Leaders and entrepreneurs of the future

Faculty of

bristol.ac.uk/engineering Gordon H. Rawcliffe, appointed Professor of in 1944, developed the History principle of pole amplitude modulation, enabling induction motors to run at different speeds

Introducing the faculty I have always believed that Pugsley’s contribution to winning the 1939-45 war was as significant as any Engineering at the University of Bristol is committed non-military person. to producing leaders and entrepreneurs of the Emeritus Professor Roy Severn future and to advancing the knowledge and technological innovations required to address global challenges.

Our academics are internationally recognised research leaders who have led the way in some of the most ground-breaking developments – Academic schools Between 1924 and 1950, the Dean Andrew Case Study Robertson, Professor of Mechanical Wings on Spitfire from establishing the equation for the wing design Merchant Venturers’ Engineering, recruited seven professors Sir Alfred Pugsley was on the Spitfire in the 1930s, to inventing the School of Engineering whose reputations were to give the faculty one of the leading an international significance. These technology that led to the first mobile phone in Queen’s School of were, in the order in which they arrived: scientists of his the late 1970s. Today, our exceptional research Engineering Alfred J. Sutton-Pippard, John F. Baker, generation. He brought John L.M. Morrison, William M. Shepherd, new concepts of continues and we maintain our international Graduate School of Gordon H. Rawcliffe, Alfred G. Pugsley and scientific understanding standing as leaders in engineering research Engineering A. Roderick Collar. to important areas of structural engineering. and education. Departments Five of them became Fellows of the Royal His early work was • Society, four were founder members of the of great importance • Fellowship of Engineering and five became to aeronautics when Bristol is proud of its interdisciplinary culture where • Computer Science presidents of their professional institutions. he was given the our academics have established lasting global • Electrical and Professor Robertson himself was a Fellow special responsibility • of the Royal Society and President of the of deciding the aero partnerships with other leading universities and • Institution of Mechanical Engineers. elastic properties industry. We apply our research through successful required for new military In 1946 the Department of Aeronautical aircraft. In the late technology and knowledge transfer, and our work Engineering was created through a large 1930s he persuaded is always engaged with industry, allowing us to endowment from the Bristol Aeroplane the designer of the How it all Company. During the next 40 years Spitfire, R.J.Mitchell, to add value to the national and global economy. the increasing government oversight of increase the stiffness began teaching practices and formal assessments of the aircraft’s wings. of research output enabled the faculty Mitchell’s final design The engineering disciplines at Bristol empower our to show during the ensuing years that was so sound that over students to think creatively and challenge existing Education for engineering began in both its teaching and research were at 22,000 Spitfires and Bristol in the early 18th century under the highest level. derivatives were built. practice. This nurtures a culture of enterprise, the sponsorship of the Society of providing the world with graduates who are best Merchant Venturers in its Technical College. In 1876 University College equipped to succeed in a career of their choice. Bristol was founded, with a Department I am privileged to have the opportunity to work with of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, which was eventually to become the some of the world’s most talented students and University of Bristol in 1909. staff and be the Dean of such a successful faculty.

Professor Nishan Canagarajah Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering 1 40% of employers value the analytical and problem solving skills of students who study Research engineering, science or IT. (Confederation of British Industry, CBI)

We thought it could clean up the problem of the discolouration of drinking by getting rid of the sediment in the pipes. You can never mess up because the ‘pig’ just melts; it’s as environmentally friendly as you can imagine. Joe Quarini Professor of

