Engineers win Institute of Mechanical Engineers National Design Challenge Competition

IMechE Design Challenge 2017

First year Mechanical Engineering students, Thomas Owen, Jonathan Ratcliffe, and Alex Hermenean won the National Final of the IMechE Design Challenge 2017 which took place at the Institute's headquarters in London on 6 Oct 2017.

The Design Challenge gave students a taste of the ‘real world’ of engineering by challenging them to compete in the design, build and performance of a repeatable vehicle, delivery of a presentation and creation of a poster – all to strict specifications.

Moreover, the challenge enabled students to gain real-industry experience, practical employability skills and enhanced business and people skills, all within a set timeframe.

Using a £25 budget, the students used CAD to design and build an A4-sized vehicle using primarily mechanical control. The students won the regional  North West competition which took place in March at Salford University and had the opportunity to partake in the national competition which they won against six other regional finalists and were awarded the David Ball Trophy.

Thomas Owen, student project lead, said the competition was inspiring and provided them all with a fantastic practical experience.

“The challenges along the way pushed us to make decisions, communicate well and build on our teamwork. We spoke with some industry sponsors at regional and national events which was a great opportunity. All of the speakers were inspiring and offered great insights into some of the directions that an engineer’s career might take. It was a truly great experience, full of opportunities and I would recommend getting involved to anyone who may be interested next year.”

Ian Kennedy, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Engineering was the winning team’s academic lead. He said, “The competition demands innovation and creative thinking to meet the design brief and allows the students to apply classroom skills in a practical situation while learning time-management, persistence and group working. It has developed their skills in many areas in a manner that is clearly both stimulating and rewarding.”