University of Ulster first year engineering students were praised by a local industry expert during a competitionfinalheld on the Jordanstown campus.

Judge,MrJoe Lawn, a senior engineer with B/E Aerospace, Kilkeel,was“incredibly impressed by the quality of work that has been carried out by first-year studentengineers at the University of Ulster".

Among the challenges set for the teams competing in the event were designing a chassis for a Formula racing car and also designing an aerodynamic skin.

Mr Lawn said: “The high standard of all the displays and the practical solutions delivered has made it very hard to select the winners.

“Everyone has performed brilliantly and I hope many of you willjoinme at B/E Aerospace in the years to come.”

The competition began inDecember of last year,whenthe240student engineers were arranged into28teams and each team had to work on an engineering problem appropriate to their course.

On Friday, April 19, the28teamspresented their results for evaluation byteams of assessors involving academic staff from the School of Engineering andthree assessorsfrom industry–Mr Lawn from B/EAerospace, Kilkeel, Mr Dave Bothwell from AES Power, Kilroot and Mr Thomas Brady from Heartsine, Belfast.

Theday was organised into fourcompetitionsappropriate to the range of courses provided by the School of Engineering– two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

Team prize money of400 for firstplaceand £200 for second within each competition,wasprovided bythe followingsponsoring companies:

AES Power, Kilroot;B/E Aerospace, Kilkeel; Elite Electronic Systems,Enniskillen;Heartsine, Belfast;Intelesens, BelfastandTerex Corporation, Omagh.

All sponsoring companies have well-established relationships with the School of Engineering and participate annually in the Industrial Placement Programme.

“This competition is of great benefit to University of Ulster studentengineersand also sponsoringcompanies,” Mr RonaldLaird,competition organiser andIndustrial Placement Co-ordinatorfor the School of Engineering, said.

“It gives ouryoung engineersthe opportunity to solvea real engineering problem,workas part of a team, develop self esteem and addressthe full range of issues from design toproduction.

“These experiences will helpbuildtheir CV when they come to apply for Industrial Placement next year.

“For sponsoring companies,involvement with the competition and ourstudent engineersraises theirprofile as an employer of choice,and allows themto see for themselves the talent and capabilities ofUniversity of Ulsterstudent engineers.

“It also helps develop a useful two-way relationshipwith the University.”

The four competitions were as follows:

1/Mechanical Engineering – teams had to design a chassis for a Formula Student racing car.

Winner: Team D12

Runner up: Team J123

2/Electronic Engineering – teams had to develop a sensor system suitable for use is a Formula Student racing car.

Winner:Team F24

Runner up: Team T12

3/Engineering Design – teams had to design an aerodynamic skin for an existing car frame.

Winner:Team L12

Runner up:Team M34

4/Biomedical Engineering – teams had to design a body sensor system to fit to the driver of the racing car.

Winner:Team W34

Runner up:Team Y34

Typical ofcomments received from teams wasthe following:“It was a great experience for us to have as a group in terms of team work and practical activities not to mention how much of an eye opener it was when managing projects likes this.

“All-in-all it was fantastic.”