Prizes
Manchester student scoops another award for Materials!
Manchester Materials student David Wright has won the Sir Frank Whittle Award 2007 from the Northwest Aerospace Alliance for his final year project on "The effects of post-weld heat treatment on friction stir welded aerospace aluminium alloys".
The prestigious award, named after the British jet engine pioneer, is open to all of the eight Northwest universities and entrants are rated against the criteria of innovation, relation to industry need, potential for commercial application and engineering excellence.
Dr Joe Robson who supervised the project described the importance of David's work:
"David's project focused on friction stir welding (FSW) for aerospace applications, a process which offers a low cost, weight saving method of joining aircraft structures. The project investigated the effect of FSW on the structure and properties of the material after welding, in particular shedding light on what happens to material near a weld when it is heat-treated - this understanding is critical to the widespread application of FSW in aerospace."
David who graduated this year with a first-class MEng (Hons) Materials Science and Engineering degree has progressed to an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Nuclear Materials in the School.
The AT Green Award - A First for Manchester!
We are delighted to announce that one of our students, Margaret Wegrzyn, has won The AT Green Award from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining for the best graduate with excellence in ceramics materials.
The AT Green Award was founded by the Institute of Ceramics to recognise Dr AT Green, a prime mover in the establishment of the Institute of Ceramics on 6 May 1955 and its first president.
Margaret, currently studying for her PhD in the School, is the first Manchester graduate to have received The AT Green Award; Professor Robert Freer, Margaret's supervisor, explains the importance of this type of accolade:
"The award honours candidates who demonstrate excellence in their ceramics project, and have also made significant contributions to the life of the School and to the local community. Margaret scored highly in all these areas; it is a wonderful reward for her enthusiasm and commitment."
Distinguished Achievement Award
Kate Sayer, Teaching Fellow in the area of Textile Design, has won the "Teacher of the Year" award, as part of the University's annual Distinguished Achievement Awards.
The awards, made to researchers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and teachers from each of the University's faculties who have shown outstanding achievements in their roles, were presented by President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Gilbert who said in his opening speech:
"I have been astounded by the quality of the achievements and by both the depth and breadth of activities in which our medallists are engaged."
Kate, who teaches on the BSc (Hons) Textile and Design Management programme, was recognised in the Awards for her introduction of a number of exciting and innovative teaching initiatives to the programme, many of which have been adopted by colleagues both in the School and the University. Two of the initiatives Kate has pioneered in the School are Problem and Enquiry-based learning and WebCT.
Not content to sit back, Kate is currently researching new and innovative ways of teaching technology, and continuing her research in pedagogy.
Innovation in Engineering Education
Professor Phil Withers and his team have won this year's prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering / Nexia Solutions prize for innovation in engineering education – only the second time that this Award has been made.