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| Allen Gears assists students to Win UK Young Technologist of the Year |
| 27.04.09 |
As part of its commitment to support of the local community, Allen Gears and nearby Pershore High School have both benefited through an initiative that has given sixth-formers scope to work alongside company engineering staff in a scheme to help students discover the appeal of engineering as a career.
As a result the students have won 2 prestigious awards – Young Technologist of the Year and the British Science Association Medal for Communication.
The Engineering Education Scheme is an EDT Programme which links teams of four year 12 students and their teacher with local companies to work on real scientific, engineering and technological problems.
Allen Gears Senior Design Engineer, Andy Mansell and Development Engineer Luke Fowler worked with a team from Pershore High School Sixth form to undertake a useful project, to develop an improved method of installing expensive and delicate 'Eddy current' vibration probes onto gearboxes for both test and 'in the field' condition monitoring.
The current method involves a skilled operator installing the probes through a casing unsighted and then setting the critical gap to the surface being observed using a specific output voltage depending on application and probe size. The gap is critical in obtaining an accurate instrument output.
The solution that the team from Pershore High School arrived at was two-fold.
• The first solution was a mechanical method assessment tool. This recognised the correct target surface to prevent the probe being installed into a hole or other feature in error.
• The second solution was an electronic device to process the output signal from the installed probe and give a simple 'traffic light' indication of the probe setting gap.
The result is that probes can be set by unskilled operators and a major cost saving in replacement probes can be achieved.
The students presented their project at "The Big Bang Fair" in London; the first national fair celebrating young people's achievements in both science and engineering, which involved 190 entrants from around the UK competing for prizes.
The students, Stephen Maughan, Matthew Smith and Christopher Jefferies exhibited their solution as an entry in the CREST Award and National Science Competition alongside finalists of the Young Engineer of Britain and other competitions. The event saw nearly 9,000 people including school groups and teachers experiencing exhibitions, shows and workshops that showcase UK research and the huge range of career opportunities that science and technology have to offer.
By the end of the first day the group had been judged and moderated six times in total, but were delighted to be told they had made the final three in their category. As a reward, they were taken to enjoy tea and sandwiches at Number 10 Downing Street as a guest of Lord Drayson. Here all the winning entrants were spoken to as a group inspiring them to develop their experiences and efforts further in the field of Science and Technology.
That evening the whole group gathered to hear the names of the winners. Pershore High School was the recipient of the British Science Association Medal for Communication at the CREST National Final - this is for the team's display and communication of their project and was only awarded to one competitor from the whole event.
And finally to top it all, they were awarded UK Young Technologists of the Year - 1st prize in the Technology category - National Science Competition 2008-09 Presented by Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation, for which the team had to nominate one member as the recipient.
Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Drayson said: "It is extremely encouraging to see the number of entrants that have taken part in this competition. I've seen some really exciting and innovative projects and really want to congratulate Peter Hatfield and Chris Jefferies on their success. It is great to see young scientists and engineers inspired to experiment with ideas and apply science and technology to real life scenarios. I really want to bust the myth that science is boring and geeky – it is far from it. This competition has highlighted the reality of science today, it's exciting, fascinating and shapes all our lives. Young scientists today will shape our future tomorrow – which is why competitions like this are so important to celebrate young British talent."
The UK Young Technologist of the Year wins a trophy, certificate, a netbook computer, £5000 and a lifetime experience trip to the NASA Space Centre in USA.
Estelle Rowe, Midlands Regional Director for the EDT said: "Winning the Award of Young Technologist of the Year is a tremendous achievement, not just for Chris Jefferies but is in fact a major tribute to the whole Engineering Education Scheme team. This includes the students, their very committed teacher, the link engineers at Allen Gears and the EDT support team who facilitate the whole programme. As well as the success of the team and the personal development of the students this has also brought about an efficient and cost effective solution for the company"
Allen Gears are delighted to have worked with the students, and wish them many congratulations. |
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