On Tuesday 30th April, the IMechE’s Railway Division held their annual ‘Future of Rail Presentation Competition Grand Final’ – which invites young engineers from around the country to present on work they’ve done, in front of industry leaders, and a panel of expert judges. Regional heats took place early in 2024, with the winners of each heat being invited to London, to present in the final, in the prestigious IMechE Lecture Theatre.
As all presenters in the final are winners of their respective heats, the quality of all the presentations was understandably high, and covered a very wide range of topics, from OLE systems, to the use of 3D digital imaging, and the development of an air cannon for windscreen impact testing to name just a few. But there can only be one winner.
Representing the Midlands Centre, Callum Nicholson, an undergraduate engineering student at the University of Birmingham, currently on a placement with Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions, was the 2024 winner. Callum’s presentation was titled ‘HydroSHUNTER: Designing Safe On-Vehicle Hydrogen Systems’, where he confidently covered the properties of hydrogen, the risks associated with it, and how these risks are being managed while designing a hydrogen powered shunter. Callum made excellent use of graphics and animations to help deliver his presentation, but his speaking style and ability to capture the attention of the room stood out on the day, and he event managed to get a few laughs from the audience. When being questioned by industry experts following his presentation he answered with great detail, and explained further around the use case of a hydrogen powered shunter, and where it would fit into the wider rail system, noting its limitations – and to quote an audience member, ‘I’ve been working with hydrogen for a number of years, and even I learned something during his presentation.’
An excellent presentation, and a well-deserved winner, congratulations Callum!