Hallam engineers win national challenge

12th July 2016

A team of engineering students from Sheffield Hallam University are celebrating after winning a national competition which more than 4.

600 students entered. The team of five, sponsored by engineering company Mott MacDonald, won the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge 2016 and will be rewarded with a two-week trip to Mexico City for a placement on a sustainable technology course. From several hundred teams, 36 groups from across the UK and Ireland were invited to the EWB Challenge, presenting their solution through engineering for a developing country's problem. From these 36, which featured two Sheffield Hallam teams, six teams reached the final. The final six teams had to present their ideas at a conference in London in front of an audience of more than 200 people made up of engineering professionals and other students. The team of Joe Camus, Dominic Beatson, Lydia Dalton, Hamed Ahmed and Antony Alesbrook - all first year engineering students - were selected as the winning team thanks to their solution for reducing the number of deaths related to smoke inhalation from cooking over open fires, which kills 2 million people a year around the world. Dr David Greenfield, course leader for mechanical engineering, said: "Sheffield Hallam has a strong track record since the EWB Challenge was set up five years ago, with a team in each final so far. To not only have two teams in the final 36, but to actually have a winning team is a great achievement for all the students involved." Dominic Beatson said: "Being part of the EWB Challenge was one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of my life. Being part of that environment, full of bright minds, was inspiring. It was a big honour to be part of the winning team." Joe Camus said: "As a team, we pushed each other to work hard to make sure we were prepared for the Challenge and all the hard work paid off in the end. The Challenge, and having to present in front of a large audience, will be hugely beneficial to the development of our professional attitudes as future engineers."