Summer Placement: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield

Aisha Khan, SELA Cohort 2015 

Did you know that less than 1 per cent of paper coffee cups in the UK are recycled? That paper coffee cups aren’t meant to be put into general recycling bins? That they are considered waste paper stream contaminants?

I had the opportunity of carrying out a placement through the SELA research bursary programme in the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, working with Professor Peter Styring on the recycling of paper coffee cups.  

Summer Placement: Geotechnical Engineering in The Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Sheffield

Sebastià Despuig Reid, SELA Cohort 2015

In 2008 the Government signed the Climate Change Act which has the duty to cut 80% of greenhouse emissions by 2050. Therefore, the government needs to shift to alternative and cleaner sources to produce electric energy like wind. Three quarters of the planet is covered in water; therefore, it is no surprise that we look further away from our coast shore to take advantage of powerful nature sources. Nevertheless, there are some limitations due to costs and current installation methods which are mostly related to the foundations of the wind turbine, therefore there is need to find solutions to manufacture and install larger and cheaper wind turbines to meet the Climate Change Act target.

Throughout the summer I undertook a research placement in the Civil and Structural Engineering department within the Geotechnical Engineering branch. My project was based on the study of offshore wind turbine rough foundations. I was able to propose my title, always taking into account the interests and suggestions of my supervisor. The project lasted 10 weeks overall and it was supervised by Paul Shepley, a lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering at the University.

The main objective was to analyse the behaviour of different rough foundations compared to the same smooth foundations that are currently in use. The tests were performed on scaled samples at the geotechnical engineering lab by applying a horizontal load at the head of the pile. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to test all foundations and throughout the project I decided to narrow down my topic to tackle any gaps in the design codes based on the roughness of foundations. As I started accumulating a larger work load I decided to push my research project into my final year dissertation, where I will be able to tackle issue in greater depth.

This summer research placement gave me the opportunity to experience all the sides of being involved in research, which helped me decide if I want to continue my studies with a PhD after I graduate. Firstly, I had to develop a research proposal and a time plan to work out what I was going to do each week. I conducted a thorough search on what other researchers had found out about topic and wrote a literature review. I also had to find out what instrumentation I needed to perform the tests and learn how to use it. Finally, I wrote about the findings on the tests performed and how these fit with what is already in place.

This project was an incredible opportunity to learn about the subject, experience from first-hand the life of a researcher and work together with other academics which have a broad understanding of Geotechnical Engineering.

Summer Placement: Integrated Manufacturing Group at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre

Ben Quickfall, SELA Cohort 2015

Between my second and third year of university study I was delighted to be offered a 12 week summer internship at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s (AMRC) Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG).

The AMRC are one of seven High Value Manufacturing, Catapult companies. The aim of these companies is to bridge between academic research and industry, completing research which tackles current problems and is industrially commercial. This is with the aim of maintaining Great Britain’s position as one of the world’s leading countries in state of the art technology and innovation as well as driving the country’s economic growth in this sector.

The IMG is one of the many divisions of the AMRC and has recently relocated to the newly built Factory 2050, which is the first reconfigurable type factory of its kind. The IMG focus on cutting edge manufacturing and assembly technologies, advanced robotics, flexible automation, next generation man-machine interfaces and new programming and training tools.

During the 12 weeks of my placement I completed a project with a colleague to create a Reconfigurable Factory Demonstration. This demonstration was designed to show a scaled down version of the capability and potential that an operational reconfigurable factory could have. This is the same concept on which Factory 2050 was built (and more generally Industry 4.0 has). The demonstration comprised of a focused Internet of Things (IoT) network, created solely for the equipment within the demonstration. The equipment included: ABB and KUKA robotic arms, a KUKA youBot which is an omnidirectional AGV, a Raspberry Pi 3 as the central broker for the IoT network as well as Arduino Leonardos connected to each of the larger pieces of equipment. The Arduinos connected to the robotic arms and the KUKA youBot itself communicated with the Raspberry Pi Broker via a MQTT messaging protocol.

