Forty aspiring rail engineers received a surprise visit from a television star to celebrate the completion of a four-day residential course exploring the technologies and systems of railway engineering.
Hosted by the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research and Education, 16 and 17 year olds from across the country took part in an exciting programme of hands-on activities.
Group projects explored a range of subjects including aerodynamics, crash-worthiness, radio communications, railway control and signalling systems, which culminated in an awards presentation led by The Gadget Show’s Jon Bentley.
The residential course, which began on Monday 18 July, was designed to expand students’ interest in railway engineering through a series of sessions and challenges delivered by University of Birmingham railway engineers.
The course was sponsored by The Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust (The LRET) and The National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE) and was run by The Smallpeice Trust.
Separated into small groups, the students took part in one of two challenges; they either designed, constructed and tested a 1:30 scale crashworthy vehicle model which was crash tested on an inclined ramp, or designed, built and constructed a train control system using Lego Mindstorm NXT components, tested on a 10m test track.
Prizes were given to the successful designs.
Event organiser and teaching fellow in the University of Birmingham’s School of Civil Engineering, Stephen Kent, said:
“It is hoped that from this event, the students will recognise that engineering, and the railway industry in particular, offers an interesting and rewarding career.
“Jon popped in on Thursday (21 July) for a couple of hours just to see what the kids were up to, ‘crash testing for kids’ as he put it. He also helped judge the designs and handed out the prizes to the winning teams.
“We thought it would add a bit of excitement to the final morning if Jon just ‘appeared’ amongst the kids. It was rather nice having them working away, when all of a sudden they looked up and recognised him.
“We kept it a surprise from them so that they kept focused on the task at hand.”
