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
Sustainable Design Engineering, Physical Computing, Industrial Design Engineering, Finite Element Analysis, Thermofluids, Business Economics (Year 2)
Human-Centered Design Engineering, Material and Manufacturing, Electronics, Computing, Engineering Mathematics, Solid Mechanics, Data Science (Year 1)
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)