Engineering the Future – University of Bath Design Exhibition
Tom Pellereau the former Apprentice winner kicked off the University of Bath Mechanical Engineering Design Exhibition of 29 May 2013 with a lecture entitled ‘Inventing Your Future’, which went down a storm to a packed house. Human powered aircraft, human powered submarines and a Formula Student racing car were all on show with helpful explanations from the student designers manning the stands. How I wished my 18 year old son, an advanced engineering apprentice himself, could have joined me for this exhibition – the sky and the sea is the limit for these brilliant young designers who get to design, build and then race their creations around UK, Europe and further afield in international student competitions.
Tom Pellereau gave a thought provoking lecture, explaining how social media was driving a closer relationship between manufacturers and consumers, which allowed more testing of ideas before product launch. This experimentation reduced risk and increased the speed of reaction to the market place, which in turn could drive the return of manufacturing from China to the UK. Ultimately, consumers could become the new inventors by directly influencing which products companies develop: “it could be that invention itself is reinvented”, said Tom.
While viewing some of the student industry placement reports, Steve Culley, Professor of Engineering and Design, welcomed me to the exhibition. The breadth of industry placements with blue chip companies gives an insight into the opportunities these young engineers have to gain real experience during their studies. Placements include Michelin Tyres R&D in France, Williams F1 transmission department, Red Bull F1 Team, Airbus Operations Ltd and Aston Martin/Daimler to name but a few.
I was shown around by Ian Goode the student Project Manager for the submarine racing team. Ian explained the intricacies of designing, building, testing and racing the submarine, as well as the problems that needed to be solved along the way. You can follow the Bath University Submarine Racing Team at: www.facebook.com/bursthps and www.bursthps.co.uk. The same level of challenge applied to Team Bath Racing’s Formula Student racing car, designed in part by Alex Summers who did his placement with McLaren where he helped to test their new MP4-12C supercar. You can follow them at www.teambathracing.co.uk and www.facebook/com/teambathr .
The exhibition finale was the unveiling of Team Bath Racing’s racing car for 2013 in the main hall, where there was standing room only. Dr Geraint Owen thanked all the sponsors and supporters of the project and James Merrett, the student Project Manager introduced the car to the audience. The car weighs 150 kg and can accelerate from 0-100 kph in under 3 seconds. Team Bath Racing have had the fastest UK built formula student car for the last 5 years and aim to have a car capable of taking their first outright victory in the international races in the 2014 season, despite operating with a much lower budget than their international competitors. Support from BP and Caterpillar shows how highly graduate employers value these Bath University projects.
It was clear to me that these design, build and race projects not only provide excellent learning opportunities and develop work-ready skills, they are also a lot of fun. This is such an inspiring exhibition for young engineers that I really hope the Department invites engineering apprentices to visit next year.
Copyright 2013 Ross Nichols and Business Mentoring Services Ltd
ROSS NICHOLS
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