Engineering Education Scheme - 29th April

The Year 12 Engineering Education Scheme team recently attended the Celebration and Assessment Day at Huddersfield University in order to present the outcome of our recent project. Over the last six months, we have been working with Beaumont College in Lancaster to produce an elevated mechanical easel controlled by electronics for use by students suffering from cerebral palsy.

Our team, consisted of E Cummings, N Derrick, L Gradwell,
A Lowe and J Tynan and we each completed individual sections of the project. The mechanics for the project were developed by
E Cummings; she researched into different mechanisms and worked on how the easel would move up and down. N Derrick worked on the electronics, concentrating on the inputs and how the students at the college would control the easel. The movement of the easel was controlled by a motor and L Gradwell worked on a motor driver circuit, which also processed the signal from the inputs and determined which angles the easel could move to.
J Tynan and A Lowe worked on the development and research of different materials for the project. A Lowe concentrated on the base and the casing, and J Tynan looked at the work surface and the paper attachment. Prior to the CAD day, we had to complete a written report detailing our research and findings as a result of the project. At the Celebration Day, we also had to give a 15 minute presentation to a specialist judging panel of professional

engineers and then answer 15 minutes of questions. We also had to prepare a display stand to explain the problem and demonstrate what we had achieved. The project provided us with a number of opportunities and allowed us to experience the world of professional engineers, whilst gaining a variety of essential skills, such as problem solving, time management and working collaboratively as a team.