Now in its eighth successive year, the Challenge aims to provide teams with a unique platform to compete in a demanding challenge, showcasing design, technical and business skills in a live-test environment.
Participants gain insight into the application of knowledge gained on their degrees and apprenticeships, gain experience working on an end-to-end project related to the industry they love and one that provides impetus in seeking career opportunities and progression options. In order to succeed teams are encouraged to learn and practice key soft skills such as project management, team-working and presentation skills. Being an active part of a growing competition that involves professionals, experienced industry representatives and senior academics, adds to their experience and exposure. The Challenge, thereby, achieves the key underlying objectives of developing professional engineers, encouraging innovation and inspiring the next generation as part of the Institution’s renewed commitment to the rail Industry.
As a support company in the 2018 Railway Challenge with scrutineer and judge roles, I found my experience as a judge very fulfilling and appreciated the opportunity given to review the outputs from the excellent young engineering teams. I had a great opportunity to share my engineering experience and values to support the railway challenge, this is a great way to help develop the next generation of Railway Engineers. Indeed, it was inspiring to see how the young engineers worked through challenging and unexpected engineering situations and stoppages on their locomotives in the competition and resolved issues through the application of engineering from first principles. I look forward to the 2019 Railway Challenge.
Rashid Wahidi, Professional Head of Traction & Rolling Stock, Network Rail, 2019 Sponsor
At the competition weekend, teams will have to address a number of track-based and presentation challenges. This year for the first time, a new track-based challenge has been introduced: the auto–stop function. Teams will also be required to produce a technical poster to effectively communicate how the principal systems of their locomotive work.
The IMechE Railway Challenge is now an established fixture in the railway industry calendar as well as in universities where railway engineering is taught. More and more students and young engineers are participating in the competition, gaining knowledge and understanding of the challenges of designing and building a railway locomotive to compete with the best of their peers. Through the competition they are also introduced to the exciting world of railway engineering and the opportunities that a career in railways leads to.
The railway industry needs to attract the most talented engineers to help address the challenges it faces and the Railway Challenge is definitely helping to do this.
Simon Iwnicki, Chair, IMechE Railway Challenge
This year we welcome the highest number of new entrants to the competition: Newcastle University, Poznań University of Technology, Poland, Network Rail and South Western Railway/ CEMAST.
Having seen first hand how the automobile competition Formula Student brings out the best in students teaching them teamwork, meeting deadlines, innovation and improvisation I am delighted that the Railway Challenge is now also gaining international recognition with two European teams, Poznań University of Technology, team PUTrain and FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences & Reuschling, team Emma loves J.I.M competing this year. One of the chartered goals of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is to encourage the development of young engineers and these events certainly do that most effectively.
Raymong Hodgkinson, Europe Regional Chair, IMechE
We were very eager to enter the Railway Challenge competition and believe that working within the rail industry would give us a good foundation to base our locomotive. As we started to action our ideas, we realised this is an opportunity to break boundaries and design novel solutions.
The primary object of this project is to develop our team members' competencies by promoting technical autonomy as well as soft skills, such as leadership.
Our locomotive has been designed with scalability at the back of our minds. Our team strongly believe that this project should provide a platform for future innovation on the real network. There are also conditions which we feel are very important as engineers, such as innovation and sustainability. Ideally, we want to build a train that is a good representation of the future of rail travel.
We are determined to prove that we are a strong team entering the competition and intent to enter in subsequent years. For now, we will remain focused on getting the locomotive fabricated and tested to its limit.
Casey Russell, Team Leader, South Western Railway/CEMAST team
Follow the Challenge
This year's Challenge takes place 27-30 June 2019. Follow the build up to this year's competition via Facebook and Twitter. You can also learn more about the Challenge, this year's teams and more about what the Challenge entails at www.imeche.org/railwaychallenge.
Our event is located at Stapleford Miniature Railway, which is an historical steam locomotive-hauled 101/4 inch (260 mm) gauge railway at Stapleford Park near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, UK. The Friends of Stapleford Miniature Railway (FSMR) supply the volunteers who run the railway on behalf of the IMechE for the Railway Challenge.
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