Engineering team takes third in finals

A team of mechanical engineering students from the University of Newcastle has been awarded a 'highly commended' third place at the Australasian 'Warman Student Design and Build Competition' held at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

Following campus heats, the best of the best from universities across Australia and New Zealand were invited to take part in the Australasian finals where mechanical engineering's student elite thrashed it out for the highly coveted title.

The teams were given a design brief, based around a ficticious scenario, to rescue people trapped in a collapsed mine shaft.

The students worked in small teams to create and build a prototype electromechanical device capable of overcoming obstacles and lifting objects, against the clock. Craig Wheeler from the School of Engineering said, "Despite stiff competition our students' device performed extremely well, scoring maximum marks for time, distance, and safety criteria as it manoeuvred the course. The diversity of design alternatives at the final was highly impressive with strong competition between those using similar design solutions and those who chose different approaches.

"The competition provides the students with valuable experience in meeting design specifications within time and budget constraints, essential in all engineering projects and a key element of the mechanical engineering degree course at the University of Newcastle," concludes Wheeler.

The Warman Student Design and Build Competition is organised by the National Committee on Engineering Design of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, and sponsored by Weir Warman Ltd.

Its aim is to foster creativity in second year Mechanical Engineering students at Australasian universities.