Inspired Engineer Award

Project:

Harmony Hewlett, First-Year Mechanical Engineering Student – £500 Engineers in Business Prize

Since the 1930s, 97% of wildflower meadows have been destroyed. Restoring them is an important step in boosting bee and other pollinating insect numbers. When mowing grass to create a wildflower meadow, grass clippings need to be collected, rather than left on the ground. This ensures a lower nutrient soil, which promotes wildflower growth and ensures you do not get more grass growth.

Meadow Maker is a lawnmower design that allows large amounts of grass to be collected without requiring a big and bulky trailer. This is achieved by compacting the grass using vacuum-packing.

On winning her award Harmony said, “I’m very excited to have won this award. I would love to help contribute to the restoration of the natural environment and I think that this idea, with further development, could really help do that.”

Project:

Matas Jarutis, First-Year Medical Engineering Student – £500 Engineers in Business Prize

Matas’ passion for physical exercise and optimal recovery led him to research the use of near-infrared light (NIR) to reduce inflammation. An application of this knowledge to Parkinson’s disease inspired the development of a medical device to facilitate treatment through the nasal passage with diodes while being non-invasive.

Photo biomodulation activates metabolic activity in the affected tissue resulting in inflammation reduction and tissue regeneration leading together to a slower deterioration of the substantia nigra, giving a prolonged better quality of life. This brings new hope for a new alternative to the current treatment paradigm.

Matas said, “I am grateful for this nomination galvanizing my passion for medical engineering in my devotion to helping others.”

Project:

Simon Betts, Fourth-Year Electrical and Electronic Engineering Student – £500 Engineers in Business Prize

Atlantic Innovations is a platform that promotes the use of self-driving vehicles.  The first project, an autonomous race series (self-driving vehicles) will see teams pitted against each other in a challenge to develop real-world artificial learning to navigate a vehicle around a race circuit in front of a real-world audience. This promotes the development of self-learning and self-driving technology which can be licensed to improve safety on our roads, whilst also creating sponsorship, engagement and learning opportunities through a public-facing event.

The initial project will be based on scaled-down versions of the race vehicles. These scaled vehicles will be the size of a laptop computer and can be used to educate and teach what a self-driving vehicle is and how it is essential to our future.

On being awarded an Inspired prize Simon said, “Winning this award is both humbling and a privilege, it truly has been a goal of mine since starting at Cardiff University and provides validation of the skills and mentality that I have developed. I am using the money associated with the award as seed funding for the company and further building the race series. There is enough that with some savvy purchasing I can provide a small-scale demonstration model and support the development of the company itself. The support of the university is in itself a massive achievement and greatly appreciated.”

Project:

Marina Kovaleva PhD In Humidified Ammonia/Hydrogen Combustor Development – £500 Engineers in Business Prize

To tackle global warming, engineers and scientists are faced with the challenge of utilising green fuels like hydrogen and ammonia. To develop a novel engine, burner or combustor component for these fuels, multiple designs must be tested with simulation software (CFD) to predict the performance of a specific design choice. However, understanding and processing these simulation results can be complex and often involves dealing with millions of data points.

The Fflam Las Toolkit is a web application that processes simulation data through data reduction methods. This simplifies the decision-making process, enabling better designs for new and emerging fuels.

Marina said, “I am so excited to be receiving this award – working alone on the codes for this toolkit has made it feel like an abstract hobby concept, but now it’s starting to feel like a real product.”

Project:

Louis Ringrose, Second-Year Mechanical Engineering Student – £500 Engineers in Business Prize

More than 50% of the modern population over the age of 40 suffer from joint pain keeping them from what they want to do. While there are currently methods to maintain and treat these pains, this project aims to help people get back on their feet in a fraction of the time. Through the use of metal cables placed longitudinally around a regular joint support, individual areas of the support can be tightened or loosened to the users’ needs depending on where they need the extra support.

Louis said, “Winning this award gives me further reassurance this device could have an impact and help people, giving me the motivation to develop and expand upon the idea.”

Project:

Ehsan Mikaeili, PhD student in Computational Mechanics – £500 Engineers in Business Prize

The current health monitoring techniques for wind turbines require them to be turned off to be able to assess their structural integrity, which is not convenient from economic and safety perspectives. Ehsan’s idea aims to alleviate this drawback by using AI and image processing tools to assess the structural components’ integrity and reliability while turbines keep functioning. The AI trains the data collected from cameras around turbine blades to detect any structural damages and assess their structural risks. This monitoring technique is robust and efficient because it reduces human interventions, accelerates the assessment process, and boosts electricity generation.

Commenting on his success in the competition, Ehsan said, “I feel really honoured and valued to receive this outstanding award. I appreciate the judging panel’s trust, which gives me more confidence to move forward with my business idea.”