Chang (Selina) Gao
MEng in Design Engineering (2023-2027)
Location:
London, UK | Dalian, China
Email (Personal & University):
Skills:
A Bit About Me
Hi, I’m Chang (or Selina).
I’m currently studying Design Engineering at Imperial College London, with a strong focus on hardware prototyping,
design for manufacture and sustainable design — aiming to bridge creativity with practical, sustainable solutions.
I was born and raised in Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China known for its calm sea and beautiful scenery.
At home, my two cats make life playful and inspiring.
Outside engineering, I enjoy drawing, LEGO, piano, traveling, and I’m also a big fan of F1, football, and table tennis ;)
These passions fuel the way I approach design — with a curious mind and a maker’s heart!
Work Experience
Undergraduate Researcher
Imperial College London
Advanced Manufacturing Group
Jun 2025 – Present
Product Development Intern
Naturebytes CIC
Jul 2025 – Sept 2025
Database Development Intern
REUSE Foundation
Jun 2024 – Aug 2024
Spring Intern -
Sport Hall Design Project
Robert Bird Group
Apr 2024 – May 2024
Project Management Intern
China Global Youth Summit
Nov 2023 – Feb 2024
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UROP on Fibre-Metal Laminate (FML) forming, supervised by Dr. Nan Li and Dr. Zerong Ding. My work focused on designing robotic handling solutions for high-temperature forming.
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Specimen Prep & Lab Testing：
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Prepared and tested multi-material specimens: waterjet-cut DP780 steel and PA6-GF composites, performed surface finishing and tensile specimen preparation.
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Assisted resistance-heating tensile tests, and collected data for fibre-metal-laminate forming and composite bias-extension experiments.
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End-effector Design & Vendor Liaison：
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Designed gripper fingers for a UR12e + Robotiq Hand-E to handle titanium/steel/composite blanks in forming trials.
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Coordinated with manufacturers to evaluate tooling feasibility, cost breakdowns, and machining lead times.
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Robotics Support：
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Programmed UR12e cobot workflows, including toolpath simulations and motion envelopes to optimise forming trials.
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Ensured safe human–robot interaction during automated forming experiments.
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Designed and iterated 3D-printed housings and inserts for a Raspberry Pi-based wildlife camera, focusing on DfM and scalable production.
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Validated prototypes through tolerance optimisation and assembly testing, improving manufacturability and reducing BOM complexity.
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Refined waterproof enclosure for certification readiness (CE/IP), enhancing durability, safety, and user experience.
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Built a global database of reuse practitioners, enabling manufacturers to source sustainable suppliers and integrate eco-friendly alternatives.
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Designed targeted outreach strategies to increase visibility for sustainable suppliers, supporting collaboration across the circular supply chain.
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Conducted market research on sustainable manufacturing trends, identifying scalable reuse models to inform industry adoption.
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Contributed to the structural design of a central London sports hall, optimising steel and concrete components for DfM feasibility and efficient fabrication.
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Performed sustainability analysis comparing recycled steel and low-carbon concrete on cost, performance, and environmental impact, supporting material selection for sustainable design.
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Created 3D CAD models and technical drawings in AutoCAD and Revit, improving manufacturability and design communication.
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Managed project progress across multiple student groups, supported leadership in planning and executing live-streamed events, and coordinated timelines using structured team workflows.
Education
2023 - Present
Modelling & Simulation, Design of Visual Systems, Robotic Research Project,
Biomaterials for Bioengineers, Enterprise Roll Out (Y4-MEng)
Robotics, Optimisation, Machine Learning, Economics & Finance for Systems Design,
DE Futures (Y3)
Finite Element Analysis, Physical Computing, Thermofluids, Sustainable DE,
Industrial DE, Business Economics (Y2)
Engineering Mathematics, Electronics, Material and Manufacturing, Solid Mechanics,
Data Science, Computing, Human-Centered DE (Y1)
Jul 2024
– Summer Institute
AI Engineer: Gen-AI and Virtual Worlds
Co-developed an AI-generated narrative game based on A Dream of Red Mansions, designing NPC interactions and puzzle-solving mechanics. Explored generative AI tools for storytelling, gameplay, and user experience design.
2021 - 2023
Dalian Ealing
International College
A-levels: Mathematics (A*), Further Mathematics (A), Physics (A), Chemistry (A), EPQ (A)
GCSEs: Mathematics A (9), Mathematics B (9), Business (8), Physics (8),
English As A Second Language (8)