This month, students in the School of Engineering have been given the opportunity to apply for funding of up to £2500 for their student projects through the newly launched Engineering Student Innovation Fund.
As soon as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK in March 2020, the School of Engineering community joined forces to combat the virus and to mitigate its effects through a range of research and practical activities. Here is an overview of some of the Covid-19-related initiatives our staff, students and alumni have been involved in to date.
James Steer, who recently completed his PhD on the behaviour of ocean waves at the School of Engineering, has won the UK Fluids Network (UKFN) Prize for best PhD thesis in Fluid Mechanics.
An undergraduate student, PhD student and recent graduate from our School have each won an Electronics Weekly BrightSparks Award, in recognition of their place among the brightest young electronics engineers in the UK today. Fourth year Electronics and Electrical Engineering student Cheng Hao Lim, recent graduate Anna Hart (MEng Electronics and Electrical Engineering, 2018), and PhD student Kyle Walker were selected to receive the prestigious award from a field of candidates across the country.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented demand for protective gear, and the School has been at the forefront of local efforts to supply key workers with face shields.
A fire engineering researcher from the School, Professor Luke Bisby, has appeared in a new BBC documentary about the race to save Notre Dame cathedral following a catastrophic fire in April 2019. A year after the world-famous landmark was partially destroyed by an inferno, the documentary follows efforts to save the building, which began with the firefighters’ battle on the night and continues with the painstaking reconstruction work of engineers, conservationists, scientists, architects, and others.
School alumna Olivia Sweeney (MEng Chemical Engineering, 2017) has been named among the 'Top 100 Most Influential Women in Engineering' in the UK and Europe by Inclusive Boards in association with the Financial Times. Olivia's listing recognises her work towards a more sustainable cosmetics industry in her role as Ethical Buyer for Aroma Chemicals at Lush, alongside her work inspiring the younger generation about the possibilities of careers in engineering.
Civil Engineering alumnus Kal Turnbull has recently attracted media attention for his idea to improve the quality of online conversations. Kal is co-founder and CEO of online platform ChangeAView.com, a startup which aims to promote thoughtful debate on online platforms. The company started with an idea which came to Kal when he was a 17-year-old teenager living in the Highlands. Feeling that he might “grown up in a bit of a small-town bubble”, Kal started a new group on the online discussion form Reddit, called Change My View.