Pre-University Student Awards

The annual awards for these remarkable "gap year" students were held on Wednesday 6th September at the impressive One Great George Street in London.

Finalists from ten regional heats made presentations on the projects they have undertaken this year. All ten demonstrated the extraordinary contribution which a student can make to a company’s culture and processes, as well as its financial situation!

Most placements are for students going on to study engineering, science, and technology subjects, but some are studying business and related subjects.

The finalists

In the North West, Kyle Sutherland-Cash worked for Shell Global Solutions. He developed an oxidation bench test designed to mimic engine conditions experienced by lubricants, and therefore made savings on the development costs of new oils.

Alex Packard worked for GKN Autostructures in the West Midlands on the storage and distribution of spare parts for products no longer manufactured by the company. His new system will enable parts to be safely stored with degrading over time.

At Nottingham East Midlands Airport, Helen Randall managed a 10m extension to the existing fire training rig, enabling the airport to accommodate 767 aircraft.

A strength test to accurately identify whether mobile phone components were faulty was created by William Jackson at 1 Ltd in the Eastern region.

Varunjay Ahluwalia, at the Leeds site of Halcrow Ltd, prepared and delivered a financial case for video-conferencing to save the company time and money in its business.

Turner & Townsend Management Solutions in London benefited from Ayantika Mitra’s new database interface, developed for a client wishing to improve management of their health and safety data.

In Scotland, Murray MacPherson’s innovative project ensured that the runway lighting at BAA Edinburgh Airport complied with the Civil Aviation Authority’s new standards by using existing measurement techniques to achieve condition-based maintenance of the runway lights.

William Lawrence worked for Milklink in the South West, and achieved collective reduction, reuse and recycling of liquid and solid waste products, thus improving the company’s environmental performance as well as saving money.

A test rig to assess the ability of seals to prevent the leakage of toxic gases from valves was the outcome of Lindsey Dew’s project at British Engines – BEL Valves in the North region.

Gregory Phippen at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton developed and installed a computerized cable logging and monitoring system for their new ship, RSS James Cook.

The winners

Contribution to the Environment (sponsored by Qinetiq) William Lawrence at Milklink impressed the judges with his remarkable achievements, effectively changing the culture of the company to one which was focused on reuse and recycling.

Contribution to Innovation (sponsored by EEF) The new test for mobile phone components, which simulated dropping them from a height of 1.5m won William Jackson of 1 Ltd this award.

Contribution to Science and Engineering (sponsored by dstl) Lindsey Dew was the worthy winner of this prize, for her inventive solution to testing seals for toxic leaks, as well as her work with suppliers on developing new seals.

Overall winner (sponsored by Centrica) The judges decided that Murray MacPherson’s new runway lighting maintenance system, which used existing measurement techniques to vastly improve performance, made the greatest contribution to the business.

His tenacity in solving problems, his ability to implement a solution which required compliance with a range of external standards, and his inclusion of a wide range of stakeholders in his activities, meant that BAA Edinburgh was able to report 12% more runway lights meeting the Civil Aviation Authority’s standards, a key safety consideration. It has also saved a potential £180,000 across the business as well as reducing maintenance time by 128 hours per year, allowing more aircraft to land.

Undergraduate awards

About 20% of Year in Industry students have already embarked on their degree, and are undertaking for a placement to enhance their academic learning in university. The national award for these six regional finalists was held at the Royal Academy of Engineering on Thursday 7th September 2006.

The finalists

David Michie worked for Darchem Engineering, and developed new fire protection and thermal insulation products for large industrial earth moving equipment.

Jacob Meachen at Gillette Management LLC created a system to test and tune circuit components in their new wet razor.

At Alpheus Environmental Ltd, Mirra Sondhi developed a mobile workflow management system to allow customers to check the work status of their contracts.

Management of the current goods inward process and streamlining of the process of storage provided Paritosh Srivastava with his project at 3M UK plc.

Kohler Daryl Ltd benefited from Thomas Cornthwaite’s new designs for a shower enclosure chassis system.

Thomas Webb worked with E.ON UK – Power Technology to create a system to remotely monitor flue gas instruments in power stations.

The winner

The judges felt that Mirra Sondhi’s work with Alpheus Environmental Ltd had truly revolutionised the company’s workflow, enabling customers to monitor work on contracts, and enable real-time control of workflow. She also worked closely with the entire maintenance workforce to implement her PDA-based solution, convincing them that the move from a paper-based system would have real benefits.

Year in Industry are always looking for placements for their students.  To tap into their enthusiasm and fresh perspective at your company, visit the Year in Industry website