Sonotweezers researchers can potentially bring together Making a Ultrasonic manipulation of particles is an small populations of cells for multi-layered emerging and rapidly developing area. structures that better replicate such things difference Various groups have demonstrated the as the lining of the lung. So whilst optical basic principle and, like the work on optical tweezers offer the potential of doing this to society tweezers in the 1980s and 90s, the race cell by cell, sonotweezers allow the user is on to develop devices to best exploit to operate on groups of cells and hence this phenomenon. produce artificial tissue on a much larger Through collaboration and scale. By bringing the two devices together, interdisciplinary work, our leading Professor Bruce Drinkwater is leading there is the opportunity to work across a academics are addressing many of a team, from the engineering faculty’s very wide range of length scales. society’s grand challenges in transport Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the built environment, energy and in a £4.2 million EPSRC programme The electronically controlled sonotweezers advanced healthcare to name a few. grant to develop new technology which also have the potential to be used in ultrasonically manipulates microscopic forensic science, homeland security Since 2006, the faculty has attracted particles such as cells. These new devices, and applications such as cell-sorting almost £30 million in funding to its four called electronic sonotweezers, will be and counting of micro, and potentially Doctoral Training Centres: Composites; designed to complement the optical nano-composite materials. Complexity Sciences; Communications tweezers that already demonstrate the and the Industrial Doctorate Centre in value of micro-particle manipulation. -pigging Systems. The faculty also hosts major The innovative Ice-pigging technique was research centres, including the Bristol Optical tweezers have become well- developed to help clean food processing Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics established in the past decade and, by equipment effectively and could lead to a Engineering (BLADE), a £15 million using the momentum of laser photons major change in the way that drinking-water investment that was opened by the Queen to nudge molecules or single cells gently pipes are maintained. Using a mass of in 2005, and the Advanced Composites into place, researchers can use these crushed ice that is pumped into the piping, Centre for Innovation and Science, which extraordinary tools to perform previously the ice ‘pig’ (pipeline inspection gauge) has a £5.8 million new facility. Bristol is unheard-of tasks, such as grabbing the sweeps away debris and sediment. leading the National Composites Centre ends of a DNA strand and stretching it to (NCC), a £16 million government-funded measure its stiffness Unlike the traditional pigs used for water investment. The faculty is also home to lines, which can become inflexible when 14 world-leading research groups which The electronic sonotweezers will allow navigating some of the complicated internal set the agenda across a range of subjects. very fine control of manipulation, involving workings of pipes, the ice pig forms a no moving parts, scaling down to the soft plug from its slushy consistency The following are examples of how micro-level, with the ability to produce which pushes through the pipe scouring engineering research at Bristol is forces over length scales from microns it effectively, adapting its shape to fill the cutting-edge and will shape our future. to millimetres. This capability opens up a most complex of pipes. This improves pipe range of interesting biological applications. flow and produces cleaner water, making it Left: Professor Nigel Smart and Professor Dave Cliff For example in tissue engineering, better for the consumer.

2 Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering 3 Our research and The Advanced teaching is often Composites Centre for done in collaboration Innovation and Science with industry; companies (ACCIS) is at the heart Research provide visiting lecturers of composites research and invest in teaching regionally, nationally and equipment internationally

The collaboration aims to build on our knowledge of advanced composites, set-up a staff and student exchange programme and break new ground in the development and application of advanced composites. Michael Wisnom Director of ACCIS and Professor of Aerospace Structures

