UTC Oxfordshire
Partnership Update Spring 2017
UTC Oxfordshire
Email: admin@utcoxfordshire.org.uk
Website: www.utcoxfordshire.org.uk
Location: UTC Oxfordshire, Greenwood Way, Harwell, Didcot, OX11 6BZ, United Kingdom
Phone: 01235 391587
Facebook: facebook.com/utcoxfordshire
Twitter: @utc_oxfordshire
Inspiring stories from UTC Oxfordshire
Dear all,
I'm delighted to share our first UTC Oxfordshire partnership newsletter, created to showcase some of the very fascinating opportunities that our students are able to access.
One of the key differences between UTC Oxfordshire and a traditional school is our employer relationships and the focus on engineering and science. We are always seeking to develop new partnerships with businesses and the wider community, and hope that this newsletter will be of interest and provide some insight into how we work with our students to develop them for the world of work.
I would appreciate any feedback you might like to give us about receiving this new publication.
Owain Johns
Principal
Winners of 'Antibiotics Unearthed' announced
In a story recently covered by the Didcot Herald and other local newspapers, 2 of our Year 13 science students have been announced as the UTC Oxfordshire winners of the sixth form 'Antibiotics Unearthed' project, which gives students in the UK the opportunity to work with scientists as part of a global initiative to discover new antibiotics from soil bacteria. The project was led by the Microbiology Society and supported by the Oxford Brookes University microbiology department.
Dr. Hee-Jeon-Hong, a senior lecturer in Medical Microbiology at Oxford Brookes, and Sam Connolly, PhD student, judged the UTC Oxfordshire project entries from 4 teams of students who had been tasked to investigate soil samples from their own gardens to search for new sources of antibiotics using a groundbreaking technique involving a newly invented isolation chip (or iChip). Each team produced their results in the form of an A1 poster presentation.
Commenting on the project entries, Dr. Hee-Jeon-Hong said, 'I was impressed by the high quality of the work and the use of advanced techniques. The students had a good level of knowledge, were keen to be involved and clearly benefited from the specialist science facilities at the UTC.'
PhD student Sam Connolly added, 'Having engineering students from the UTC support the project as well by creating a new design for the iChip was a wonderful multidisciplinary approach bringing together engineering and science.'
One of the winning students commented, 'The antibiotics unearthed project was an amazing opportunity to learn new techniques in microbiology with the support of academic experts. The project has reinforced my decision to study microbiology at university next year.'
All the project entries will be displayed on a specially commissioned board in the microbiology department at Oxford Brookes University. The winning student's trip to the Microbiology Society's annual conference in Edinburgh to present their findings was funded by the Microbiology Society. Well done to them and all the students that entered the competition.
Pi in the Sky
The team of 14 students divided themselves into 3 sub-teams, with 1 working on experiments to measure temperature and pressure changes, 1 creating and testing a radio and 1 leading on communications. The flight was dependent on Civil Aviation Authority permission and also on weather conditions. The first 2-week window of opportunity did not work out in terms of wind currrents, so they applied for a further slot after the Easter holidays and the project was completed last week.
Our photo shows some of the team as they assembled the kit and tested it. A YouTube video has been made about the project and can be viewed here
Trip to Cern
27 science students accompanied by members of staff Glen, Rosie and Neil, went on a 4-day trip to Geneva, taking in the Large Hadron Collider at Cern and the Geneva Motor Show. One of the students has made an excellent film about their trip, which can be viewed here
VIP trip to Mini on 21st February: report from a Year 12 student
At the end of last term I was lucky enough to be invited to a VIP day to BMW MINI after winning a project where my team was tasked to design a new steering wheel. As an avid MINI fan, who had already been on 2 tours of the factory and had work experience with the company, this was a very exciting prospect!
The day itself involved an apprenticeship guided tour of the factory, where I was particularly impressed with the breadth of knowledge shown by the apprentices and learnt some fascinating facts such as, there are over 10 billion possible combinations available when ordering a MINI resulting in there never being two identical MINIs sold! We also got the chance to meet the successful MINI racing team which were based on site which was a lot of fun. I was even lucky enough to enjoy a lap around the test track! The highlight for me was exploring the test facilities at the factory and seeing how they tested the MINI in a variety of different ways. For example they would lower the temperature to around -40 degrees and ensure that the doors would still open and the engine would still start. I was also particularly fascinated by the attention to detail that was shown in both the logistical and design process within the company.
I found the day extremely beneficial and learnt a lot more about the exciting and impressive opportunities the company offer. It has certainly reaffirmed my desire to achieve my ultimate goal of gaining an apprenticeship with this innovative company.
I would like to thank everyone involved in the day for giving up their valuable time, I found the day extremely insightful and beneficial.
CCFE employer-led finals on Wednesday 29th March
Below are some of the lovely cards that we received this week from the primary students. Other comments included 'I can't explain how much I learnt and how much we thank you', 'Well done to all of the people who taught us', 'I'm coming to UTC when I'm old enough' and 'Thank you for all of your fun and imaginative presentation. Good luck with the Pi in the Sky project!'
The UTC Reassemblers
Not content with taking apart car engines, Year 12 are moving on to lawn mowers; their mission is to fix any old mowers and in so doing learn about gears, clutches, chains and cams. We would very much appreciate donations of any garden machinery and mowers, particularly cylinder ones like James May reassembled. We can’t promise we will fix it but if we do you can have it back.
Any donations, please email Sim - Sim.Richards@utcoxfordshire.org.uk before bringing them in. Many thanks.
Oxford Engineering Ltd
26 Year 13 engineers visited Oxford Engineering in Abingdon. This trip was specifically aimed at Unit 19 Mechanical Measurement and Inspection. The company is near the centre of Abingdon, occupying industrial units that were once the home of MG cars.
They have 3 large units, 46 employees, lots of large up-to-date computer-controlled machines and a very good quality department for measuring all the highly technical parts that they make. It is one of the largest machine centres in the country (in the top 10%) and we saw parts being made for the oil and gas industry, nuclear fuel rod containers, and Medical scanners.
This is real engineering on our doorstep, the staff were friendly and they are looking for 3 apprentices to start with them in September.
Maths Challenge
On 2nd February many of our best mathematician in Years 10 and 11 competed in the Intermediate Maths Challenge. Thousands of students all over the country participate and it is a real measure of how good a mathematician a student is. Our results were excellent.
Gold awards were awarded to 7 students, Silver awards to 4, and Bronze awards to 11. Special congratulations go to 5 students who qualified for the next round called the Pink Kangaroo.
Kev Dyer talks about composites
His experience is with various teams and companies in most of the different championships including F1, A1GP, FIA GT, LMS, F Renault, F BMW, F3, F3000, Brit car and Drag racing. He has also worked at the Le Mans 24 hours and taken part in the Dakar Rally. Just a few of the notable composite projects that he has led include the Prodrive GT1 Ferrari 550 Maranello which won its class at Le Mans, the Robby Gordon's Dakar Rally Hummer, and the conversion of a single seat F3000 to a twin seater for Christian Horner.
On Monday 27th March (the day after working an extraordinary number of hours in the build up to the start of the Grand Prix season!) Kev gave a talk about Composites to engineering students from Y12 and Y13. He detailed the history of the creation of this material and its production and uses in current times. Kev is currently helping us with plans to set up a Composites lab in a room here.
Café Scientifique at the UTC
Brand new kit...
... and our first ever sports match!
We were able to send 2 teams to the Vale of White Horse Schools & Colleges Sixes at Tilsley Park on 15th March, where 1 of them ended up runners up in their group. Congratulations to all those who took part in this historic event...