was awarded its Royal Charter in 1966, we were given a distinct purpose and an incredible opportunity. The campus was the home of technological education, championing innovation and advancement, and giving the UK the knowledge base it needed to compete on the international stage. We conceived a brand of education, and later research, which was overwhelmingly geared towards the needs of industry and, echoing the spirit and vision of our namesake Isambard Kingdom Brunel, we did so with flair and rigor. Our ambition was to equip students for the world of work and address society’s global scale challenges. The challenges have changed, but our aims are as innovative and ambitious as they always were – to develop research and educational programs informed by and tailor-made for those who benefit and give students the academic education and personal skills needed to succeed in the real world. This publication identifies five distinct areas of focus – each of which underpins our vision until 2030. It recognizes the values upon which Brunel’s success is founded. Moreover, though our strategy as educators and innovators will change in the intervening years, these goals, values, and vision will remain at the heart of everything we do and the driving force behind our future achievements, ensuring Brunel continues to meet the needs of a changing world until 2030 and beyond. View full university