Whilst I completed work with all aspects of the project, ranging from creating the electronic boards used to connect the Arduinos to the Robotic Arms, to programming the Arduino’s to communicate over the MQTT network in C++, my work largely focused on the automation of the KUKA youBot. It was my responsibility to program the KUKA youBot within ROS (Robot Operating System). ROS is an open source framework which is being increasingly used within multi device projects and more specifically projects involving robotics – as the name would suggest. The framework operates using a nodal network where messages are published to topics and received by nodes subscribing to the same topics, with the idea that each node could be programmed for each of the devices in the ROS network.

As well as being exposed to a vast amount of equipment and learning a lot of new technical knowledge, many of the skills I have been developing through SELA have been heightened further as a result of the internship. Working closely with just one colleague on the project improved my project management and one-to-one communication skills and highlighted the importance of producing clear and concise documentation/programming comments to enable a team to work efficiently.

Being fortunate enough to have had this experience at AMRC, with the avuncular nature of the staff and the company itself, implores me to recommend completing summer internships to any student. My time at AMRC was extremely beneficial to my technical and personal development along with also being thoroughly enjoyable throughout!

Summer Placement: Gripple

Sam Barnes, SELA Cohort 2015

As a mechanical engineering student, I looked for a placement that offered both the opportunity to put into practice the skills and knowledge that I had gained so far in my degree, and also to gain a broader understanding of engineering in a business environment. Following a very successful visit to their premises with SELA, I applied for a summer placement at Gripple Ltd, a Sheffield based engineering company specialising in wire tensioning devices and overhead suspension systems. Having applied through the People and Culture department I was invited for an interview with Neil Clarke and Charlotte Hill, both of whom were product managers in the marketing department, and was lucky enough to be offered a placement.

I had a range of responsibilities for the 10 weeks I was with Gripple, some within the remit of the marketing department and some out of it, but the main deliverable for my time there was a certification audit. Gripple manufactures well over 200 different products and kits, and each of these require approval and testing certification for different markets and customers - my task was to produce a definitive record of everything currently held by Gripple and then to identify any gaps in the certification that needed to be filled. The resulting directory enabled Gripple staff to quickly answer customer requests for certification and also ensured that further testing was not carried out where certification already existed, something that had been an issue at Gripple.

Outside of the marketing department I was also involved in product development work. The assigned project was to design and develop a product to secure commonly used cable basket for overhead electrical cables to an existing Gripple bracket range. This has two advantages, firstly it saves on hardware, reducing time and money for end users, but more importantly it is far safer in the case of a fire as traditional fixing methods are prone to failing in high temperatures, allowing the cables to fall. Commercially, this takes an established Gripple product and opens up another market and application that is not currently serviced, thereby adding incremental sales. The development involved a lot of work with 3D printers as these allowed me to test each iteration of the prototypes in a matter of hours, rather than days. This aspect of the placement was particularly valuable to me as it brought to reality all the principles and processes I’ve been taught in the first 2 years of my degree and directly influenced the direction of the product, although the project is still ongoing. The project also acted as a catalyst for me to learn from the experience of the other engineers around me. Whenever I encountered an issue or needed a second opinion the people around me were more than happy to help, which helped me to learn as well as helping with the progression of the project.

Looking back at my time with Gripple I see it as a great success - I was able to achieve everything I wanted from the placement, gaining experience and broadening my horizons. Having also discussed some ongoing work with the product managers, alongside my university work, I look forward to what the future holds for the company and me.

Summer Placement: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield

Samuel Grant, SELA Cohort 2015

Over the summer of 2016 I had the opportunity to take part in the SELA Summer Placement Scheme. Through the programme I worked with Dr Mark Ogden in the Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) department.

My placement started off like any new research project, by creating a white paper of previous research in this area. This took about two weeks to finish, under the guidance of Dr Ogden, by which time I had gained some insight into the process that was being used and any limitations that existed.

I then began designing the rig, using CAD in order to create a dimensionally accurate design which could be used for ordering of parts and materials. In addition to this, I began sourcing additional resources that I would need to get the rig to an operational state. With the help of Keith Penny, Dr Ogden’s technician, I found a working Peristaltic Pump and the necessary tubing that would move the chemicals through the extractor. I must give my thanks to Keith, who without this project wouldn’t have moved as smoothly. One of the most important lessons I have learnt during this project is that the vital role technicians play in research is understated and that they deserve respect for the hard work they do, both in helping academics with research and the running of labs for undergraduate study.

