From intelligent vehicles to fluid mechanics, helicopter design and ultrasound radio echoes, six students from the University of Bristol’s Faculty of Engineering have been awarded prizes from The Boeing Company for their outstanding academic performance in the field of integrated aerospace systems.
Bridget White and Joshua Shimmin both received scholarships for their final year of study whilst James Wilcox, Samantha Huntley, Sky Sartorius and Ben Buxton all received awards for their final projects.
The aim of the awards is to recognise the best students who have demonstrated a flair and passion for engineering and who have consistently been at the top of their class. The project work undertaken by these students has shown the necessary imagination and creativity to solve some very difficult problems and makes them worthy of such an accolade.
Shane Bennison, Director of Engineering for Boeing Defence UK and the Executive Focal for the University of Bristol, speaking at the award ceremony held at the University on February 3, said: “These students have excelled and are worthy winners of these awards. They have demonstrated the significant prerequisites for becoming the engineering leaders of the future.”
One of the winners James Wilcox was awarded the best MEng project in Electrical and Electronic Engineering for his project entitled ‘Fully autonomous Scalextric vehicle using MEMS inertial sensors’.
Dr Mike Barton, project supervisor and Senior Lecturer in Microelectronics in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said: “James designed and built instrumentation to be mounted inside a Scalextric car to allow it autonomously to negotiate a track at optimum speed while transmitting telemetry data via Bluetooth - and he achieved a working demonstration on time.”
Professor Nick Lieven, Dean of Engineering, added: “Once again our students have shown that they are highly capable individuals who have demonstrated a talent for engineering. They are without doubt amongst the best engineering graduates in the world and it is to their credit that they have been recognised for their achievements during their studies.”
The awards were funded by The Boeing Company along with a contribution to support the student robot test arena and the University of Bristol Aeolus wind powered car project. The support to these students, facilities and projects are hugely important to help inspire the interest of future students and ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of advanced engineering.