Project presentation days mark end of academic modules

As the end of the academic year approaches and exam season looms, ECS students are in the midst of project presentation days.

The Part II projects have all culminated this week, with possibly the most hotly contested event being the trial of robot vehicles that were designed and constructed in the Electrical/Electromechanical Engineering Design and Manufacture project.

This project aims to develop students’ skills in areas including project management, teamwork, time management and communication, through the design, build and test of a PIC-controlled autonomous vehicle which is able to perform to a predefined specification.

The seven vehicles were put through their paces in front of the whole class, and the course leaders, Dr Paul Lewin and Dr Paul Chappell, and there were nerve-racking moments as some of the vehicles proved temperamental on the course. The winning team, with a fabulous time of 19 seconds to complete the course and do all the manoeuvres, was Terri Brain, Jack Hunter, Tom Redman, Ben Strawbridge and Lewis Carpenter.

‘Looking around the room I saw students who had forgotten that this was coursework. For most of us this had ceased being about the marks – competition had taken over and our hearts raced too as our robots hurtled around the track towards the finish line, every second counting,’said student Jevan Bryant.

Project presentation days continue this week, culminating on 16 June the final-year MEng students in ECS will present their work for the Part IV Individual Research Project in a day-long conference.