With the design complete and materials bought, Keith and I began building the rig. The structure of the rig was going to be made of box section steel and would support rectangular sections of 13-ply plywood, which had been treated to be resistant to chemical spills.

Using an angle grinder, I cut the box steel to the necessary lengths that had been designated in the CAD design. After this had been done, I used a MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welder to join the sections together. This was an interesting experience, as I had never used a MIG welder before and the learning curve was harsh with the inclusion of a small piece of melted metal falling into my ear - an accident that even the most stringent health and safety supervisor couldn’t have foreseen.  However after two days of work with no more accidents, the rig was built. The extractor was placed within it and connected up to the Peristaltic pump. Testing was then carried out to check the rig had no leaks, and any leaks that were found were patched up using Teflon. In addition to this any electrical equipment that was used needed to be PAT tested, teaching me that it is important to schedule work orders in advance to avoid delays.

This summer was an insight into the life of an academic researcher, which is a varied and often challenging role within the university system. Hours of work can often vary from anywhere between a few meetings a day, through to twelve hours of designing and drawing using CAD. The challenges of working within a relatively small budget was also interesting, resulting in a hunt throughout the department for equipment no longer in use that could be requisitioned for use within my research , echoing the adage that one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure. To any person going into research, I would recommend asking around your department before buying any expensive equipment, it may save you a significant amount of money.

I would recommend doing a research placement to any member of the engineering faculty as it is a rewarding experience that will definitely improve your career prospects.

Summer Placement: Cummins Turbo Technologies

Katie Atkins, SELA Cohort 2015

Over this summer I have had the opportunity to work as a placement student for 12 weeks at Cummins Turbo Technologies in Huddersfield. As a materials engineering student I felt a little out of my depth to begin with as we don’t cover the automotive and mechanical side of this industry at university, however I was lucky enough to be working within the materials department where I felt more at home. The team I worked with over the course of my summer was a group of very talented engineers and technicians who provided me with a variety of projects and tasks to work on.

I was trained in many different lab techniques, allowing me to carry out a great deal of tasks independently. My lab training covered many techniques including the use of cutting machines, interferometer and SEM. During my placement I ran 300+ samples on the interferometer assessing surface topography and practiced dye-penetrant methods on 100+ turbine wheels. In this industry there is a need for non-destructive testing as it accommodates the analysis of components during test cycles and without taking them apart - I learnt a great deal about the benefits of these methods and the ease of carrying them out.

I have been able to apply the theoretical knowledge I have learnt at university to real life problems and situations at CTT, including the identification of component failure modes, which was covered during my second year at university, but gave me the opportunity to practice. This really highlighted to me the benefit of applying theory to industrial problems in order to cement understanding and now have a much greater appreciation of failure and fatigue at an industrial level.

I have been able to employ and practice a number of skills developed through SELA whilst on my placement, including team work, project management and communication skills. By working in a large global company I have had to efficiently communicate with many senior engineers across different departments, and sometimes across the world, regarding results, project updates and deadlines. Over the course of my placement I have worked on 17 different projects, often simultaneously, and therefore time management has been very important in order to complete everything to deadline as my work has often contributed towards much larger projects within the company.

There are many experiences I have had at CTT that I would not have been able to get elsewhere at my age and stage as a student and will stay with me throughout the rest of my working life. I would recommend a placement at CTT to anyone studying engineering due to the brilliant opportunities and experiences, but also for the attention to detail and exceptional organisation of their placement scheme.

Summer Placement: DEWAG

Deven Darshane, SELA Cohort 2015

My internship this summer was at DEWAG from 27th June to 8th August. DEWAG are an electronics company that specialise in microprocessors designed and installed to suit a variety of needs, offering consultation as well as installation. It was particularly interesting for me to see how everything is done in-house, from the research and design to manufacture, assembly, testing and dispatch. My role changed frequently within my placement in order to see what kind of areas suited me. Coming from a mechanical background, I often found myself researching and learning more about process analysis, instrument technology and automation within the electronic field. Fortunately, a lot of these areas are included in my modules for my study abroad next year so hopefully I have a head-start from my classmates! Whilst I agreed with the company that I cannot write about the specific work I undertook, I can reflect on the both the skills I have developed throughout my placement, and how this has affected my future ambitions.

