Institution news
The Design Challenge, which originated in the North West, marks its 10th anniversary this year. First year undergraduates on an engineering degree to design, create, present and run a device to a strict technical specification.
This year, each team was tasked with building an internal pipe-climbing robot. This is a device that can climb up the inside of a piece of vertical transparent tube lifting an increasing load, limited only by the cost and sizings listed in the competition specifications.
Teams from many of the region’s leading universities, namely University of Lancaster, University of Central Lancashire, University of Manchester, Salford University, Bolton University and Manchester Metropolitan University, took part, demonstrating the high level of competitiveness within the competition.
The Design Challenge aims to:
- provide engineering undergraduates a taste of the real world of engineering,
- allow students to develop practical skills that will complement the theoretical knowledge learnt while studying,
- give them an advantage in the competitive jobs market.
In order to take part in the practical final, teams must also complete three other separate tasks, set to help them develop the skills mentioned above, each marked with an individual winner:
- Produce a poster to publicise the team’s work - demonstrating the team’s ability to sell their design solution. Winner: University of Lancaster
- Deliver a short presentation explaining the design and development of the device - demonstrating the team’s verbal and presentation skills. Winner: Salford University
- Submit a peer review where all students have the chance to vote for the best engineered solution to the problem. Winner: Salford University.
The overall winner of the day, Salford University - engineering undergraduates Lucas Thomas, Ethan Golledge and Corin Williams - was judged to have designed the quickest device, and was placed accordingly.
Recounting the experience of working on the project and winning it, Corin said,
“Having always been massively interested in mechanical engineering and systems, I jumped at the opportunity to compete at an IMechE event and try to prove my skills against others of the same calibre. With my team behind me, we managed to design and build a tube climbing robot that is robust and reliable. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process and cannot wait to compete at the national event in October.”
To close the day and the regional final, Richard Noble OBE, CEO, BLOODHOUND SCC gave a lecture ‘Perseverance and pushing boundaries in modern engineering: the Bloodhound story' to an audience of 200+ undergraduates.
Richard discussed his own personal journey from his school days to becoming the holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997. He described his long and persistent journey from project director of ThrustSSC - the vehicle which holds the current land speed record, set at Black Rock Desert, Nevada in 1997 - to CEO of the BLOODHOUND SCC project. He also spoke of the challenge of breaking the sound barrier on land, the importance of team work and never giving up in the face of obstacles.
Discussing the day, Richard remarked,
“I was delighted to join so many highly enthusiastic students. It was a great privilege to present our story of innovation and record breaking, and it seemed to provide real excitement and inspiration. The IMechE Design Competition bridges that well-known gap between industry and schools. Key to the Challenge is the chance to try out theoretical knowledge and see the products really deliver: the chance to test your knowledge and deliver real innovating power.”
For the ten years that the institution has been running the Design Challenge, each year over 2000 students from across the UK, and thousands more from overseas enter the competition, leading it to grow from a North Western regional competition, to one that culminates with a national final, held at the Institution’s London offices in October.