Design Challenge
Students from Sheffield Hallam University managed to retain the title at the finals of this competition for a second year running.
Despite intense competition from fellow finalists UCL, Strathclyde and Manchester, Sheffield Hallam's combined score across the events left them victorious.
Before announcing the winners, Head Judge Matt Lister remarked that the competition had never before seen such close running from teams during the demonstration events, with the shared Sheffield Hallam / Manchester winners for the main competition award serving to highlight the high standard on show this year.
The competition among Concept Class teams also produced a very strong leader, with Bournemoth and Poole College securing the lion's share of the awards and overall win in its class. Despite its 2.3kg weight and relatively slow speed, the device's reliability ultimately proved the determining factor during the demonstration.
This year's competition in action
From the initial teams who entered this year, the finalists from each of the regional heats were given the opportunity to present their work and poster detailing the design and build of their device, which was a device to simulate an autonomous pipe climbing robot.
Congratulations go to all our award winners:
Concept Class:
- Design Winner (judged by Autodesk): Bournemouth and Poole College - Motion Mech
- Poster Winner: University College London – UCL B
- Presentation Winner: Sheffield Hallam University - The Pipe Boys
- Design Excellence Winner: Bournemouth and Poole College - Ascenders
- Main Competition Winner: Bournemouth and Poole College - Ascenders
- Overall Winner: Bournemouth and Poole College - Ascenders
Advanced Class:
- Poster Winner: University of Strathclyde
- Presentation Winner: University College London - UCL C
- Design Excellence Winner: UCL - team A
- Main Competition Winner: joint winners Sheffield Hallam University and University of Manchester
- Overall Winner: Sheffield Hallam University
About the Challenge
The Design Challenge gives students from universities and university technical colleges (UTCs) the chance to gain practical, real-world engineering experience. Teams are challenged to design, build, present and operate a device that meets a specified technical brief.
Designed to be accessible to participants of all experience levels, the competition provides valuable hands-on project experience while helping students develop commercial awareness, teamwork and communication skills. It complements academic learning and can be undertaken as either part of a formal course or as an extracurricular activity.
Want to get involved?
The 2027 device specification and ruleset will be released shortly and will task student teams with designing, building, and operating a line launcher. We look forward to welcoming new and returning teams to the competition and seeing how they meet the requirements of the new device specification.
Could you be part of a winning team?
Find out more about the competition and how you can get involved.