In terms of technical experience, my most enjoyable experience was building on my limited programming knowledge within a supportive environment, helping me to learn new languages and utilise different industrial software. It was very satisfying to get to grips with an area I have little knowledge in. Whilst a career in the electronics industry may not be something I want to pursue further, I believe the knowledge and skills I’ve learnt can translate to my degree and career afterwards. An area I’ve also developed is my communication skills, in terms of progress updates and deadlines between various departments of the company. When working on a project it’s vital to know where everyone is and what problems they’re facing on a daily schedule. Even as a new intern, I felt I could ask senior members for help due to the supportive culture. I found this very important as it grew my confidence and encouraged me to take more responsibility for the projects and tasks I worked on, leading to better quality work. The actual electronic industry is not something I want to pursue further, but I think it’s an equally important experience because it ruled out something I was previously considering, and thus helped me better identify what sort of placement I want for next summer.

Summer Placement: BuroHappold

Rhona Kerr, SELA Cohort 2015

Over the course of my 8-week placement I have been working at BuroHappold in their Leeds office. BuroHappold is an international engineering consultancy specialising in designing urban environments, transit hubs, city districts and entire cities. The company is known for creating innovative solutions to some of the globe’s most iconic infrastructure. Think; the Millennium Dome, the Olympic Stadium and of course Sheffield’s own Winter Gardens.

I have been working within the structures department and the project I have been working on is called Angel Gardens, which is part of the NOMA redevelopment project based in Manchester. Once complete, the building will be the third tallest structure in Manchester city centre, altering the skyline of the city. It will be situated next to One Angel Square, the award winning CO-OP headquarters, which was a project previously undertaken by BuroHappold and awarded BREEAM Outstanding status, as well as multiple awards.

Throughout my placement I have gained invaluable experience, learning how to design tall buildings. This was a rare opportunity, as tall buildings are infrequently built within the UK.

I learnt to use a lot of new software in order to do the analysis of both the ground floor slab and the shear walls within the tower core. My main duties have been looking at the reinforcement within both the ground level slab and within the core of the tower. This has meant analysing the deflection, the stresses and the cracking within the concrete to check it is within tolerance. I have also been responsible for designing the required reinforcement within the slab, doing punching shear calculations, as well as hand calculations to check the forces and moments within the single spanning slabs and the beams on the ground floor.

Working on one project has allowed me to gain an in-depth understanding of how all the components of a project fit together. I have witnessed how the structures team interacts with other departments, such as Geotechnical engineers to bring the project together. Although I have been working on only one project throughout my time in the office, I have had the chance to hear about the diverse range of projects Burohappold undertakes.

The extra activities provided is one of the reasons I have enjoyed working at BuroHappold so much this summer. I have been allowed to attend CPDs and structures club that have given me useful experience allowing me to constantly gain more knowledge about the industry. One particular event, which sticks in my mind, was a lunchtime structures club. The topic of the day- How close can you pile next to an existing building? The answer obviously includes many different factors: ground conditions, existing foundations, size of equipment etc. After a detailed discussion with everyone from the team inputting his or her previous experience and knowledge it was decided that for this case the answer was 1.5 metres.

Events like this created a sociable working environment which was perfect for a placement student with many questions! I am very thankful that completing a placement is part of the SELA scheme as I believe the experience will come in useful for the remainder of my degree course.

Summer Placement: Materials Science & Engineering, University of Sheffield

Sam Cheney has been working in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The University of Sheffield carrying out research into Cure monitoring of Electrically cured carbon fibre ply drops. Here's Sam's story:

"I have been using a novel way of curing carbon fibre panels which uses electrical current to heat up a panel and cure the resin. I have been investigating in particular how heat is transferred when there is a decrease in the number layers of carbon fibre between the connecting plates and finding out if there will be any areas of concentrated heat, ideally there will be no change and the panel will cure evenly, however, from testing this theory I have found that heat is transferred slower in thicker sections so I have started investigating solutions and my end aim for the placement is to solve this problem and move on to more complicated ply drop structures.

