Engineering students from the University of Central Lancashire have once again triumphed at a regional competition and will now represent the North West in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Design Challenge national final.
The first year students beat off competition from 11 other universities in the region to secure a place in the annual final, which will be held at IMechE’s headquarters in London this October. It is the second year in a row that Central Lancashire has won the regional heat.
This year, students were asked to design, build and test a device to simulate an autonomous robotic charging device, such automatic electric vehicle charging system, capable of doing a repeatable task in a straight line, on a track laid horizontally.
Points were awarded for the accuracy of the device returning to the starting point and the time and accuracy of the device connecting with the charging plug.
The University took three teams to the event and was awarded first and second place in the advanced class and third in the foundation class.
Aerospace engineering student Evan Lloyd, 21, was a member of the winning team.
He said: “We designed our autonomous car to be efficient, sustainable and functional. It was an exciting challenge to develop a practical solution that combined innovation and real-world application. What I enjoyed most was collaborating with my team and pushing my engineering skills to create something impactful.
"It’s an honour to represent the Northwest in the final. The University has a strong engineering department with a large amount of success in the competition previously, and I’m proud to contribute to that legacy."
— Aerospace engineering student Evan Lloyd
“It’s an honour to represent the Northwest in the final. The University has a strong engineering department with a large amount of success in the competition previously, and I’m proud to contribute to that legacy.”
Muzzammil Khan, 20, who is studying aerospace engineering with pilot studies, said: “We worked numerous days and nights tackling tight deadlines, production issues, assembly issues, late-delivered components, irregular functioning and redesigns.
“The team had full belief in the design from the start and the sheer commitment to give a hundred percent is what has led us to this point.”
"We’re already looking towards to national final where we will showcase what our students are capable of."
— senior lecturer in Engineering Tony Broad
The University of Central Lancashire has a history of success in the competition, having won the regional heat three times and winning the Design Excellence Award at last year’s IMechE Design Competition national final.
Tony Broad, a senior lecturer in Engineering at the University, mentors the students in the competition.
“All of our students rose to the challenge and worked well together to fulfil the brief” he said.
“The IMechE) Design Challenge is embedded into the design and sustainability module that many of our engineering students take and provides them with great practical experience in an industry setting.
“We’re already looking towards to national final where we will showcase what our students are capable of.”