WISE Student Colloquium poster competition

WISE Student Colloquium - Poster Competition

Students at the 2014 WISE Student Colloquium were invited to take part in a poster competition at the event for the chance to win a cash prize sponsored by Atkins alongside a career mentor from Atkins and Air Products. Six students from across the UK met with The Princess Royal to share engineering projects of their interest, with topics ranging from orbital space debris, to drag racing competitions and safe nuclear encapsulation. Find out more about the shortlisted entrants below.

Francesca Letizia

PhD student in astronautics at the University of Southampton

Francesca won the poster competition for her detailed account of how her research is developing a method that will better describe the movement of fragments generated by a collision in Low Earth Orbit – a problem that can be highly dangerous to operational satellites. Francesca is also a 2013 recipient of the Amelia Earhart Fellowship, awarded annually to 35 outstanding women pursuing the doctoral route in aerospace-related sciences.

Erin Nolan

Student of electrical and mechanical engineering at the University of Edinburgh

After many years of accompanying a close friend who suffers from cerebral palsy and uses elbow crutches to move around, Erin found major issues in the use of crutches and other walking aids on soft terrain such as sand and mud. Erin achieved the runner-up prize for detailing a coursework project in which she developed designs that solve this problem. Erin is currently working on the patent application for her OneStep walking aid devices, for which she has represented the UK at the Intel ISEF 2013 competition in Phoenix, Arizona.

Asmi Barot

PhD student in condensed matter physics at Queen Mary University London

Asmi’s poster described one of the larger international environmental challenges we face today – the search for suitable encapsulation materials that effectively and safely manage nuclear waste over very long timescales. As the treasurer of the WISE@QMUL committee Asmi is keen to increase female participation in STEM sectors, working to change the view that Physics is a man’s subject.

Diane Dongmo

Student of mechanical engineering at Coventry University

Diane shared a project from her first year at university, in which she was tasked to design, assemble and construct a radio controlled vehicle within a team before taking part in a drag race competition. As an intern for Bosch Rexroth in Scotland, Diane is passionate about production design, and currently works on large scale investment projects developing a new radial piston motor for the compact track loader market.

Katie Foster

PhD student in engineering at the University of Huddersfield

Katie shared the phenomenon by which firearms can be identified based on the microscopic impressions they leave on bullets and cartridge casings. The 2D imaging techniques that are used to identify impressions left on bullets are considered to be flawed, and Katie focuses her PhD research on the investigation of better 3D systems that analyse toolmarks forensic evidence. A keen archer, Katie is currently ranked 3rd in the country.

Louise Anderson

PhD student in materials science at Queen Mary University London

Louise’s poster focused on the recent design flaw by architect Rafael Viñoly and the engineers who helped build the Vdara hotel in Las Vegas, and the “Walkie-Talkie” building at 20 Fenchurch Street in London. Louise explained the design flaw by which the building acted as an enormous heat magnifier and how engineering with materials design can be used to solve this problem. In her spare time she is Chair of the WISE@QMUL network.