Kent student wins national engineering competition

By Emma Leach

Photo by: Emma Leach

A recent Kent graduate has won a nationwide engineering competition, beating 39 contemporaries for the chance to compete at international level later this year.

Elijah Gould, who graduated with a degree in Computer Systems Engineering this July was one of 40 students entering nationally, including students from the University of Nottingham and the University of Birmingham, amongst others.

The competition was open to students studying towards an engineering degree within the UK and saw entries from Undergraduates, Masters, and PhD students. The scope of the competition was broad, accepting projects from: mechanical, aerospace, industrial, embedded systems, mechatronics, power generation, healthcare, and automobile disciplines.

The final 10 students shortlisted were invited to the Ingenium UK event in Derby, organised by QuEST Global, an international engineering firm with many locations internationally. The day involved presenting the project to a panel of judg- es from QuEST, Rolls Royce, Bombardier, and Leonardo, as well as participating in workshops throughout the day and talking to industry leaders about the projects on offer.

Elijah was announced as the winner of the competition at a black-tie dinner event, which included a talk from guest speaker Andrew Smyth, an aerospace engineer from Rolls Royce better known for his time on The Great British Bake Off in 2016 and his ‘bakingeering’.

Elijah’s project entitled ‘Smart Home’ beat other projects such as ‘Assessment of the Leap Motion Controller and MXR to promote the development of psychomotor skills’ and ‘Research and development of polymeric icephobic nanocomposites’ which placed second and third respectively.

The prize for his efforts includes a cash prize, and an all-expenses paid trip to Bangalore, India in order to take part in the international stage of the competition in October.

One QuEST Global employee stated: “Of course he was the winner, he looks just like Bradley Cooper... a star is born!”