DepartmentOfMechanicalEngineering.

MechMag.

Senate Award

NationalRecognitionfor SheffieldEntrepreneurs

Issue 3.

Pedal Car Societyin British Championship

Welcome to the third issue of MechMag.The stories featured in this magazineexemplify the high standard of innovativeteaching we provide our students andthe culture of entrepreneurship wefoster. From helping children with brittlebone disease to achieving childhoodambitions in Formula One, here’s whatour students, graduates and staff havebeen getting up to…

This is your magazine. If you have a storyabout a recent achievement, you want tosing the praises of one our students ormembers of staff or even just get intouch with us, then please do contactme at Amy.Jones@sheffield.ac.uk or0114 222 7804.

2 3

2 Welcome

4 Sheffield entrepreneur wins nationalrecognition

6 University signs agreement to findalternative aviation fuel

8 Dr Stephen Beck wins Senate Award

8 Students awarded Boeingscholarships

9 Enterprising educator receivesnational commendation

10 Professor takes role in regionalcentre to tackle climate change

12 Female Students attend Doris GrayConference

13 Pedal Car Society

14 The Mechanical Engin eering Societyis back with the 09/10 committee.

welcome

Birthplace?Middlesex (UK)

What are you studying in the Department?Mechanical Engineering and Industrial ManagementMSc

What did you want to be when you were a child?A Crane Driver (I still want to give it a go!)

What’s your proudest moment?Tying my shoelaces on my own for the first time

Who was your favourite teacher at school?Mr Reading – Physics Teacher

Do you have any hidden talents?I’m a ski instructor over at the ski village

Marmite; love it or hate it?HATE HATE HATE it

ANDY REID

STUDENT PROFILE

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monitors the severity of the terrain and thenoptimises the bike’s performance automatically. On smooth terrain, a platform is automaticallyswitched on to reduce rider induced suspensionmovement and to maximise pedalling efficiency. On rough terrain the platform is automaticallyremoved for enhanced shock absorption capability.

Dr Batterbee and his supervisor Dr Neil Sims havebeen awarded a Yorkshire Concept Fund to developa market-ready prototype of the device, as well as aproof of concept fund from Sheffield UniversityEnterprises Limited (SUEL). Last year Davidparticipated in the National Council for GraduateEntrepreneurship’s FlyingStart Programme forEngineers, which supports graduates developingnew business ideas. The project has also benefitedfrom the Connect Yorkshire Springboardprogramme which provides free help to technologycompanies in all stages of development.

Dr Batterbee said: "It is a great honour to havereceived this award and to have been recognised asone of Britain’s up and coming entrepreneurs. Theaward will directly contribute towards the businessstart up costs required to drive the first product tomarket – a magnetorheological mountain bike rearshock absorber. I feel privileged to have receivedsuch substantial funds and the mentoring that hasbeen made available from leading business expertswill be invaluable during the start up period."

Graeme Hitchen, from Sheffield UniversityEnterprises Limited (SUEL), said: "The high qualityof David’s research and his obvious desire to see itin the market meant we gave it our fullest supportand we are very pleased to see the potential ofDavid’s work recognised by the Royal Academy ofEngineering."

Lloyd Snellgrove, Director of the Yorkshire Proof of Commercial Concept Fund, said: "On behalf ofYorkshire Forward the regional developmentagency, the Fund is proud to have co-invested in aproject which demonstrates such greatcommercial potential and is driven by David’sentrepreneurial capability and enthusiasm."

Simon Butt, from the National Council for GraduateEntrepreneurship, said: “David is an excellentexample of a gifted researcher and entrepreneurintent on combining engineering expertise with hispassion for mountain biking to generate a trulyinnovative technical solution. This improvesperformance and contributes something new tothe marketplace – exactly what FlyingStartencourages graduates to do.”

Sheffield entrepreneur winsnational recognition

A research associate from the Department ofMechanical Engineeringhas been nationallyrecognised as one ofBritain’s most promisingyoung entrepreneurs,after developing a productwhich has the potential to completely revamp theuse of shock absorbers on mountain bikes.

Dr David Batterbee, has received the Royal Academyof Engineering’s ERA Foundation EntrepreneursAward, for an innovative device which can uniquelydetect differences in the terrain a mountain bike is travelling on.

Dr Batterbee was awarded the £40,000 prize at theRoyal Academy of Engineering Awards Ceremony inJune this year.

The Award has been established to identifyentrepreneurial researchers working in UKuniversities in the field of electro-technology who

are at an early stage in their career and whodemonstrate both considerable entrepreneurialpromise and the potential to benefit the UK's futureprosperity.