Bristol Water has trialled the process called MARIA (Multistatic Array processing Morphing composites strong fibres surrounded by a lightweight Case Study within its network around the city and for Radiowave Image Acquisition), is a Our Composites Research Group has a plastic matrix enables a greater strength- The Japanese all indications suggest the process is breast imaging technique that captures truly leading international profile, particularly to-weight ratio than is possible with Aerospace becoming the pipe cleaning technique high-resolution, 3D images through the since the University was chosen to drive the conventional metallic materials. By carefully Exploration Agency of choice for the water industry. use of harmless radio waves. The signal National Composites Centre (NCC) in 2010. controlling the direction and tension of the The Japanese is transmitted from each element in turn Critical mass in research has brought the best fibres, it is also possible to create a bi- Aerospace Exploration Ice-pigging in the water supply industry and is then received by all the other people in the world to work with us. Morphing stable composite, which can snap between Agency (JAXA) is won one of the The Engineer technology elements, effectively ‘sweeping’ across structures is an especially significant area two distinct rigid shapes. committed to engage and innovation awards for the process and the breast, detecting tumours as small within this research and is attracting interest in future research production sector. as five millimetres across. The smallest from many industry sectors, particularly We are currently focused on producing collaborations and tumours detected by X-rays are equally as aerospace and wind energy. morphing blades, which can rapidly change cooperation in the field of Medical cancer imaging small but, unlike mammography, MARIA their aerodynamic profile to best suit the Advanced Composites A woman has a one-in-eight chance of is comfortable and far below the safety In the Advanced Composite Centre for current wind conditions. This has the with our research centre, developing breast cancer during her lifetime limit for exposure to radio waves, making Innovation and Science (ACCIS) morphing potential to relieve unwanted stresses in ACCIS, at the University and it is a leading cause of death among it intrinsically safe. Therefore, unlike X-rays, research is conducted at the ‘blue sky’ the blades, increasing their efficiency and of Bristol. This was women. Existing imaging methods can the test can be repeated as often as level and understanding of the fundamental helping to prolong their life. In addition to marked by both parties be expensive and may be uncomfortable. necessary in order to identify cancers, science right through to application- wind turbine and helicopter rotor blades, signing a memorandum Despite having a high success rate of potentially saving many more lives. The focused projects. An example of significant morphing composites are also being of understanding in July detecting abnormalities in older women experience of this trial led the team to focus is the application of morphing developed for aircraft wings. 2009, and was followed they are not always reliable in younger produce a new prototype in early 2010. structures on wind turbine blades which Paul Weaver, Professor in by a workshop at the women. It is for these reasons that national The previous prototype took 90 seconds are already a well-established technology, Lightweight Structures University on Advanced screening programmes only target women to complete 465 swept frequency but further design and manufacturing Composites for from around age 50 and in younger women measurements of the breast and was improvements are essential in helping the This research will lead to an increased Aerospace Applications, the emphasis is on self-examination. itself regarded as a remarkable feat of industry meet its expected growth targets efficiency and cost reduction for wind attended by JAXA and engineering. The new design completes over the coming years. The Global Wind energy. For the aviation industry, it will lead University academics in A team led by Professor Ian Craddock in 1700 such measurements in an astonishing Energy Council (GWEC) has predicted that to substantial cost and weight savings August 2009. the faculty’s Communications Research ten seconds. The implications of this wind energy could provide as much as offering extended service lifetimes, less Group has been developing radar cutting-edge imaging device are far- 13 per cent of global electricity demand in use of fuel and reducing CO2 emissions. technology to detect this potentially reaching. In particular, the compact size 2020 and as much as 25 per cent in 2030. These advances are all positive for the life-threatening disease. The group is a and low cost will make it ideal for use in Top: Antenna Array, middle: Clive Rendell and Tony environment, ensuring renewable energy world leader in this field, being the first to numerous alternative locations such as Griffiths technicians in BLADE,bottom: mobile phones Modern wind turbine blades are generally becomes more commercially viable and use a radar-based device in a full clinical GP surgeries, diagnostic centres and made from a combination of glass and making air travel greener. trial at Frenchay Hospital’s Breast Care mobile screening units, as well as in carbon fibre reinforced plastics. During Centre. There, the research team sought developing countries where the cost of manufacture, the plastic resin is heated to understand the numerous issues that screening with X-rays is a major barrier and cooled in a controlled manner so that arise when a prototype meets real clinical to its widespread use. it bonds with the fibres and sets to form application for the first time. The system, a rigid structure. The combination of very

4 Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering 5 Between 2006 and In 2010 we were Our engineering 2011 the Faculty jointly top in the Royal research is world of Engineering has Academy of Engineering class, as is shown by attracted over Leadership Advanced the high scores in the Partnerships £80 million in industrial Awards, with six of our 2008 RAE (Research and governmental students winning these Assessment Exercise) research awards prestigious prizes