"After the project I hope to be a contributor to a research paper and become published in a journal.

"I am enjoying my placement, I think the thing I most enjoy is the fact that I am actually making progress on a subject that is currently not fully understood.

"I have been using a blow torch to melt solder and create connecting terminals and the other day I ended up setting fire to the wire, the carbon fibre panel and the tool I was using! Thankfully there was only a small amount of black smoke and I managed to put it out without setting off any fire alarms!"

Summer Placement: AMRC with Boeing

Robin Hartley has been based in the Process Monitoring and Control group at The University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing for his summer placement. Here's his story.

I am currently completing a ten week placement within the Process Monitoring and Control group at The University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing.

The AMRC started as a collaborative research initiative between the University of Sheffield and Boeing, but has now grown to host over 80 member companies including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and IBM.

These companies work together in a range of groups in order to develop the next wave of high value manufacturing technologies in readiness for the future of engineering industry. The groups cover machining, composites, medical and nuclear research, design and prototyping, structural testing and automation.

The opportunity for my placement at the AMRC arose from one of our SELA workshops during which a senior Rolls-Royce engineer shared with us his thoughts and perspectives on leadership within his job role at the AMRC. At the end of this workshop, I was keen to follow up the opportunity and was lucky enough to find myself being interviewed the very next morning for a 10 week summer placement within the Process Technology Group at the AMRC. The group focuses research on measurement, computation and autonomous control challenges faced in advanced manufacturing processes.

My project is to design and develop both the software and the hardware for a wireless sensor network which can provide a drop in solution for monitoring the temperature of multiple machine tools on the AMRC Factory of the Future workshop floor. The system I have designed uses the popular Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms alongside inexpensive ZigBee radios which together provide a compact and low cost solution for wireless data acquisition.

After researching and developing the design at the start of the project, two wireless units have recently been installed on CNC machine tools as a proof of concept system. Each unit has multiple temperature sensors which are now recording data from locations such as the main spindle motor housing, the machine bed, the coolant fluid tank and the ambient workshop temperature.

I hope that in the future, the system developed for this project is expanded to work with a range of Arduino-compatible sensors, in order to allow multiple process parameters to be wirelessly monitored and recorded. This data could then be used to help identify machining anomalies and to improve manufacturing processes to always work at optimum conditions.
As a Chemical Engineering student, I have found this placement very rewarding as it has enabled me to expand my knowledge of programming, wireless communication, electronics and process monitoring in a multidisciplinary engineering environment. This has been a great opportunity to apply my engineering skills in a new context, whilst taking on the responsibility for developing, delivering and presenting my project against a number of design criteria; on time and within budget.

AMRC Project Manager, Simon Hogg has been supervising Robin’s placement. He said: “Robin has been working alongside our own engineers and has managed to adapt his skill set to allow us to progress wireless sensor collection.

“We have adapted the scope of his project dynamically during his placement to fit it to the needs of multiple internal customers including manufacturing engineers and IT managers.”

Summer Placement: Alan Wood & Partners

Calum has been working as a structural engineering consultant at Alan Wood & Partners. Here he tells us about his time there.

I have done such a variety of things since starting. I have designed beams for house renovations, making them open planned. I have done the structural designs on an Orangery, designed the gate, gate post and foundations for a college, and have done the architectural drawings for a large office/warehouse for a big company. I have most recently finished helping do the structural designs for the renovation of the student’s union at the University of Hull. I am currently working on a large extension for a three story house. The best part has been what I have been doing at the moment. I have been given a fresh project, to do the structural designs on a large cottage that is going to be built, rather than be altered.

Once I have finished my placement, I aim to have a better understanding of the real world engineering problems and solutions, and be able to tackle problems with confidence and ease from the skills I have learnt throughout the summer.

I have been thrown in the deep end and have managed to keep my head above water! I have been given my own projects, been trusted to complete drawings to a standard which are to be used in the construction process, and have been given responsibility to contact and consult with both clients and contractors when working on their project. I am working as if I was employed here at the company, rather than a student that has been hired for a summer placement.

