Institution news
The student chapter of the University of Bolton joined with the Young Member Committee of United Arab Emirates to hold the first ever Design Challenge for the UAE region. It was held at University of Bolton Academic Centre, Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) and the hosts were also named the winners.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers Design Challenge is an undergraduate competition held annually to nurture the tenacity and inventiveness of young aspiring engineers. A specific challenge is put before the students to be overcome through innovative solutions.
The challenge for this year was to build, test and run a ‘repeatable vehicle’. The participants were tasked to make a vehicle which moved along a pre-determined ‘arena’, hit a target and returned to its starting point. It could run and stop only by mechanical means and no electronic devices were permitted.
An eminent panel of judges honoured the occasion to assess the teams’ performance. The representations were from all spheres of the industry: Mr Mohammed AlNakhi CEng IMechE UAE representative; Mr Wael Mosaad IEng MIMECHE; Mr Muhammad Ahsan Arshad IEng MIMECHE; Mr Sooraj Venmanasseril CEng MIMECHE; and Mr Aaqib Raza AMIMechE, Young Member representative for UAE and MEA region. The judges were able to circulate and speak to teams, and were pleased at the tenacious approach and attitude towards a challenge of this kind.
A competition is not a competition without good participation. There were eight teams engaged in the challenge against each other representing various universities from UAE. These included Amity University Dubai, Manipal University Dubai, Core BIT RAK Campus and University of Bolton RAK Academic Centre.
The six members of Team Zalmi from the University of Bolton emerged victorious! Their fan-powered vehicle triumphed after six rounds of head-to-head heats, winning the trophy for 2017. Team AMITY 420 representing Amity University, Dubai received special mention from the jury for their innovative design.
Photo left to right: M. Aaqib Raza AMIMechE (IMechE YMR UAE & MEA), M. AlNakhi (IMechE Country Rep. UAE), Mr. Sooraj Venmanasseril CEng. MIMechE (Judge), Mr. M. Ahsan Arshad IEng MIMechE (Judge), Mr. Wael Mosaad IEng MIMechE (Judge) and the winning team (IMechE Zalmi) from University of Bolton RAK Campus.