STUDENTS BUILD SUPERCOMPUTER
From the 6 to 9 July, Hammad Aboushanab, a student from The Westwood School, attended the University of Southampton to take part in The Smallpeice Trust’s Supercomputing course which was delivered in partnership with the University of Southampton’s School of Engineering Science and Microsoft.
During this four-day residential programme, twenty students were set the challenge of building a supercomputer from raw components, including processors, memory, and motherboards. They then designed, built, tested and flew their own airliner using the Future Flight Greener by Design system, to make the airliner quieter, cleaner and cheaper. Once the build was completed, students were able to test their designs in the University’s state-of-the-art flight simulator.
This whole experience was overseen by world-leading engineers in the Microsoft Institute for High Performance Computing at the university and allowed students the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing the engineers in this fast-paced and ever-changing field.
Dr Kenji Takeda of the University of Southampton explains, “During this week the students were able to see how computers are used to design almost everything around us. Their enthusiasm for science and technology was astounding, and it is clear that they are all extremely talented and have great futures ahead of them. It is a delight to work with these youngsters, along with Microsoft and The Smallpeice Trust, to create such an exciting experience together.”
Spokesperson for The Smallpeice Trust, Gemma Murphy commented “Working alongside the Microsoft Institute for High Performance at the University of Southampton has been a real privilege. Supercomputers are used for a wide variety of different applications: from scientific research, security and aeronautical engineering to film animation and special effects and it is important that we ignite students’ interest in this area.”
The Supercomputing in Engineering course is run by the independent educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust, as part of an ongoing programme of residential courses to help young people aged 13 to 18 learn and develop skills in engineering, design, technology and manufacturing. Through running over 32 residential courses and STEM enrichment sessions, The Trust has reached out to around 16,000 students across the UK in the past year.
The new course timetable for 2010 will be launched in September. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. To find out more, visit www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk, or telephone The Smallpeice Trust on 01926 333200.
About The Smallpeice Trust
The Smallpeice Trust is an independent charitable trust which promotes engineering as a career, primarily through the provision of residential courses for young people aged 13 to 18.
The Smallpeice Trust was founded in 1966 by Dr Cosby Smallpeice, a pioneering engineer and inventor of the Smallpeice Lathe. Following the stock market flotation of his company Martonair, Dr Smallpeice invested his energy and part of his personal fortune to set up the Trust to ensure that British industry could continuously benefit from his proven design and engineering philosophies: “Simplicity in design, economy in production.”
The Trust is now governed by an eminent board of non-executive trustees and members from a diverse range of engineering, industry, educational and professional bodies.
Over the past year, The Smallpeice Trust has reached out to around 16,000 young people through 32 different subsidised 4-day residential courses and 1-day in-school curriculum enrichment masterclasses.
A strong interface is maintained with industry, education and professional bodies that help to support, promote and develop the courses. Through these relationships the Trust is also able to provide a number of tailored or specialised courses.
All courses are affiliated to the Royal Academy of Engineering Best Programme and are approved by the Learning Grid quality standard which provides independent assurance that a particular activity will be fit for its stated purpose and offers a benchmark that the activity meets the needs of industry, teachers and individual participants.
For more information about The Smallpeice Trust, visit www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk |
|
