Southampton University wins £1,000 ETB Award for best engineering event
Article Type: University and research news From: Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal, Volume 81, Issue 4
The University of Southampton recently beat off stiff competition to win the inaugural Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) Award for “Best Engineering Event” to take place during National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW) 2009.
The ETB and the British Science Association established the prestigious cash award to encourage imaginative and inspiring entries to NSEW, and the University of Southampton this year came up trumps with engineering day for all the family.
A fun-filled day of hands on activities, workshops and demonstrations, the event featured seven themed activity zones including Space, Technology, Life,Transport, Construction, Light and Chemistry. Amongst other things, children and parents were given the opportunity to:
pilot the Airbus A380 super jet in the flight simulator;
try their hand at sailing with our yacht wind tunnel;
watch the launch of a rocket-powered model of the Bloodhound supersonic car;
experiment with lights and lasers;
make slime and silly putty, or bubbles that bounce in mid-air;
have a go at constructing their own bridge and see what weight it can take;and
discover how the human body changes throughout your lifetime – inside and out.
Competition entries were judged according to the following criteria: their effective communication of engineering principles; their innovative and engaging presentation of science and engineering; and their effective self-evaluation. Other finalists in the “best engineering event” category included Knottingly Sports Centre and Grange Technology College for their Design a Hovercraft Day, and Go4Set East Midlands Celebration and Assessment Day, which encouraged students to work with local companies on environmental engineering projects.
Paul Jackson, Chief Executive of the ETB, said: “The ETB is delighted to award Southampton University the National Science and Engineering Week prize for Best Engineering Event. We congratulate them for providing an excellent experience, entertaining and informing children, students and parents alike in the wonders of engineering. The ETB established these event awards to recognise and reward the creativity and innovation that goes into each and every National Science and Engineering Week event. Excellent events like this Science and Engineering Day help us all to engage and inspire the engineers of tomorrow”.
Professor Jeremy Kilburn, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics, at Southampton University, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won the ETB Award for Best Engineering Event 2009. With all the amazing activities to choose from, for us to have been selected as the Best Engineering Event is a fantastic achievement and a real testament to all of the effort that is put into celebrating National Science and Engineering Week at the University of Southampton”.
“Our Science and Engineering Day has grown from its origins almost ten years ago to encompass activities from across the spectrum of science,engineering and medicine. This year we had over 2500 visitors on our Highfield campus for a day of demonstrations, lectures and interactive activities. Over 200 people are involved in organising the day and I would certainly like to thank all of them for all the hard work they put into making it such a success. We certainly hope that all the young people who visited us were inspired and will choose to continue to study science and engineering subjects in the future”.