Most mountain bikes have a shock absorber systemin place to absorb the impact of bumps and keepthe rider in control. However, these devices oftencompromise performance and the rider has tomanually adapt the shock absorber to suit differentterrains, by turning a switch. Dr Batterbee hasdeveloped a rear shock absorber that electronically

The University of Sheffield has signed anagreement with a number of partners toconduct research into the performance of fuel which will be used to power commercialaircraft.

Professor Chris Wilson, Director of the University’sLow Carbon Combustion Centre, and Professor inthe Department of Mechanical Engineering, DrEulian Roberts, Managing Director of QSTP, DrMark H. Weichold, Dean and Chief Executive Officerof Texas A&M in Qatar, and Mr Andy Brown, Shell’sExecutive Vice President in Qatar signed theagreement to perform further in-depth assessmentof the physical properties of GTL Jet Fuel for use incommercial planes.

Physical properties are critical to the performanceof a fuel. The research will further investigate thephysical properties of different blends of GTLKerosene and oil-derived kerosene to maximiseoverall fuel performance.

The research agreement is part of scientific workbeing undertaken by a consortium of Airbus, QatarAirways, Qatar Petroleum, QSTP, Rolls-Royce, Shelland WOQOD to quantify the benefits of using GTLJet Fuel.

The agreement enables the consortium to accessan even deeper pool of expertise, including inQatar. The consortium is following a research

network approach that links junior Qatari scientistswith senior researchers in Qatar abroad.

A Qatar Airways Airbus A340-600 yesterdaycompleted the first commercial passenger flightpowered by GTL Jet Fuel, flying from LondonGatwick to Doha. Data from this flight will be usedby scientists in Qatar as part of the consortium’sresearch work. GTL Jet Fuel, with GTL kerosene upto 50 per cent, was fully and unconditionallyapproved as safe for use in civil aviation by ASTMInternational (originally known as the AmericanSociety for Testing and Materials) last month.

Professor Wilson from the Department ofMechanical Engineering said: "This project offers aunique opportunity for Qatari researchers toenhance collaborations with their peers around theworld. Alternative fuel for aviation is a globalcommodity and collaborations such as theseguarantee that we develop and use consistentmethodologies when assessing new fuels. Thishelps to ensure that any new fuel is fit for purpose."

Mr Brown, of Shell, said: "I am confident that thisnetwork approach to research, linking institutionsin Qatar and beyond, will both deliver the researchprogress we need and help young Qatari scientistsdevelop their expertise. The work is importantsince it will help Qatar maximise the value it derivesfrom GTL, by accessing the aviation fuel marketeffectively."

University signs agreement to findalternative aviation fuel

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STUDENT PROFILE

MOHAMED THARIQ

Birthplace?Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

What are you studying in the Department?PhD in Mechanical Engineering

What did you want to be when you were a child?Medical Doctor

What’s your proudest moment?Making my parents cheerful

Who was your favourite teacher at school?Maths teacher

Do you have any hidden talents?Singing

Marmite; love it or hate it?Hard to say

Birthplace?Boston (the original one), Lincolnshire, England

What are you studying in the Department?Sports Engineering

What did you want to be when you were a child? A vet but I decided I don’t like blood.

What’s your proudest moment? Being asked to give a presentation about a projectthat I took part in with a team of fellow students toSri Lanka, at my school’s prize giving night.

Who was your favourite teacher at school?My physics teacher, Mr Boycott – he even had aponytail!

Do you have any hidden talents? No.

Marmite; love it or hate it? HATE IT!

LAURA PEACH

STUDENT PROFILE

Students awarded Boeing scholarships

Dr Stephen Beck winsSenate Award forSustained Excellence inTeaching and Learning

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awards & prizesSheffield is an excellent example of how by workingtogether we can achieve success."

The scholarships are part of a wider initiativelaunched by Boeing for students at the University ofSheffield which includes support for a number ofprojects through the provision of funding forequipment and consumables to design and build mini-unmanned aerial vehicles.

Mike Kurth, Managing Director at Boeing Defence UK,said: "Our relationship with the University of Sheffieldthrough the AMRC shows the benefits that Universityresearch, development and technology can have onindustry. We look at these students as the future ofBoeing here in the UK and wish them all the best withtheir studies."

Timothy Gibbons, one of the scholars on the scheme,said: "I see my scholarship as a boost to my chances ofachieving a good career as an engineer. It will make mytime at Sheffield easier by helping cover the costs ofliving, whilst giving the opportunity to buy material thatwill help me achieve a high level degree. It will also beuseful when applying for a job as it is great for my CV."

