Grand Challenge

Nottingham Trent University’s Grand Challenge is a three-week project where students work in cross-disciplinary and cross-year teams to conceptualise, design and produce a product (in line with CDIO). Each team produces a business case and promotional video and then demonstrates a prototype at a Trade Show to peers, staff and industry contacts. Each group is assigned a member of staff as a non-executive director and attends industry talks, masterclasses on business and media, and a technical helpdesk available to support the teams.

Winner of the Academic Award

Project:

Team ISP (left to right): Dr Rebecca Margetts, Grand Challenge Lead, Prof Neil Mansfield, Goodness Ogundein (Mechanical Engineering), Matthew Collins (Mechanical Engineering) Christian Foxhall (Sport Engineering), Syahid Shamsul (Electronic & Electrical Engineering), Kushal Shah (Mechanical Engineering), Hope Russell (Biomedical Engineering), Fraser Robinson (Biomedical Engineering), Eden Sigwalt (Mechanical Engineering) and Rakshith Bangalore Kumaraswamy (Mechanical Engineering) – £1,000 Engineers in Business Prize .

ISP enables rockets to be refuelled in space, by harvesting energy from multiple sources – solar energy, cosmic rays and nuclear power – and then transmitting it by laser to a receiving satellite on a rocket. There it is converted to electricity by a photovoltaic receiver and used to refuel the rockets.

Awarded: £1,000

Winner of the Industry Award

Project:

Team Astreus (left to right): Dr Rebecca Margetts, Grand Challenge Lead, Ines Pinho Bastos Dos Reis Guerreiro (Sports Engineering), Mark Jeavons (Biomedical Engineering), Yazan Imeir (Mechanical Engineering), Alex Ingman (Mechanical Engineering), Izadmehr Jamali-Poor (Mechanical Engineering), Harry McGugan (Mechanical Engineering), James King (Electronic & Electrical Engineering) and Steven Brooks from Pepsico, Chair of NUT’s Industrial Advisory Board – £1,000 Engineers in Business prize.

Astreus is a cleaning mechanism for space vehicles such as NASA’s Curiosity Rover. Rovers typically utilise solar panels, which can suffer a significant decrease in efficiency due to dust buildup. The Astreus belt cycles a clear transparent film over the solar arrays when a decrease in illumination is detected, and the Astreus bladeless wind turbine provides an alternate source of power while in storms or in the shade.

Awarded: £1,000

Winner of the Student Choice Award

Project:

Team Relimb Mk.1. (left to right): Dr Rebecca Margetts, Grand Challenge Lead, Khaled Emadeldin Ibrahim Mohamed Saad (Biomedical Engineering), Samuel Harding (Biomedical Engineering), Robert Carter-Price (Mechanical Engineering), Samuel Davidson (Mechanical Engineering), Joshua Birks (Mechanical Engineering), Leon Denham Knopf (Sport Engineering), James Liversidge (Electronic & Electrical Engineering), Aryan Bakhai (Mechanical Engineering) and Prof Neil Mansfield (Head of the Department of Engineering at NTU) – £1,000 Engineers in Business Prize.

The Relimb is a Self Powered/Cleaning Prosthesis which uses piezoelectrics to power a built-in ventilation system. It helps mitigate heat and irritation on the amputated limb while doing physical activity and prevents the prosthetic from becoming suctioned to the limb.

Awarded: £1,000

Positive feedback

The prize provided additional motivation and a sense of competition to an already popular project. This year we saw a huge number of students really go above and beyond to impress, and there was a tremendous buzz around the engineering department throughout the project. Industry guests attending the Trade Show event remarked that they were impressed with the quality of projects and enthusiasm this year, and the final prize-giving was well-attended by students.

Dr Rebecca Margetts
Principal Lecturer | Course Leader for BEng & MEng Mechanical Engineering
School of Science and Technology, Department of Engineering
Nottingham Trent University