2017 TDI Challenge wows judges

The final of this year’s national Technology, Design and Innovation (TDI) Challenge took place on Wednesday 5^th July at Yamazaki Mazak’s headquarters in Worcester.

Hundreds of students from across the UK submitted either their GCSE, A-Level or BTEC Design and Technology coursework projects to be judged by a panel of experts drawn from industry. The TDI Challenge is split into three categories. There are two age groups, 14-16 and 17-19, with six finalists in each and a third category – a brand-new addition to the competition for 2017 – for group projects which saw two teams competing in the 17-19 age group.

The competition, which has been running for over a decade, is organised by the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) to inspire future engineers in to a career in manufacturing.

Laura Pickering, MTA education and development co-ordinator, said: “Once again the high standard of entries in this year’s competition continues to surprise and excite the judging panel. I’d like to congratulate all of the finalists on their projects and for being part of a truly inspiring day.”

The winner in the 14-16 category was Dan Kimber from Brighton College, whose project was a stylish desk lamp: “I’m really proud of winning this competition, it was a great experience to be involved in and I really enjoyed seeing all of the other great projects,” he enthused.

The judges commented on the project saying: “Daniel’s project showed the application of modern technology – LED lighting and variety of manufacturing techniques. He had a good understanding of its commercial value and it was a highly functional and innovative design.”

Second place in the 14-16 age group went to Simon Knowles of Sutton Grammar School for Boys with his Scalextric lap counter and timer and third place went to Jacob Lawson of Caistor Grammar School with his contemporary shoe storage and display system.

The winner in the 17-19 age category was Halimah Ershad of Forest School in London. Her project was called BrooDen – which was s high-end chick brooder: “It has been a great day and I have really enjoyed myself. It was a brilliant experience seeing a modern manufacturing facility like Mazak. This is a great first step for me in to a career in engineering,” she commented.

The judges said of her project: “Halimah’s project was well constructed and thought out. She clearly has a good knowledge of the marketplace and showed evidence of an evolutionary design. We were very impressed with her knowledge of manufacturing process – and this clearly aided the development of the project.”

Second place in the 17-19 age group went to Beth Martin of Droitwich Spa High School with her children’s light for Birmingham Library and third place went to Sam Taylor-Jones of Ipswich School with his lifeboat search and rescue drone

The winners in the group category were Jacob Hardy-King and Daniel Timmerman of Team Unite from Oakham School in Leicestershire for their project optimising the cooling process of alternator hubs, Mr Hardy-King said: “We really enjoyed being part of the TDI Challenge and producing our project. The standard of entries was really high so we’re so pleased to have won our category.”

The judges commented on the winning project, saying: “Team Unite responded very well to the brief and produced a simple solution with good ideas to improve it for use in industry. The project was well presented with good use of research and a clear proven business case to back up the finished design.”

The winners of each category were able to choose from a range of prizes on offer which included iPads, GoPro cameras, Minirig speakers and drones. As well as individual honours, each winning project also received a £1,000 voucher for the winning school in each category to spend on D&T equipment for the classroom.

Stewart Lane, business manager, Renishaw and chair of the judging panel for the TDI Competition said: “Everyone who took part in the final should be really proud of getting to this stage. It was an extremely hard decision to pick the winners, as the depth of talent on display here today was remarkable.

“It is really heartening to see the amazing talent we have developing across the UK and with any luck some of the finalist here today will go on to have long successful careers in engineering.”

In the 14-16 age group, the list of judges comprised: Stewart Lane - Renishaw (chair); Kim Olander - Sandvik Coromant; Bob Shanks – Imagineering; and Mike Westlake – Autodesk.

In the 17-19 category: John Aspinall - XYZ Machine Tools; Dave Barnett - Yamazaki Mazak; Steve Finn - DMG Mori; Mark Scanlan - LNS Turbo; and Mike Wilson - ABB Robotics.

MTA www.mta.org.uk