The three recipients from the Department were Mr Timothy Gibbons, Mr Jasper Roseland and Miss Samatha Savage.

Three Mechanical Engineering students have beenawarded scholarships from Boeing as part of theaerospace company’s efforts to encourageprogression in the field of engineering.

Ten students from the University of Sheffield joinedthe Boeing Scholarship and Support Scheme whichprovides students with £3,000 to support them throughtheir studies. Aimed at students with an interest inaerospace, the programme is intended to promoteacademic excellence and wider access to engineering.

The students were recently presented with theirscholarships at the University’s Boeing Day with theAdvanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) on15 October 2009. Professor Mike Hounslow, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Engineering at theUniversity, and Bart Moenster, Director ofManufacturing Technology for Boeing Research andTechnology and Chairman of the AMRC Board ofDirectors, presented the students with their awards.

Bart Moenster said: "Boeing works closely withselected colleges and universities worldwide toenhance curricula, support continuing education,recruit outstanding candidates for employment, andcollaborate on research that benefits the long-termneeds of our customers’ business. The University of

An enterprising senior lecturer from theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, hasreceived national acclaim at the first everenterprise educators awards.

Elena Rodriguez-Falcon has become one of the firstpeople to get the ‘educator highly commended’ awardfrom the National Council for GraduateEntrepreneurship (NCGE) and Enterprise EducatorsUK (EEUK) at last week’s annual award ceremony,which recognised excellence within enterpriseeducation.

Elena’s prestigious commendation recognises her as atrail-blazer for entrepreneurial education. She hasworked with students on a number of enterprisingprojects and focuses on working directly withdisadvantaged individuals with specific needs that canbe improved by engineering and enterprise solutions.In particular, Elena and students from the Departmenthave worked with staff and patients at SheffieldChildren’s Hospital to develop a special walking framefor children with brittle bones. In addition, Elena andher students have collaborated with St Luke’s Hospiceto design a BlinkLink device that could help patientsalert their carers by blinking in different rhythms tosignify if they need help, as well as a writing aid deviceto help people with rheumatic conditions.

Since joining the University in 2001, Elena has alsoachieved two University Senate Awards for learningand teaching, the Higher Education Academy TeachingAward in 2004 and two learning and teaching awards

from the Royal Academy of Engineering, including ahighly prestigious award from ExxonMobil. Mostrecently, Elena became the first person at theUniversity of Sheffield to gain Senior Fellow status atthe Higher Education Academy and has also just beenmade an ambassador for the Royal Academy ofEngineering.

Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, senior lecturer in theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, said: "Beingrecognised as a 'highly commended enterpriseeducator' is very rewarding to me as enterprise hasbeen the major focus of my career in highereducation and I am very grateful to the NCGE andEEUK for their support."

Professor Paul White, Pro-Vice-Chancellor forLearning and Teaching at the University, said: "Sheenthuses students to think how their ideas could beturned into viable business projects, and inspireseveryone around her with her commitment, goodhumour and drive."

Alison Price, Director of Educator Development forthe National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship,said: "Elena is a well deserving winner and thisimportant national award is further testament to the ground breaking achievements that Elena isdriving in her work at the University of Sheffield. She is a true champion, working to developentrepreneurial mindsets in engineers, as well assupporting institutional and regional enterpriseactivity."

Enterprising educator receives national commendation

Dr Stephen Beck has won a prestigious prize forsustained excellence in teaching and learning. TheUniversity’s Senate Awards scheme aims to rewardindividuals for excellence in teaching and supportingand enhancing the students’ learning experience. Italso aims to encourage and promote good practiceand raise the status of teaching and learning as ascholarly activity.

Stephen completed his PhD in the Department ofMechanical Engineering in 1992 and became a SeniorLecturer in 2002. He is also the Director of Learningand Teaching for the Faculty of Engineering.

This award continues the Department of MechanicalEngineering’s record of having won at least one ofthese awards every year since their inception in2004 – unique in the University.

Birthplace?Thurso, falling off the top bit of Scotland

What is your position in the Department? Senior Lecturer and MSc Course Director

How many years have you worked in theDepartment? I moved to Sheffield from Manchester in 1995 forthe last year of my PhD then managed to escape togo round the world for a year. I was subsequentlytracked down and have been kept on a shorterleash in the Department since 1997 – blimey, that's13 years ago!

