Engineering undergraduates involved in extra-curricular projects spanning robotics, sculpture, racing cars and more, have hosted an exhibition attended by industry contacts and sponsors.
The team projects are instrumental in developing the students’ technical and interpersonal skills and commercial awareness.
Vicky Houghton
Project Expo 2018 gave the students an opportunity to share updates on their latest project ventures and build fresh links with industry, as many of the projects rely on sponsorship.
A Dragons' Den-style event was held during which some of the student societies prepared presentations outlining their bids for funding based on their intended projects for the year ahead. The judging panel included representatives from the Department of Engineering and the companies Boeing and Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, both of which are kindly sponsoring the funding of the student projects alongside other companies including National Instruments.
A number of companies were invited to meet the different student societies and discuss opportunities for future sponsorship. They included Huawei, McLaren Automotive, AVX Technology, Ocado Technology and BT. Students were also on hand to demonstrate some of the equipment available in the Dyson Centre for Engineering Design, such as a subsonic wind tunnel, plasma and laser cutters and 3D printers.
Vicky Houghton, Industrial Placements Co-ordinator at the Department of Engineering, said: “The Student Societies Expo was a great opportunity for almost 20 voluntary student clubs to showcase their current projects and talk to industrial supporters and peers alike about how they are addressing real engineering problems with creative and innovative solutions.
"The team projects are instrumental in providing purpose and developing the students’ technical and interpersonal skills and commercial awareness, which was encouragingly evident on the day.
"These opportunities are often used as a stepping stone by students to gain practical experience, especially for those individuals who have naturally gravitated towards particular clubs based on their genuine interests and career aspirations.”
If you are a company or individual interested in supporting and collaborating with the student societies, please email Vicky Houghton.
Teams in attendance on the day included:
Structural Sculptures Club
Designing and creating full-scale sculptures. Find out more here.
Representing Structural Sculptures Club, from left, Ilakya Prabhakar, Alfred Jacquemot, Jay Shann, Donn Ng.
Cambridge University Space Flight
Working on complex multidisciplinary projects in the fields of amateur rocketry and high altitude ballooning. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @cuspaceflight
Representing Cambridge University Space Flight, from left, Matt Pengelly, Matt Coates, Joe Hunt, Andrew Hughes.
Cambridge University 3D Printing Society (CU3D)
3D printing and other types of rapid prototyping. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @cu3d_soc
Representing CU3D, from left, Max Williamson, Chloé Caron, Ben Yass.
Cambridge University Robotics
Building robots and participating in robotics competitions. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @curobotics_soc
Representing Cambridge University Robotics, from left, Choon Kiat Lee, Aryaman Reddi, Oliver Nick.
Cambridge Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (CAUV)
Building, programming and operating AUVs for science and exploration. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @CambridgeAUV
Representing CAUV, Egle Augustaityte and David O'Brian-Moller.
Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER)
Designing and building solar-powered electric vehicles to compete in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @cuerSolarTeam
Matthieu Wilson, representing CUER.
Full Blue Racing
Designing and building a single seater racing car to be entered in an International Formula Student competition, where the team compete against universities from around the world. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @FullBlueRacing
Representing Full Blue Racing, from left, Georgia Everest, Adam Wronski, Fraser McKay, Ryden Stackhouse.
Cambridge University Unmanned Air Systems Society (CUUASS)
Designing and building every part of an autonomous drone, from the airframe, through to the flight control system, and the aircraft electronics.
Follow on Twitter @CUUASS
Representing CUUASS, from left, Philip Salmony and Nathanael West.
Cambridge Development Initiative
Tackling key development issues in Tanzania by piloting innovative, community-driven projects. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @CambDev
Impact Through Innovation Cambridge (ITIC)
Supporting innovative projects to tackle global challenges. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @ITICambridge
Electronics Club
Learning new tools and techniques, such as printed circuit board (PCB) design, hot air rework, reflow soldering, radio frequency (RF) electronics and real-time operating systems. Find out more here.
Cambridge University Synthetic Biology Society
Developing bio-hardware. Open-source and low-cost scientific tools for use either in labs or as educational aids. Find out more here.
Follow on Twitter @CU_SynBioSoc
Hackbridge
Inspiring tech entrepreneurship at the University of Cambridge. Find out more here.
Connect on Facebook @hackbridgeio