The University of Bristol is the focal point of Rolls-Royce research into composite materials. Rolls-Royce plc

supercomputers capable of performance The faculty has developed many mutually The faculty enjoys a productive link with With 68 Engineering Doctorate (EngD) Partnerships that will make today’s computers look like beneficial links within industry, from research Toshiba; its Telecommunication Research research projects, sponsored by Siemens yesterday’s desktop calculators. collaborations to studentship funding and Laboratory (TRL) was established as part of 39 companies in the UK, from which Jaguar Land Rover with industry Simon McIntosh-Smith, senior lecturer industrial placements, our connections Toshiba’s global research and development 11 companies sponsor more than one in high-performance computing with industry are vital in allowing us to network in 1998. Professors, emeritus and EngD- project, the Industrial Doctorate support outstanding research and excellent current, from our Department of Electrical Centre (IDC) in Systems has become one Cobham Bristol’s ground-breaking research teaching at both undergraduate and and Electronic Engineering head up this of the largest and the most successful British Energy in engineering has led to strong postgraduate level. important research laboratory; with Toshiba doctoral training centres in the UK, funded partnerships and strategic alliances collaborating on our research projects and by EPSRC. Our industrial partners represent with local and global industry. Our Our exceptional composites research led supporting a number of our PhD students. various sectors in the UK: civil construction GOOGLE taught programmes and research to the launch of the Advanced Composites and design, defence and aerospace, energy W estland activity are shaped by the emerging Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS), Our students also benefit from our links with and transport. Interdisciplinary research Motorola needs of business. The faculty’s with a University Technology Centre (UTC), Texas Instruments (TI), through our flagship themes that span industry sectors include industrial advisory board is responding opened by Rolls-Royce, leading the way MSc laboratory thanks to TI’s £500,000 product and technology development, A ugusta to these needs and ensures that for other composites research activities. donation of state-of-the-art equipment sustainability, decision support, process Royal Bristol keeps at the forefront in The centre also has strategic links with including the latest Digital Signal Processing development and organisational change. providing industry relevant courses Airbus, which sponsors research work in (DSP) hardware and software. This large Oksana Kasyutich, Systems Air Force G oodrich to future engineers. ACCIS, and supports many of the faculty’s corporation, which dominates the DSP Centre Manager PriceWaterHouseCoopers PhD studentships. market, provides us with a large portfolio of Bristol is the first university to introduce support ranging from donations to support Rolls-Royce derives considerable value from an MSc in High-Performance Computing. Another key partnership includes teaching and research, student prizes and working with universities. The company’s Fundamental to many organisations a Research Alliance, through our student placements. highly successful University Technology undertaking research involving large Nuclear Systems Performance Centre Centre (UTC) model, including the amounts of data processing or complex (Nuclear-SPC), with British Energy. By working so closely with industry, our Composites UTC at the University of calculations, this programme delivers The centre includes a High Temperature academics can deliver innovative teaching Bristol, offers the company efficient access the skills that employers need in this Top: motion pod, bottom: high performance Centre (HTC) that is supported by and first-class industrial training, giving to high-quality research and delivers computer cluster IBMDefence Engineering increasingly important area. staff in the Department of Mechanical students the collaborative problem-solving significant technology advances. Composite Engineering. The Nuclear-SPC provides and leadership skills that today’s competitive materials and their resulting structures and Science Group Cutting-edge scientific research is systems-based solutions to help maintain industry requires. are becoming increasingly important to increasingly reliant on high-performance safety, optimise operational performance Rolls-Royce as we continue seeking to Airbus Arup computing approaches alongside traditional of nuclear power plants and supports reduce the environmental impact of our Texas Instruments theoretical and experimental approaches. future nuclear generation initiatives. products and improve their competitiveness The computational tools at our disposal are in a global market. HP Labs improving at an exponential rate, radically Rolls-Royce plc Toyota Vestas changing the possibilities of science. Technologies developed for 3D games, General mobile phones and reprogrammable processors are being used to design future Electric Alcatel-Lucent Control Techniques Toshiba R olls - R o y ce

6 Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering 7 The quality of teaching in Mechanical Engineering has been graded as ‘excellent’ by Teaching the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE)

