Speaking out in Europe Region SOfE Final

On 4 December 2020, IMechE Europe Region hosted their Speak Out for Engineering Final via Microsoft Team, the first-ever European SOFE held on teams, Adam Lord, Europe Region Young Member Representative reports.

We had some reservations as to how well our event would go, however, the competition ran smoothly with interesting topics presented by speakers representing four European countries.

A  recording of the event can be viewed on the IMechE YouTube channel:

All the presentations were interesting and diverse in their own respect. 

A special thanks to our participants who put in a great effort to prepare the pre-recorded videos! The Q&A session with the judges was live after each presentation, which made the event a little more dynamic for the audience.

Our presentations

• Thomas Brown, Norway - Closing experience gaps with Horology

• Nizar Awawdeh, Palestine - Advanced ceramics

• Nicholas Sammut, Malta - An optimization analysis of a cowling design between water to air heat exchanger and extraction fan

• Guillermo Munoz Perez, Spain - Exoskeletons, a way to improve your life.

As with any online event, our virtual event can never compare to a face-to-face SOFE, but we think that given the circumstances it was a great success for the IMechE in Europe.

Many congratulations to the winner and the runner-up who both won cash prizes from the IMechE! The winner will take part in the Global SOFE final.

Judges

Many thanks to our judges Farah Baksh, Raymond Hodgkinson and Daniel Fantoni.

Spoiler alert!...!
Do not scroll down further if you don’t want to know the results of the competition!

Runner-up

Nizar Awawdeh, Palestine - Advanced ceramics

The presenter tackled a complex subject well and used clear slides to explain his topic. The question and answer session was well handled. The technical subject, was well thought out and brought to a level easily understandable to a wide audience.

Winner

Nicholas Sammut, Malta - An optimization analysis of a cowling design between water to air heat exchanger and extraction fan

The presenter gave a very well prepared presentation with a clear structure to which he not only adhered but also gave the audience a guide as to where in the presentation we were. He also made excellent use of visual aids and presented a highly technical subject engagingly. The contestant's passion for his chosen topic made it an engaging and easy to listen to talk.

Many congratulations to both Nicholas and Nizar!