What did you want to be when you were a child? When I was in primary school, I aspired to be alollipop man – I think that was largely due to onenot having to start work until one's 60s – prettyrubbish pension though, I suspect.

What’s your proudest moment? It has to be the birth of my kids – little did I realisethat when my son, Noah, was born, the world justwasn't ever going to be the same.

Who was your favourite teacher at school? Mr Brooke, the PE teacher. I can still remember him(when he was about 60) lining up six of the hardestlads in our class and giving them two strokes of thebelt each for having taken a short cut through agarden at cross country. He reduced them all totears. Obviously, this all took place when physicalviolence was thought to help build character.

Do you have any hidden talents? They must be pretty well hidden because I haven'tfound them yet – oh, hang on, I make a pretty meanhomemade toffee ice-cream, if I say so myself.

Marmite; love it or hate it? I'm much more partial to the other by-product ofthe brewing process.

GRAEME MANSON

STAFF PROFILE

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Professor takes role in regional centreto tackle climate change

Professor Chris Wilson, from the University ofSheffield’s Department for Mechanical Engineering, andProfessor Lenny Koh, from the School of Management,are two of the principal investigators for the project.

Yorkshire Forward are providing £17m towards theCentre, with the remaining money being sourced byexternal means.

Interim Director of the centre, Tony Hardy, said: “Thecentre will provide the knowledge base to generateworkable solutions for businesses and communities,promoting the uptake of innovations and creatingchange in the real world. Its work will protect thosemost vulnerable to the changes that climate changewill bring to us all.”

Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Forward,said: “The Centre for Low Carbon Futures will putour region at the forefront of low carbontechnologies. It will allow Yorkshire and Humber’sbusinesses to address low carbon challenges andaccess cutting edge solutions which will help themexploit the opportunities arising from climatechange. In turn this will help build a competitive,sustainable and carbon efficient regional economy.”

The University of Sheffield has joined togetherwith other Yorkshire universities and regionaldevelopment agency Yorkshire Forward to forman innovative research centre which will addressthe global challenge of climate change.

The Centre for Low Carbon Future is a new £50 million venture focusing on low carbontechnologies and the impact of climate change, andis led by the universities of Sheffield, Hull, Leedsand York.

The aim of the centre is to build a competitive,sustainable and carbon efficient regional economy, inaddition to providing solutions to climate change ona national and international scale. Through anapproach which will bring together expertise fromsciences, engineering and social sciences, it is hopedthe centre will identify ways in which organisationsand communities can adapt to the challenges ofclimate change.

The centre’s initial research projects include workingtowards a low carbon economy, the development ofbiofuel plants and the capture of carbon fromexhaust emissions.

STUDENT PROFILE

SHEHANSOMARATNA

Birthplace?Colombo, Sri Lanka

What are you studying in the Department?Mechanical Engineering, B.Eng

What did you want to be when you were a child?A concert pianist

What’s your proudest moment? There are a few, but definitely 2 things that come tomind are:• Participating at the World Under 21 Snooker

Championship in 2005.• Receiving an Exhibition Award in 2003 for my

Overall accomplishment in Music – Piano

Who was your favourite teacher at school? I had many!

Do you have any hidden talents? I guess I can sing a bit :)

Marmite; love it or hate it? LOVE IT!

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Female Students attend Doris Gray Conferencemaking the idea into a successful product, to settingup her business ‘Ewgeco’ and gaining 10 awards forher invention. Tanya is a true inspiration and showedus that we as women are capable of being as creative and innovative as men.

Alongside the presentations and training sessionswas an opportunity to explore Edinburgh bycompleting a treasure hunt. Our team of three wasjoined by two Oxford University students and weraced around the city to find clues and take pictures,in a Monopoly style contest; our hard efforts paid offand we came 2nd out of the 8 teams that took part.During the conference we also had a chance to talkwith employees from engineering companies acrossthe UK, such as SELEX Galileo and Google.

The conference provided us with the opportunity tolearn valuable skills about networking and theimportance of doing it well, which otherwise wouldhave taken us years to perfect. In addition, we wereable to meet many other female students inEngineering and share ideas and opinions. Ipersonally have never been in a room filled with somany female engineers; surprisingly enough theywere all pretty normal!

To find out more about the Women’s EngineeringSociety, take a look at their website: www.wes.org.uk

To find out more about Tania Ewing and her companyEwgeco, go to www.ewgeco.com

Rosalyn Cheetham, Laura Peach and Rachel Sanderson

The weekend of the 14th November saw threeyoung female Mechanical Engineering studentstravelling up to Edinburgh to attend the Doris GrayStudent Conference courtesy of the MechanicalEngineering Department. The conference gavewomen students the opportunity to find out aboutwhat it is like to work within a male dominatedsubject, connect with others and develop skillsuseful for their future careers.