I am using a great deal of the knowledge I gained from my structures modules in my current position. I am also using the valuable skills I have gained from working in various design projects at university. Bristol is highly regarded within the company. Engineering graduate (MEng, Aeronautical Engineering, 2010) Aerospace Stress Engineer, Cabot Design Ltd

into the degree. Other multi-disciplinary • Composite materials Learning from opportunities exist for the study of • Complexity Sciences computer science with either electronics • Systems leading experts or mathematics. In addition, every • Communications undergraduate programme offers a year of study at a university abroad. The primary objective of our centres is to The faculty offers outstanding recruit and retain high calibre research teaching and a wide range of We host a vibrant and diverse postgraduate engineers, providing them with an programmes delivered by our community of over 700 students, from innovative and academically rigorous research-active staff. Along with the around the world, studying on programmes training experience of high industrial high standards of teaching, students that evolve continuously to stay at the relevance. The UK Engineering Physical also benefit from our state-of-the-art cutting edge of research and industrial Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) research centres. advances. Since 2006 we have secured has invested in these centres with the over £20 million of UK government funding support of major companies and trade Our commitment to providing research- to set up four new Doctoral Training organisations. They provide doctoral- informed education offers students an Centres, and set up a new Graduate level training in areas identified by the excellent opportunity to develop distinct School to support the continuing rapid Government as crucial for Britain’s future advanced skills that will allow them to follow development in postgraduate education. competitiveness by addressing the skills their chosen career. We attract many applicants for our highly- shortage in the sector, equipping students regarded advanced taught courses in with skills and knowledge to lead and forge The undergraduate programmes provide Communications and Signal Processing, lasting links with industry. a technically excellent professional Computing, Integrated Aerospace education. Teaching undergraduates is Systems Design, Mechanical Engineering, Employability a central activity for the faculty, and the Microelectronic Systems, , Engineering graduates are highly employable, importance that it attaches to it is reflected Systems and Water and Environmental with well-developed skills in numeracy, team in the National Student Survey where Management, and the conversion working, report writing and creativity. These nearly all our departments regularly have course in Computer Science. Many of skills are easily transferable with eighty-six an overall satisfaction rate of over ninety our doctoral and masters projects run per cent of students gaining employment or per cent. Most of the undergraduate in close collaboration with industry, continuing onto further postgraduate study. education is clearly rooted in a particular providing outstanding opportunities for Of those who start work, fifty-five per cent discipline, enabling a student’s education our postgraduates to develop a wide typically embark on an engineering career. to be coherent and deep. For students range of high-level skills in addition to their Others enter a huge range of occupations wishing for more broadly-based studies, specialised technical knowledge. where their broad skills base is appreciated, then a wide range of teaching is available applying their knowledge within the Civil that bridge several disciplines including Doctoral Training Centres Service, the armed forces, education, a multi-disciplinary Engineering Design The faculty plays a part in four doctoral investment services, the media and a host degree. This degree has been developed training centres which is more than any of other fields. with the close involvement of industrial other engineering faculty in the UK: partners and a year in industry is integrated Right: Dr Tony Horseman and student

8 Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering 9 Bristol receives The crochet design of The faculty is home the highest number the ‘Lorenz Manifold’, to approximately 1400 of applications for by Professor Hinke undergraduates, 900 engineering per Osinga and Professor postgraduates and 350 Staff place than any other Bernd Krauskopf, Alumni members of staff UK University gives us insight into how chaos arises