The amount of tea that everyone goes through here is incredible. I think I know where the majority of tea in the UK is consumed. And there are only 6 of us here.

Summer Placement: Caterva

Sarunas Nejus has been working at Caterva GmbH  in Germany this summer as an Energy Storage Systems Hardware Engineer. He tells us what he's been up to.

"I am responsible for the hardware of solar energy storage systems, which, apart from the conventional features they have (energy for household users etc.), being connected to a swam, provide/sink charge to/from the grid in Europe when it is needed (for instance, sudden shut off of a power plant). That is called frequency stabilisation and our systems do it in quite a novel way, thus it’s very exciting to work here. One of the things that attracted me here was that the company is a start-up (you know how things are going in start-ups, don’t you?).

"I’m working on a whole lot of various tasks, which do not only include my subject – that makes things even more interesting. The company’s culture is great – as that is a start-up, every door is open and everyone’s ready to help. I’ve actually been enjoying the first month here very much – troubleshooting different hardware problems, designing improvement circuitries for the device and even visiting our customers all across Bavaria for maintenance cases. Although I’ve been here for a very small amount of time, I was swept to the team’s culture so quickly that I feel like I’m senior here already. The communication between the team members is outstanding, including daily huddle sessions and I also have my role defined clearly, I know where the company is moving, its visions and what sort of impact I can make.

"I must mention that the company’s CTO, who is our main manager, is actually the best leadership example I have ever seen in reality. This guy leads by example, even though he always has a great workload to do himself, he is always ready to help anyone with any struggle. All of the company aims are made clear, everyone’s updated about everything that everyone’s been at during daily huddles (what I’ve been at, what I plan to do and what I’m struggling with), and now, experiencing it myself, I can say that this sort of communication is effective and motivating as never. One can notice that assertive communication between each other, a right mixture of work effectiveness and people satisfaction brings unbelievable results considering that the team is so small.

"By the end of the placement (13 months overall) I want to expand my knowledge not just in renewable energy systems hardware but also in its business side, to be aware of what Europe needs and what problems are occurring. The first month looked very promising and I have no doubts that subsequent time here in Caterva will be no less exciting than it’s now."

Summer Placement: ARM

Eddie is studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering. His summer placement was with ARM working within the Systems and Software Group.

Studying Electronic Engineering, I’d heard a lot about ARM, a semiconductor and software design company, designing the IP which goes into 95% of smartphones, 80% of digital cameras, and 35% of all electronic devices. Recently described in an article as an “invisible brand”, given that most consumers of these products may not have ever heard of the company, my summer internship was always going to be a bit of a voyage of discovery!

At the time of writing, I’ve only got a few weeks left of the summer placement and have been very fortunate to have been given access to some amazing resources and guidance from industry leading engineers. The experience I have gained from the various projects I’ve been working on in my role within the Systems and Software Group has been invaluable, giving me the opportunity to learn various new programming languages and top of the range industrial software with a market leader in their industry.

My role has consisted of improving and automating various sections of the verification process, saving my colleagues time and effort on jobs which would usually have been done manually. The task of automating these processes has given me an understanding of the processes themselves, how they could be improved, and the various steps involved in improving them, giving me excellent opportunities to use my own problem solving skills. Being shown the improved accuracy of results of a regression analysis the week after making changes to a script provided me with great evidence that I was helping to make a positive difference within my team, after what felt like a fairly overwhelming start to the summer.

I recently received some valuable advice about automating; always try and replace yourself with a script, there’s always more important things you can spend your time working on! This advice holds true to how I have perceived ARM’s philosophies; there is a strong emphasis on improvement and personal development. There have been a variety of ‘Lunch and Learns’ in which guest speakers talk about their field and the future of technology; the ‘Lunch’ occasionally leaves a little to be desired, but the ‘Learns’ tend to be inspiring enough to make up for that. As interns we were also given the opportunity to work in small teams on the ‘ARM Inten Innovation Challenge’, similar to the Global Engineering Challenge, we were tasked with coming up with a wearable device to improve life in a refugee camp, which was a great opportunity to use skills I’d developed with SELA.

