Category Archives: Graduates

Graduation 2015

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Last week, on the gloriously sunny afternoon of Tuesday 7th July 2015, the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences held their Engineering and Sciences Graduation Ceremony – the highlight of the year, a chance to celebrate the hard work of our Automotive and Motorsport students.

It’s not just a special day for the students and staff though, this is a key chance for family, who have been supporting their graduate during the last few years to really see their family member shine.

BSc(Hons) Motorsport Technology graduate Jenny Broom attended with her parents and sisters, her parents talking about the joy in seeing their daughter pursue her dreams.

Students Chris, Jenny and James at Graduation 2015.

Students Chris, Jenny and James at Graduation.

James Bruce, another BSc(Hons) Motorsport Technology graduate has been working at McLaren since finishing his course, so it was great for him to catch up with his former classmates for the day.

Automotive Technology graduates, Frazer, Tim, Jack and Owen. Photo taken by Amelia May Lancaster.

Automotive Technology graduates, Frazer, Tim, Jack and Owen. Photo taken by Amelia May Lancaster.

It’s not just about our Motorsport graduates though, shown above are some of our BSc(Hons) Automotive Technology graduates, Frazer Killops, Tim Lancaster, Jack Ellis and Owen Morgan. The picture is taken by Tim’s wife Amelia, who is also graduating from her own course this year.

As well as the excellent work put in by our graduates, graduation is also the time to celebrate prize winners, BSc(Hons) Motorsport Technology graduate, Christopher Harpham was awarded the IMechE Institution Project Prize for his final project looking at ‘The Aerodynamic Effects of Oversteer on Performance Vehicles’, He was presented with a certificate from the Dean of the Faculty, Hastings McKenzie and Motorsport Award Leader, Debi Roberts.

Chris Harpham receiving his award from Professor Hastings McKenzie and Debi Roberts.

Chris Harpham receiving his award from Professor Hastings McKenzie and Debi Roberts.

Award Leader for the Automotive and Motorsport courses, Debi Roberts, said “Graduation is a very special time for the graduates and their families, but it’s also a lovely, as a lecturer and tutor, to see the end result – the change in those students that comes after three or four years of hard work on their part. To celebrate with them and say ‘look, you achieved all that’ and then keeping in touch to see where their career takes them.”

GradEX 2015

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The Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences, alongside the Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies, recently held their Annual Graduate Exhibition of student work – GradEX 2015. A high proportion of our Automotive and Motorsport final year students entered – in the Aeronautical and Automotive category.

The event is well attended by industry and it is from industry that the judging panel join us. They view the students work, and speak to the students before retiring to make a decision on the prizes in their category.

With a mix of Automotive, Motorsport, Aeronautical and Mechanical students in this year’s group – the end result was a tough decision for the judges. Two students were not placed but given a special mention – our own Christopher Harpham (BSc(Hons) Motorsport Technology) for his excellent presentation and communication skills and BSc(Hons) Aeronautical Technology student David Reeves who was passionate about the commercial viability of his project.

Third place went to BSc(Hons) Aeronautical Technology student William Kwarteng-Ferradas for his project ‘Investigation of Pre-Spin in Aircraft Landing Gear Wheels’.

Second place went to Frazer Killops, BSc(Hons) Automotive Technology student for his project ‘Feasibility of a V4 Engine with Cylinder Deactivation’.

First Place in the category went to BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering student Jorge Morais and his project ‘Design and Development of a Dual Resonant Intake System’ which was undertaken as part of the development of a Formula Student vehicle.

For images of the winners receiving their certificates from the Dean of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences, Professor Hastings MacKenzie, click here.

For more information on the GradEX event, click here