Quantum 1983), Professor of Civil • Ben Morris (Beng Mechanical Innovators in Jeremy O’Brien is Professorial Research Creative and Engineering, Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield Engineering 1993), VFX Supervisor, Fellow in Physics and Electrical University (1970-1989), former Chairman Framestore CFC. Ben won an Oscar and engineering Engineering. Quantum computers have challenging of English China Clays and RJB Mining an Academy Award for his company’s been the goal of worldwide efforts by • Steve Coultate (BSc Mechanical effects work on the Philip Pullman scientists for several years as they hold the education Engineering 1980), Vice President and adaptation of The Golden Compass Bristol’s excellence in engineering great promise of tremendous computational General Manager of Brunswick European • Ed Strongman (BSc Electrical research and teaching is a result of power for particular tasks. Professor Boat Group Engineering 1971), Chief military test our outstanding staff, 13 of whom O’Brien’s research has demonstrated the Bristol provides a creative and • Professor Paul Dirac (1902-1984), (BSc pilot for Airbus are Fellows of the Royal Academy of quantum operation of new components varied research-led education, from Engineering 1921), Scientist and Nobel Engineering which brings together the that will enable compact circuits for future research projects devised by students Prize winner: described as ‘one of the Alumni case studies country’s most eminent engineers. Our photonic quantum computers. and carried out in our extensive and greatest scientists in the 20th century’, he Jenny Griffiths (Meng 2009), academics are leading authorities in unique engineering laboratories, to specialised in quantum mechanics. His Founder of Snap Fashion their field and have pioneered research It is widely believed that a quantum research and industry-led small- famous wave equation introduced special As a pioneering undergraduate from that has paved the way for technology computer will not become a reality group seminar courses. The learning relativity into Schrodinger’s equation the Department of Computer Science, that we take for granted today. for at least another 25 years. However, experience is simultaneously • Ali Dixon (Meng Computer Science Jenny is set to make finding exclusive and we believe, using our new technique, challenging and supportive. 2004), Founder of XMOS elusive fashion items easier, thanks to her Mobile phone a quantum computer could, in less than • Anton La Guardia (BSc Aeronautical innovative new website, Snap-Fashion. Professor Joe McGeehan is Director of ten years, be performing calculations that We encourage innovation and enterprise Engineering 1983), Defence and Jenny won the University’s annual New the Centre for Communications Research are outside the capabilities of conventional Top: Professor Joe McGeehan, Electrical and in students’ learning and professional Security Correspondent for The Enterprise Competition 2009 and the South which he established in Bristol in 1987. computers. Professor Jeremy O’Brien Electronic Engineering, bottom: Dr Wendel Sebastian, development. They are encouraged to Economist, and formerly Diplomatic West Enterprise Award when Snap was a In 2004 silicon.com placed Professor Civil Engineering challenge existing practice, giving them the Editor at The Telegraph, Anton is the prototype as part of her final year thesis. McGeehan sixth in a list of global Transputer skills and confidence to become potential author of Holy Land, Unholy War: Israelis technology trendsetters for his ground- Professor David May was chief architect Treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) leaders in their chosen fields. Between and Palestinians Jenny is one of a long line of Bristol’s breaking work in mobile communications. of the transputer architecture at Inmos Dr Laurence Ketteringham, a researcher 2006 and 2010, our students won more • Colin Green (BSc Mechanical Engineering students to take the content He has a CBE for his services to the Ltd between 1979 and the mid-1980s. from the Department of Mechanical Royal Academy of Engineering Leadership Engineering 1971, Honorary DEng of their final year project and form a new communications industry and is also The Transputer was a pioneering single- Engineering, won the MS Society’s MS Advanced awards than any other university 1997), Former President – Defence company from it. Consumers can visit managing director of the Toshiba chip processor designed to support Researcher of the Year award for his in the UK. As a result, Bristol engineers Aerospace, Rolls Royce Plc. Colin is also the website www.snap-fashion.co.uk and Telecommunications Research Laboratory parallel processing. It was highly influential ground-breaking research into treatment for are extremely employable and go on to a past President of the Society of British upload an image of an item of clothing or in Bristol. Professor McGeehan developed in provoking new ideas in computer MS symptoms. Dr Ketteringham has been excellent careers. Aerospace Companies and a director of an accessory that they wish to find. They the technology and processes for wireless architecture, several of which have using his skills to reduce tremors for people the UK Council for Electronic Business will define the region of the image that they communication systems and that enabled re-emerged in modern designs. The with MS. Tremors are often a debilitating Enterprising and leading alumni • Jenny Griffiths (Meng Computer are interested in and the website will apply the invention of the mobile phone. transputer and Inmos left a legacy on symptom and can affect up to seventy-five • Steven Allpress (PhD Electrical and Science 2009), Founder of Snap Fashion, a number of image processing techniques the computing world and also established per cent of people with MS at some time in Electronic Engineering 1994, Beng winner of The University Enterprise to the picture in order to find approximate Bristol as a hub for microelectronic design their lives. Electronic Engineering 1990) Founder Competition and the Southwest matches for the item of clothing. The and innovation. of ICERA Business Competition website will act as a pictorial search engine • The Rt Hon Lord Chilver FRS FREng • Roger Holmes (BSc Mechanical for the latest fashions on the Internet. (BSc Mechanical Engineering 1947, Engineering 1981), Managing Director of PhD Civil Engineering 1951, DSc Civil Change Capital Partners, Formerly Chief Engineering 1962, Honorary DSc in Executive of Marks and Spencer

