Students rise to the Design Challenge in 2015

First-year engineering students from the North West, North East and Greater London regions will contest October's Design Challenge national final.

The Design Challenge requires engineering students to design a product to work according to strict specifications.

The challenge is open to teams of up to five students in the first year of an engineering course at a university in Greater London or in the North West or North East of England.

The competition aims to give students practical experience to complement their theoretical knowledge and give them an edge in the jobs’ market. 

Three regional finals were held in March and April. The winner and runner-up from each of the these competitions will now go through to the National Final to be held at One Birdcage Walk on 2 October. The finalists are teams from the University of Central Lancashire, Liverpool John Moores University, Middlesex University, Brunel University, University of Sunderland, and Teesside University.

The Design Challenge was the idea of Dr David Ball CEng FIMechE Eur Ing. On his retirement, David wanted to improve the practical abilities and common sense approach of graduate engineers.

He said: “I wanted to find a way to expose first-year undergraduates to the ‘real world’ of engineering. At that time, I was Chairman of the Institution's Greater Manchester area. My committee colleagues and I created the Design Challenge, which was piloted in a few local universities, including the University of Manchester.

"The aim was that small teams of competitors would have to use their common sense and a practical, systematic approach to solve an engineering problem. The Design Challenge covers the key requirements of a professional engineer and gives the students an insight into what will be expected from them when they graduate."

David became Chairman of the Design Challenge, which is fast growing into a national competition. There are currently around 20 UK universities involved, while approximately 20 more have expressed an interest in taking part in the 2015/16 programme, including universities in Scotland, Yorkshire and the Midlands - representing eight or nine Institution regions. More teams from the South of England are also joining.

The Design Challenge is an effective way to forge links between regional Institution committees and local universities, building the Institution's membership among students and lecturers.

David said: “The Design Challenge is, in many participating universities, now an established element of the course. This is what the Institution is all about – it is there to represent engineering, but also to engage young people and to help develop students into professional engineers.”

Dr Helen Meese CEng MIMechE is Head of Engineering in Society at the Institution. She attended regional finals held at Kingston (for the Greater London Region) and Durham (North East Region).

Helen said: “The students had a brilliant time and the challenge they were set gave them a better understanding of the complexities of applying engineering theory to a practical problem.

"It made them realise that there is a lot of process to design and it has educated them as to the range of skills associated with being an engineer. There are so many positive outcomes, from learning new ways of thinking to self-discovery and teamwork.”

She added: “I would like to see our Young Members spreading the word about the Design Challenge to get more universities involved. Engaging students in this way is a fantastic opportunity to link the Institution with the engineers of the future.”

This year, David was invited to Shanghai to run the Design Challenge. Nine teams took part in the competition, and its success has sparked further interest across China. David says that next year in Shanghai, up to 10 institutions could be involved, each putting forward multiple teams.

He said the commitment and enthusiasm for the Challenge in China was inspiring: “It was fantastic. I never imagined it would go so well.” 

Dr Stephen Quayle of Lancaster University is a strong supporter of the Design Challenge, and has seen many teams develop through the competition.

He said: “The Design Challenge involves all the necessary aspects of the engineering discipline, from technical concept design through to final build and test, all while managing budgets, teamwork, presenting results and meeting a final deadline.

"The regional heats add a competitive element, giving the students a real insight to alternative independently developed solutions, improving their communication skills, confidence and experience significantly beyond what would normally be gained in a typical lab practical.”

The Design Challenge goes from strength to strength:

• Newly joined University College London (UCL) has already embedded the challenge in its curriculum. The 2016 London regional challenge will be held at UCL.
• Following requests from universities, there are plans to develop a Design Challenge for second-year engineering undergraduates.

Find out more about the Design Challenge.