The conference was organised by the Women’sEngineering Society (WES), who are currentlyundertaking many campaigns; one of which is the‘Purple Boot Campaign’. This highlights the issue thatthe majority of safety clothing in the workplace doesnot suit the requirements of many women; often theonly safety equipment that is available is far too bigand may cause additional hazards. This is relevant toour female students as they will soon be enteringindustry and do not want their achievement to berestricted by the safety clothing that is offered.

Here’s what the ladies had to say about theirweekend:

Over the course of the weekend we were fortunateenough to listen to Tanya Ewing’s inspirational lifestory; she was invited to speak at the conferencebecause she is a truly positive role model for womenin Engineering. While suffering from illness andstarting a family, Tanya had an idea and themotivation to develop a new energy monitor forhome, work or industry. She explained the variousproblems she encountered along the journey: from

The Pedal Car Society was established in April 2009,by a group of second year mechanical engineers,eager to apply a developing engineering knowledgebase to both a complex and challenging task. Withsupport from the University, the Wilson MemorialFund and the Alumni Fund – the team designed andbuilt the four wheeled recumbent racer to competein the British Pedal Car Championship 2009.

The Championship consists of a series of racesrunning from March till September each year, varyingin length from frantic 1 hour sprints to 24 hour testsof endurance. Races require between four and sixdrivers, whilst a vital race support team man the pitsready for any eventuality. In 2010, the team will alsobe competing in the Annual European Pedal CarChampionship (France).

With the society now into its second year, itcontinues to grow from strength to strength – a plethora of new members and a new sponsor(ATKINS), make for a prosperous championshipbattle in 2010 and beyond.

For further information and/or to get involved,please contact us:

Email: pedsoc@shef.ac.uk

Website: www.pedsoc.moonfruit.com

The MechanicalEngineering Societyis back with the09/10 committee.

14 15

This year, we’ve kept up the traditionof having weekly football kickabouts,as well as seeing some amazingsocials by our awesome social secs!

We’ve had some combined events with theother engineering societies, so as to give ourfellow Mech Eng students opportunities tomeet more people too. We’ve also got someindustrial visits planned for the future, so dokeep in touch.

SportsWe now have four intramural 6-a-side footballteams, with the first team at the top of theirleague and the others performing well too. Our11-a-side team is second in their league andclosing in on first place! If you enjoy playingfootball but don't have the time to play everyweek, we have weekly kickabout sessions atthe Goodwin pitches. An email is sent out everyweek with information about the kickabouts.

Also, look out for the Engineering FootballTournament in term 2, an event all theengineering teams look forward to every year.Teams from Mechanical, Aerospace, Civil,Automatic Control and Systems and ElectricalEngineering battle it out to be the best in theEngineering Faculty.SocialsWe’re trying to organise more socials on aregular basis. Our social officers’ plans includepub golf, themed bar crawls which are a greatopportunity to meet more people on the

course. We’re always on the lookout for thebest deals for you, and we pass the offers onas soon as we get them!

May BallAs always, the highlight of the year is the MayBall, with great live entertainment andstudents from Mechanical, Civil andAerospace Engineering and HumanCommunication Sciences. It’s an event not tobe missed as we’re always aiming for biggerand better every year.

We are now on Facebook, so make sure youjoin the Mechanical Engineering Societyfacebook group. Don’t forget to check ourwebsite for updates too.

There's always something suitable foreveryone, but we're open to new suggestionsand more people who want to get involved, so get in touch.

The Committee:President: Robyn Lee Vice President: Ashley Bryant Treasurer/Inclusion Officer: Gareth Llewellyn Secretary: Nikki Hilton Industrial Officer: Ashley Bryant International Officer: Robyn Lee Social Officers: Nikki Hilton,

Charis Lestrange, Jorge Bronze

Sports Officers: Paul Emmett, Pete Halls, Steve Flynn

If you want to get involved, have any ideas orsuggestions, email us at mechsoc@shef.ac.uk

Contact us

Department of Mechanical EngineeringThe University of SheffieldSheffieldS1 3JDEngland

About MechMagAmy Jones, Marketing Co-ordinatorAmy.Jones@sheffield.ac.uk+44 (0) 114 222 7804

General Enquiriesme-enquiries@sheffield.ac.uk+44 (0) 114 222 7700