Engineering Excellence on Display
01/06/2010
Steve is presented with his award
Thirty-seven Engineering students who recently completed their Higher National Diplomas and Higher National Certificates at Central Sussex College, presented their final projects to a group of invited guests from the Manufacturing and Engineering industries, sponsor employers and fellow students, as part of an exhibition to showcase their achievements. In addition to the student's projects, visitors also got the chance to see the College's state-of-the art robot arm in action, and have a go at manipulating the robotic movements themselves!
The exhibition, which was held in the Longley building, at the Crawley campus on 18 May, was an opportunity for final year students to not only display preparation work from their project, but also working proto-types, which they were able to introduce, discuss and demonstrate for visitors. Guests were asked to rate each project and choose their favourite, and some interesting feedback was received. In addition to being a very entertaining afternoon, the exhibition gave students the opportunity to prepare for their final assessment through a presentation of their project to a panel the following day.
Many of the students from the final year completed the course on a part-time basis, sponsored by their employer, and several top companies from within the industry had students representing them. These included GlaxoSmithKline, Elekta Limited, Varian Medical Systems, Thales, Southern Water, and BAA. Several of the projects on display have resulted in a financial saving (or income) of over £100,000, have contributed to health and safety, business improvement or have reduced environmental impact within the industry. Examples of some of the most effective projects on display included Ross Challinor's 'Carton Loading Device' which speeds up the packing of pharmaceutical products, and Tom Key's improved design for radiotherapy machines.
Two students who exhibited their work on the day are residents of the United Arab Emirates, and have had the opportunity to study at the College as part of the UAE Technical Training Project which is based in Bexhill and funded by the UAE government. Hamed Abdouli, and Khalid Al Nuaimi, who live with host families in the Crawley area, graduate from the College this term with HNDs in Aerospace Engineering. In recognition of their achievements, Brigadier Abdulla Al Baloushi, Deputy Project Manager of the UAE Technical Training Project, and his colleague Sultan Alshamisi were present, to view the projects, and offer their congratulations.
After much deliberation on behalf of the guests, the overall project winner was announced as Steve Carmen, who works as a Technical Specialist (Electrical) for the Flood Risk Management division of the Environment Agency. His project, which reduces carbon dioxide output at inland flood defence pumping stations in Southern England has been calculated to reduce emissions by 160,000 Kg of CO2 on a year-by-year basis, which represents a huge environmental saving. It also improves the performance of the equipment currently in place, reduces the amount of energy
being absorbed from the National Grid, and greatly reduces the amount of stress that the large pump motors put on the power stations, leading to a dramatic decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, and a large financial saving.
Steve, who lives in Hailsham, and joined the HNC in Electrical/Electronic Engineering at Central Sussex College's Crawley campus after he was impressed by the support available to maths and physics students at the College, was presented with an iPod Nano after visitors voted his design their favourite. He says "I enrolled on the course after being offered a promotion at work, for which I required a Higher Academic Engineering qualification. Although Central Sussex College is not the nearest higher education establishment to my home, I chose it for my HNC/D studies after hearing of the excellent facilities available in my interview with Higher Education Manager for the Faculty of Technology Dr Masoud Ahary. I am extremely proud of my achievements whilst studying for my qualification, and have been impressed with the superb tuition, commitment and enthusiasm of the Engineering staff at the College."
Speaking after the exhibition about the significance of the subject in today's society, Dr Ahary, who co-ordinates the HNC/HND programme and works alongside the University of Portsmouth and Greenwich University to offer students the opportunity to progress to Degree level, stressed that now is a great time for the Industry, saying "In the current economic climate, people are increasingly talking about the importance of engineering and manufacturing if the UK is to compete with countries such as China and India, and speed up the economic recovery process. Now is undoubtedly a great era for engineering!"
Richard Brooks, Director of the Faculty of Technology at the College echoed this view, saying "Engineering affects all of us in our everyday life and in many ways everything we do has been made available, made easier and in many cases made cheaper due to the efforts of previous engineers. The current situation with the economy means that it will be engineers that people turn to for solutions to their problems, and this is why investment in the training of our future engineers must be maintained. I would like to congratulate all the students for their dedication and ingenuity demonstrated in their projects, and wish them all the best for the future."
