Category: News
Engineers from WMH have recently beaten two teams of marine engineers in a competition to design, build and race cargo carrying boats.
Mike McLeish and Connor Kennedy formed part of a team of mechanical engineers in their final months study in Mechanical Design and Manufacture at Plymouth City College. The teams were set the task of designing and building a boat which would have to compete over a set course in Plymouth Sound.
The teams had to build the glass fibre hull using the same moulds and were issued with some of the electronics to drive and control the boat. Each group had to build up the boat using the set of components and devise a load carrying and delivery system capable of dropping a granular load and taking on liquid ballast.
On the day of the race each team was timed around the course and marked on speed and success of load delivery and collection. Mike and Connors team completed the course in 1 minute 40 seconds, beating the two marine engineering teams, one of which failed to finish.
This was the first time the competition had been run and all those taking part were competing for marks towards their HNC’s. When asked about his experiences of the competition, Mike said “It was good to be able to put all the knowledge gained from the course into practical use in this type of project.”
It is envisaged that the competition will be run again next year with a few changes to the format. Mike and Connor are planning to return to defend their title even though they have both now completed their studies.