A team of five Year 12 Northwood students are celebrating after winning the national REME Craftsman Cup at the Ministry of Defence, Lyneham, on May 15.
Julian Baskar, Musaddiq Munshi, Tony Selvanathan, Reece Varsani and Hammad Rashid represented UTC Heathrow under the team name ‘XALPHA’ and took the coveted top prize against stiff competition from seven other schools, colleges and UTCs.
Since September, teams from across colleges up and down the country have been taking part in this inter-college REME challenge, working on projects faced by REME engineers on a daily basis.
The UTC Heathrow team worked together to design and develop a robotic ‘follower’ to solve an equipment transportation problem. The team had to manufacture a mechanical robot, design its electronics and then develop a software-based micro-controller. Not only did this test their project management skills, but also their product build and integration abilities.
Participator Reece said: “I felt as a team, we worked very well and we took on each other’s ideas and created a robot that reflected every single team members’ personality and creativity.”
Musaddiq said: “The UTC has been so supportive and it provides excellent facilities and helpful staff.”
Hammad added: “I felt overjoyed and happy because we overcame a tough challenge as a team.”
Julian said: “As team leader, I feel really proud of all my team members in terms of the support provided to each other during the project. I would also like to thank all the staff who supported us through this project.”
Tony said: “Despite many problems, we managed to find alternative solutions and in the end we executed a mind-blowing fully functional robot which met all of the design specification. Terrific!”
UTC Heathrow’s team received high praise following their presentation to judges, with REME commenting that their solution was “of the highest calibre in terms of industry standards and is a lesson for everyone to learn how these products can be engineered”.
UTC Heathrow’s Engineering Lead, Subhash Rawal, said: “This event showcased all of the engineering skills that we specialise in here at UTC Heathrow. We are all incredibly proud of what these students have achieved. It embodies everything we stand for and our whole ethos.”
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