Apprentice Automation Challenge Stories: Team C.O.R.K.

Team C.O.R.K., a recent entry to the Challenge, comprised apprentices at the Manufacturing Technology Centre. Their 2019 entry sparked food for thought among the judges.

Our Apprentice Automation Challenge continues to throw down the gauntlet for teams of apprentices from companies, colleges and training providers of engineering and manufacturing technologies to design and produce an innovative product that improves an existing everyday home or garden device. In doing so, the Challenge enables its competitors to further develop their knowledge and experience, creating well-rounded engineers with abilities that are highly valued by employers.

Team C.O.R.K’s foray into the Challenge began by identifying a common problem: the difficulty of finding affordable homes and as homeowners need to downsize to fit their budgets that their new home will often have less storage space. So how would the team make these spaces more liveable? What solutions would work for this situation?

The team identified an intelligent solution involving a so-called smart shelf that is accessible for all that can be reconfigured into a workspace. In their own words ‘there is nothing quite like this on the market and will innovate storage within the home’.

In order to make their design more consumer-focused, the team hosted mind mapping sessions and consulted with the public to develop the right look for their smart shelf - a valuable skill in the pursuit of a successful commercial product.

Thanks to the skills Team C.O.R.K learned on their journey, including actuation types, keeping designs simple, setting requirements and finding solutions to everyday problems, they successfully showed off their product at the 2019 competition. Although they didn’t win, the skills they acquired on their journey were invaluable and the team is rightly proud of everything they have achieved.

Want to join in the fun? Check out the full requirements and key dates for submissions on the Challenge website. Put together your team before the 2021 competition gets underway in December 2020 and get brainstorming!