A team of 欧美高清 undergraduate students were runners-up in the Engineering for People Design Challenge, run by .
Over 8,500 participants from across the UK and Ireland took on the Design Challenge, which aims to broaden awareness of the social, environmental, and economic impacts of engineering.
In previous years the Design Challenge has focused on international contexts, but this year, for the first time, the competition involved designing for a community in the UK, in Govan.
The top 36 teams, including two teams from 欧美高清, were selected and invited to join the Grand Finals where they pitched their ideas to a judging panel comprised of industry leaders, community representatives, non-governmental organisations and academics.
Upcycling initiative
The top six teams, as decided by the judging panel, included Electrical and Mechanical Engineering students Cameron Currie, Matthew Dunn, Robbie Glass and William Halliday from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
To solve the problem of street litter and consequent pollution, an upcycling initiative which connected people with the means to dispose of their old and broken items and gain access to cheaper second-hand repaired items.
Matthew , a first year Electrical and Mechanical Engineering student said: 鈥淭hrough participating in the Design Challenge I learnt a lot about using a problem-solving mindset, a skill which hadn't come up in my studies so far. The main takeaway for me was getting to work in a great team and sharing ideas.
鈥淭he Grand Finals gave us a great opportunity to socialise with knowledgeable people from industry and other universities.
鈥淭he class was unique in that we were given a lot of freedom to do whatever we wanted creatively and have a lot of fun just letting loose with our ideas, with a reality check from the class leads from time to time!鈥�
The other 欧美高清 team selected to the finals included Scott Rankin, Ruth Rennie, Madeline Orr from the Department Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Saskia Steimer and Chayenne Tasche, who took part in the challenge while on exchange from MCI Management Center Innsbruck (Austria). .
Civil and Environmental Engineering class lead, Dr Jen Roberts, said: 鈥淏oth teams selected for the Grand Finals embedded sustainable and inclusive principles through their designs and thought creatively and carefully about the implementation and delivery of their designs into the community, too.鈥�
Beth Robertson from Electrical and Electrical Engineering added: 鈥淕etting to witness student learning and progression through an academic year is the joy of teaching. The student teams that were in the top 36 at the Grand Finals got a bonus experience and through the event you could see their level of knowledge and understanding of the importance of sustainable design increase tenfold. The students got to see what all their work was for, and I can see in them the engineers for tomorrow that we need.鈥�
Environmental challenges
Since launching in 2011, over 70,000 students have participated from institutions in Cameroon, South Africa, UK, Ireland, and the USA.
This year's design brief asks students to develop solutions that address social and environmental challenges in Govan 鈥� an area with a rich history, heritage and physical landscape located in the south-west of Glasgow, Scotland. Through their studies, teams have been exploring opportunities for developments in and around Govan that will improve environmental systems and people鈥檚 livelihoods.
The Grand Finals were held at 欧美高清鈥檚 Technology and Innovation Centre; the first time the finals have been held outside of London.
The winning team from the University of Greenwich impressed the judges with their concept: 鈥�, which aims to tackle food insecurity and inaccessibility to healthcare in Govan. With their innovative design for a鈥痟ydroelectrically-powered greenhouse space, the team from Manchester Metropolitan University secured second prize.