18 Sep 2014
Loughborough trio in frame to win national engineering trophy competition
Three Loughborough University students are in the running to win a national engineering trophy competition.
The trio - two from the the Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and one from the Design School - are among nine finalists for the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize trophy competition.
Georgia Boulter, Sarah Parsons and Gemma Pollock were shortlisted from hundreds of entries by 17 to 24 year olds across the UK who were challenged to design an iconic trophy that represents the wonder of modern engineering.
The winner of the ‘Create the Trophy’ competition will be announced on September 29 and will receive £2,000.
The winning design will be used to create the trophy for the winner of the £1m Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2015, which celebrates engineers responsible for ground-breaking innovation that has been of global benefit to humanity.
Georgia is a second year undergraduate student studying Industrial Design and Technology at the Design School; Sarah is studying for a Master's degree in Product Design Engineering, and Gemma is about to start the course in MEng Product Design Engineering. Both are at the Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.
Sarah’s design is called Engineering Infinity and she said: “At first glance all sides of this infinity cube do not appear to be touching - however the entire shape is constructed from one closed loop of material. This represents the idea that different aspects of the world around us do not seem like they are linked; however they are all brought together with engineering. Engineering brings all aspects of life and the world around us together, to work in unity.”
Georgia’s design is called Genesis. She said: “The trophy is derived from both the UK’s heritage and industrial design strengths. It combines the subtlety of an English rose with the strength of modern engineering.”
Gemma’s design is called Working Together. She said: “Teamwork inspired me in this design. It's the one thing that is constant in all the best engineering innovations, whether it be the World Wide Web or the Olympic Park. When working together and supporting each other engineers can build on the solid foundations of the past to create an exciting future.”
There are six judges and the organisers want the public to become the seventh by visiting the QEPrize facebook page and voting for their favourite design.
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is run by The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation (QEPrize Foundation), an independent charitable company.