10 Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering 11 Bristol has a venerable engineering heritage. Some of the most remarkable work Alumni of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is centred in Bristol

When I was studying I was really excited to see my project materialise into such significant reality. Ali Dixon Co-founder of XMOS

Ben Morris (Beng 1992), Ali Dixon (Meng 2004), Engineers without Borders (EWB) Photographs courtesy of: Visual Effects Engineer Co-founder of XMOS In 2004, Bristol’s Faculty of Engineering Front cover: After graduating in mechanical engineering, Ali Dixon was a student doing a degree in joined Engineers without Borders UK Timo Kunkel Ben immediately got a position in Jim computer science at the University and has which is a research initiative that provides Henson’s Creature Shop where he created seen his project form the basis of one of a bridge between universities, students, Inside pages: mechanical puppets for the Oscar award- the University’s most significant enterprises. development NGOs and local communities Jamie Carstairs winning film Babe. In 2000 he began What started as an undergraduate project is with technical research requirements. Martin Chainey working for Framestore, the largest visual now a major semiconductor business that Bristol’s engineering students have the Jason Ingram effects and computer animation studio in may revolutionise the consumer electronics opportunity to work on projects at home Will King Europe. During this time he developed in- market. Spun out of research from the or around the globe, learning about Timo Kunkel house mechanical motion systems to allow Department of Computer Science, XMOS technology’s role in tackling poverty and Hinke Osinga real actors to ride on the back of computer assembled a team of entrepreneurs and improving lives. Dave Pratt generated characters. Ben has worked on scientists led by CEO James Foster and the visual effects and camera systems for Professor David May. The Engineers without Borders Society at many famous films such as Gladiator, Troy, Bristol, which now has over 200 members, The War Horse and Gravity. His work on XMOS has created a new category of has taken part in projects that range from The Golden Compass between 2005 and semiconductors called Software Designed research in the UK to overseas projects, 2007 earned him an Oscar in 2008 for Best Silicon (SDS). SDS is designed for high such as tackling water shortages in Cuba. Visual Effects. performance consumer electronics Research projects are usually carried out in applications, requiring extreme design Top: student in anechoic chamber, bottom: engineering the UK, either as a project within a student’s Top: Robert Cottrell and Hayley Sharp, members of I had a fantastic time studying Engineering flexibility at low manufacturing cost. UG student degree (for example, a 3rd or 4th year the EWB-UK Bristol team that took part in the Havana at Bristol. The subjects I studied on my accredited degree project), or as an extra- project, which saw students from EWB-UK working to improve Havana’s water supply, bottom: an inlet valve Mechanical Engineering course formed The Bristol region contains the largest curricular project run through the university in Havana the perfect foundation for my career cluster of microelectronics design EWB branch. designing, animating and rendering companies in Europe, so being based in what is often make believe. Aside the University’s Department of Computer from the academic studies, Bristol Science was the right place for me to be. is a brilliant city to live in as a student. Ali Dixon, Co-founder of XMOS Ben Morris, Framestore

12 Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering University of Bristol Queen’s Building University Walk Bristol BS8 1TR

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