All in all, industry has also taught me many lessons that university life has not necessarily been able to: communication on a variety of different levels is integral to the success of a project; solutions to problems may not always be simple or even possible, as such trial and error and making mistakes are good steps along the way to producing a high quality and sophisticated solution; personal development and opportunities for education do not have to stop after university; and finally, 10PM is a perfectly reasonable bedtime when working a full time job!

Summer Placement: Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield

Jordan Rickard has been working with the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University  on a research project about new processing techniques to improve the performance of high efficiency NiFe batteries. He tells us what he's been up to:

So far I have been using a new processing technique to manufacture iron electrodes for use in Nickle-Iron batteries. I start the day by preparing the chemicals needed to coat the iron electrode, then using a press that operates at 120°c and 10 tonnes of pressure I fix the mixture to some nickel plates. These can then be placed in a solution with another electrode and connected to a machine that charges and discharges the newly created battery. I repeat this process for different formulations of chemicals and the data is recorded. The best part of the placement is the freedom I have to try my own ideas. For example, after reading some research papers and learning how to process electrodes under the new manufacturing technique, I was given the responsibility to design, manufacture and test my own electrodes! It has also been very exciting to see the results of the tests as these are completely novel electrode compositions. If all goes well, the results obtained will be reproducible and form the basis of a publishable research paper.

Summer Placement: Farnworth Tunnel

James Featherstone is studying Civil & Stuctural Engineering and is doing his summer placement at Network Rail, working on the Farnworth Tunnel project.

I am based full-time on site at Farnworth Tunnel, a tunnel widening project as part of the wider Northern Hub electrification works which Network Rail have undertaken. The project is truly one of a kind and brings with it challenges which are new to experienced engineers and myself alike.

The site originally had two listed Victorian tunnels, built in the 1830s and 1880s. In order to be electrified, one tunnel needed to be enlarged. The two tunnels had tracks running in each direction (known as ‘up’ and ‘down’ in the railway industry). Running over the top of the tunnels is a busy motorway (the A666) and the railway service was required to be kept running while works were done.

Literally millimetres of deflection in the soil, structures or temporary works could result in closure of the railway and motorway, and worst case scenario could mean a catastrophic failure. Huge levels of risk management, mitigation methods and planning have gone into the project. This includes using steel reinforced spray concrete to strengthen the smaller tunnel while the larger tunnel is bored, grouting the soil to fill any voids, and filling the larger tunnel with 7000m3 of foam concrete to then be dug out and provide structural integrity ahead of the bore.

The most exciting part of the project personally has been seeing the 9m diameter, bespoke tunnelling machine designed and built locally specifically for the project. It is the largest tunnelling machine ever built in the UK and uses very simple civil engineering principles on a massive scale.

When I finish my placement, the 270m long bore should be nearing completion, resulting in one of the two tunnels being able to take two electrified lines side by side and the other original tunnel keeping its smaller profile to be used for maintenance and access.

My summer placement has been extremely rewarding so far – I’m working with engineers, construction managers, project managers, contractors, sub contractors, manufacturers and specialists all on one project in one team. I’ve further expanded my knowledge of how civil engineering projects actually work beyond the classroom/labs and have learnt how applicable my studies are.

From space to semiconductors, nerve guides to Network Rail

The 2014 SELA cohort are preparing for their first summer placements – a key element in the SELA programme – which are due to start next month.

 

Several students have secured 8-10 week placements with major engineering firms. These include:

• ARM, a leading designer and supplier of semiconductor technology
• Alan Wood & Partners, civil and structural engineering consultants
• Cambridge Consultants,  product development engineering and technology consultants
• Network Rail
• Caterva, which designs solar energy storage systems

 

Some of the cohort have decided to carry out their first placement in research. The projects they will be working on with the University’s Faculty of Engineering include:

• Additive manufacturing (3D printing) of metallic materials for aerospace
• Space engineering in the low earth orbit
• Nuclear waste disposal
• Implants to enable nerve repair
• Self-healing composite materials
• Battery technology, including 3D printing batteries