Lectures (Spring 2014) - The Shard

On Tuesday 4th March 2014, the IStructE, IMechE and ICE jointly hosted a technical lecture event at Coventry University. The topic was The Shard.

The lecture was well attended and Richard Mawer gave a very interesting talk on the structural engineering challenges to do with Shard, and its construction methodology.

Post author: Tasha Scott  

Competition (Winter 2014) - Make & Break

The evening of Tuesday 18^th February 2014 brought together groups of graduates and students in our very popular Midlands Counties Make and Break Competition. Kindly hosted by the University of Birmingham, the lecture room was filled to capacity with thirteen teams of up to four members.

The delivered brief required teams to build a crane-type structure. This crane had to support the greatest possible load, with extra points available for efficient construction and long horizontal reach.

A total of an hour was given for design and construction, and teams quickly began thinking and discussing the best methods of building, using the provided materials of straws and tape. The crane mounting frames were well visited during construction time, as was the additional materials supply (at a cost, of course).

When the time was up, thirteen very different structures were presented for testing. First, a minimum 70g load was used to check the crane met reach requirements. Unfortunately four teams failed at this first hurdle, but hopefully they gained valuable experience from this. The remaining nine teams battled it out to carry the most load, with one team carrying over 800g!

The results were then totted up, accounting for the amount of materials used and the performance of the cranes. The final results were as follows:

1^st           Tony Gee - Tony Gee  

2^nd          OveDaBridge - ARUP   

3^rd           Bracing Squad - WSP CEL 

4^th           Two bricks Short - WSP CEL  

5^th           WhatSuP!! - WSP 

6^th           The Unbreakables - University of Birmingham

7^th           Class of 2010 - RNP Associates 

8^th           Triangles - University of Birmingham 

9^th           JNRC Engineering - Coventry University 

=10^th      Millenium - University of Birmingham  

=10^th      Pharmageddon - WSP CEL 

=10^th      Team Phoenix - Coventry University  

=10^th      CivSoc - University of Birmingham 

Well done to the Bracing Squad, OveDaBridge and Tony Gee for their top three places! The winners and runners up secured themselves complimentary invites to the Midlands IStructE Annual Dinner which will take place on 6^th November 2014. The winning team were also awarded Amazon vouchers in recognition of their efforts.

Special thanks must go to the Young Members’ Panel for organising the event, with coordination from the ICE G&S committee. A big thank you must also go to Jenny Illingsworth from the University of Birmingham for hosting us, and the IStructE Regional Group Committee members who attended the event, offering advice and support.

If you have any ideas for us or you’d like to get involved with the Young Members’ Panel please let us know at istructeymp@gmail.com.

Post author: Tasha Scott  

Site Visit (Winter 2014) - Metsec

On the afternoon of Wednesday 29^th January, graduates from the Midlands Counties regional group attended a site factory tour at Metsec, Oldbury.

The visit began with a presentation about the history of Metsec, and how it’s developed to become part of Voestalpine. Safety matters were also covered to ensure our members could get the most out of the tour.

Ear defenders in, our young engineers entered the factory to witness the rolling of sections. It was intriguing to see how the flat steel sections were cold-rolled into a range of shapes and sizes, ready for storage and very soon after, delivery.

The young members also got to see the making of accessories, which involved seeing a number of skilled operators punching and riveting, amongst other things. Finally, a sneak-peak into the training room demonstrated the quality of service and standards delivered by Metsec.

A presentation after the tour showed our graduates the products that the sections they had seen would end up in, and how these have been used in construction to date. A number of project case studies demonstrated the wide capability of cold-rolled steel, including buildings with both curved and sloped faces.

A big thank you must go to Ben Gallimore from Metsec, for coordinating with the Young members Panel to organise this event and to Dave Briers for accompanying the group on this tour and answering our questions.

Events like this are invaluable for our graduates who don’t visit sites as frequently as they might like in their early careers. These trips allow them to see how their work might is realised, and encourage them to think about scheme design, and the potential products available to them.

If you have any ideas for us or you’d like to get involved with the Young Members’ Panel please let us know at istructeymp@gmail.com.

Post author: Tasha Scott  

Lectures (Autumn 2013) - Introductory Seminar for Students

On Tuesday 5th November the young members gave a presentation to students about the benefits of the IStructE, and what it has to offer them.

Post author: Tasha Scott  

Site Visit (Summer 2013) - Birmingham New Street Station

Graduates and students in the region gathered to attend our Young Members’ Panel summer event on Wednesday 10^th July. The afternoon began with a site visit to Birmingham New Street Station, kindly facilitated by MACE. The group visited New Street as it is by far the most significant engineering project in our region.

The visit included a photo-story presentation of construction to date, with intriguing anecdotes about the various structural, natural and logistical challenges that have been overcome so far. Much of the story concerned the new John Lewis building, which required splicing with very heavy-looking connections to allow construction to progress, and has experienced issues around core construction caused by below-freezing temperatures. Everyone involved in the New Street project was clearly very pleased to have passed the 28 April switchover milestone, where the newly constructed half of the station was opened and the old concourse closed. The team had worked round the clock to meet the switchover date.

Once in the site, our young engineers could witness progress first-hand. The atrium roof should prove a brilliant feature when it’s completed, and they were also able to get a close look at the steels of the John Lewis building (which will eventually be hidden by fit-out and services). After the site visit, further discussion was had at The Sun on the Hill, an excellent way to round off the evening!

A huge thank you must go to Tom McDermott from MACE for coordinating with the Young members Panel to organise this event and to John Baxter from MACE, Kevin James from Network Rail and David Oliver from Atkins for accompanying the group on this visit and answering our questions.

Events like this are invaluable for young members who are perhaps unable to visit sites as frequently as they might like. These trips allow them to see how their work might be realised, and encourage them to think about the potential challenges that arise on site.

We are currently looking for volunteers to help us organise events for the 2013/14 academic year, so if you’d like to get involved please let us know at istructeymp@gmail.com.

Post author: Tasha Scott