Design Challenge Competition
 IMechE Design Challenge
Competition
 Presentation
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By Dr David Ball
Dec 2014
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IMechE Design Challenge
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1) Introduction
2) North West Universities Involved
3) Greater London Universities Involved
4) New Regions to Join the Challenge
5) The Seven Design Challenges
6) Adopted Projects
7) 2015 Project
8) Dissemination of the Design Challenge Across the
Regions
9) Basic Requirements For a Region To Participate in The
Challenge
10) Benefits to the Universities
11) Benefits to the Students
12) Some Comments from NW Universities
13) Comments from Student questionnaires
14) Summary
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Introduction
 The reasons for Introducing the Design Challenge
Competition was to expose 1st year Undergraduate
Engineers to the real world of Engineering
 The DC Competition consists of four main elements
derived from a precise Specification and there are Teams
of up to five 1st Year Engineering Undergraduate Students
1) Design, Make, Test, Compete
2) Presentation Competition
3) Poster Competition
4) Peer Review Competition
Also the Universities require a written report about their
design and the Engineering science that underpins it
 Most importantly of all the teams have to Project Manage
their Design Solution from start to finish, which exposes
them to the real world of Engineering particularly when
they are competing with teams from other Universities
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NW Universities Involved
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University of Manchester
Manchester Metropolitan University
University of Salford
University of Bolton
Lancaster University
Liverpool University
John Moores University Liverpool
University of Central Lancashire
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GLR Universities Involved
-London South Bank University
-Kingston University
-Brunel University
-Queen Mary University of London
-University of Greenwich
-Middlesex University
-City University
-University College (UCL)
-East London University
-Imperial College (they are interested but they are
not on board)
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New Regions to Join the Challenge
North Eastern Region – All five Universities have
agreed to participate in the 2015 competition
Wessex Region – Three Universities have agreed
to participate in the 2015 competition?
East Midlands Region – some universities have
agreed to participate in the 2016 competition?
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 The Seven Design Challenge Competitions
Held in the North West region.
 2008 – Tension spring operated car.
 2009 – Impact device
 2010 – Device to climb up the outside of a
vertical tube
 2011 – Water pump to deliver water from a
tank into a vertical transparent tube
 2012 – Vehicle to move from a datum point up
to a wall revers and stop as near to the datum
point as possible
 2013 – Tug of War on water
 2014 – device to climb up the inside of a
vertical tube (This challenge was also held in
the GLR)
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 No 1 - Tension spring operated car
2008 (MMU)
 This was the pilot project
 The winner was the car that could
travel the furthest distance
between two parallel lines
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No2 Impact Device Bolton 2009
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 No3 - Device to climb up the outside
of a vertical pipe 2010 (Salford)
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NO4 – Water Transfer 2011 (MMU)
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Competition rig at the 2011 competition
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No5 – Reversing Vehicle 2012
Manchester
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Scrutinising Manchester 2012
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DC Comptn Manchester 2012
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DC Competition Lancaster 2013
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Liverpool JM
 No7 - Device to climb up the inside
of 100mm diam transparent tube
2014
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National Final
 A National Final was held at the
Institution HQ on 3rd October 2014
 The winners and the runner ups
from the NWR & the GLR competed
for a prestigious trophy
 The National winner was “Lancaster
University”
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Adopted Projects
 The following projects have been adopted
 1) Device to climb up the outside of a vertical tube
(2015 project)
 2) Water pumping device
 3) Reversing vehicle
 4) Device to climb up the inside of a vertical tube
 5) Rope Launcher device New Development for
(2016 project)
 The above projects are to be adopted and used for
the design challenge consecutively over a five year
period
 Each University in a Region will host the competition
consecutively so that the costs are shared equally.
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2015 Project
 The project to climb up the outside
of a vertical tube has been adopted
for the 2015 project
 This project was used in the Design
Challenge held in 2010 at the
University of Salford
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Dissemination of the Design Challenge Across the
Regions
It is the Institutions intention to introduce the
Challenge in each region if Practicable
It may be appropriate to combine some Regions
bacause of the number of Universities
But it can only be introduced if the Regional
Committee agree
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To Join the Design Challenge a
Region will need
Template for introduction
Detailed Specification for the current
project
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Basic Requirements For a Region To Participate in
The Challenge
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Regional Committee to agree
At least three Universities to agreed to participate
A host University is to be agreed
The Basic equipment for the challenge is to be acquired
at each University
5) A Regional Trophy is to be acquired
6) The prize money is to be allocated from HQ
7) Periodic meetings are to be arranged to monitor the
progress
8) An opening Speaker and a Keynote Speaker are to be
arranged for the competition
9) A Regional Final date is to be agreed
10) The winning team is to compete in the National Final at
HQ
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Benefits to University
 1) It can beneficially be embedded into the curriculum of
1st year students.
 2) There is a more formal specification document to work
from.
 3) There are various assessment methods available from
device performance through to poster and presentation
not just final project reports.
 4) The project has a definite deadline – no extensions no
excuses.
 5) Competition nature encourages the best engineering
talent.
 6) Different project each year providing variety.
 7) University staff work with their peers from other
universities.
 8) In turn each university can host the competition.
 9) It brings the universities closer to the institution who
are the accrediting body.
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From the Students Perspective
 1) Teams have to use common sense and manage
the project from start to finish
 2) It introduces team working and
responsibilities.
 3) Investigation and learning on new topic areas.
 4) Buzz about competing against other
universities (significant factor).
 5) It demonstrates the need for an engineer to be
able to calculate the requirements to satisfy a
specification.
 6) There are numerous learning outcomes.
 7) It exposes students to the real world of
engineering – where they have to work to a
specification and compete externally.
 8) The prize money from the IMechE of £1200 is
worth competing for and is a big incentive
 9) Each member of the winning teams receive a
certificate from the IMechE
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Comments from NW Universities
 They benefit from the variability of the
design.
 Exposes students to problems where the
solution is limited to both cost & time
 The complexity of the projects are
pitched correctly for 1st year students
and encourages research into unknown
areas
 Encourages team building and early
awareness of Professional Institutions
 The Challenge achieves the original
intention of exposing undergraduates to
the real world of engineering.
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comments from questionnaires
 On a scale of 1 to 10 the majority of students rated the
challenge between 5 & 8 on topics such as DIFFICULTY,
LEARNING, and CLEARNESS of RULES
 Some general comments
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Learning about Engineering
Ability to create something interesting
To see how others approached the task
A true Engineering problem
The experience of a real Engineering challenge
Working to a budget
Hands on working
Competitive element
Meeting peers from other Universities
Good fun whilst learning
Good experience
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Summary.
 1) The whole exercise covers a large number of learning
outcomes
 2) It demonstrates what will be expected of the students
when they graduate as an “Engineer”.
 3) The competition is popular and ending with an internal
competition.
 4) The promise of an inter university final for the winning
two teams at the internal competition and a National
Final increases the enthusiasm.
 5) It brings the Institution and the Universities closer
together.
 6) Its good fun.
 7) The final competition is enjoyable and exciting.
 8) The winning university is proud to display the trophy
and the certificate.
 9) The prize money is worth competing for
 10) The National Final is a very prestigious event
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David Ball
November 2014
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