This blog post was written by Project Assistant Ellen Pye
The theme for this month's workshop was engineering and we were joined by
three structural engineers, Adeel, Henry and Nic, from BuroHappold in Bath.
We started the session with an engineering
challenge, using marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti! In groups the young
people had 12 minutes to make a bridge that could support the weight of a
gluestick and span at least 10cm. The results were put to rigorous testing by the engineers who found all three very different approaches were all successful in
bearing the glue stick load.
Adeel, Henry and Nic then went on to talk about
their routes into engineering.
Nic studied maths, geography and physics at
A-level. Before starting university he did a year placement in engineering in
Manchester through a programme called Year in Industry. He found this experience really useful in understanding what he wanted to do
with his career and it helped loads with university applications. Nic is a
recent graduate and at BuroHappold he works mainly with the stadium teams, using
modelling programs and working with architects. He was recently part of the
team working on the new Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium. Nic's advice to the group
was to study maths and keep on practicing drawing and sketching as it’s a
really useful skill to have. He also advised that it’s great to be proactive
about getting work experience in areas you are interested in.
Henry works in the Culture team at
BuroHappold, which he described as a catch-all team that covers anything that
isn’t delivered elsewhere within the company. He studied maths, physics and design
technology at A-level. He studied mechanical engineering at Bristol University
but then switched to civil engineering as he found it more relevant to his
interests. Henry also has his own independent furniture making business. He has
a love of working with natural materials, particularly timber and is inspired
by its endless possibilities. Henry is also really interested in new software
and 3D scanning technology and its potential for engineering. Henry’s advice to
the group was take all the opportunities you can to build experience, remember
it’s ok to change your mind about what you want to do and enjoy what you’re
doing now!
Adeel is currently undertaking an
industrial placement at BuroHappold. Adeel has lived in Pakistan and Italy and
is now studying at Leeds University. He studied construction, architecture and
maths at school and chose to study building design as something that
incorporated all the thing he was interested in. One of his greatest
inspirations is Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, which he chose
to do a research project on at school which also inspired him to pursue a
career in engineering. On his placement he has the opportunity to attend
meetings, contribute to feasibility studies, look into loading plans and how
structures will be used as well as designing concrete and steel elements for
projects. Adeel’s advice to the group was to always try to improve yourself,
don’t worry about competing with other people just focus on doing your best every
day. He also advised taking on exciting and scary opportunities as they
increase your skills and boost your confidence. Adeel also stressed the
importance of developing “soft skills” such as teamwork and leadership as well
as technical skills.
The Brief
The challenge for this workshop was to create a new bridge over the Floating Harbour/Feeder Canal from Avon Road (near Motion
Nightclub) across to the planned new University of Bristol Temple Quarter
Enterprise Campus, located on the site of the Old Post Sorting Office behind
Temple Meads Station. The young people needed to develop designs for a striking new bridge, linking St Phillips to the new
Temple Quarter Campus and on to Temple Meads station which:
- allows pedestrians and cyclists to both use the bridge safely
- has a striking design which contributes to the regeneration of the wider area, and the new ‘civic’ university campus
Amy and the engineers gave the above brief
to the group with some tips and resources to look through, including a ‘top
trumps’ set of bridges from around the world. Adeel advised the group that it’s
great to start designs by taking influence from existing structures and
thinking about what works. After working for about 45 minutes on the ideas and
with help from the three engineers the group presented their ideas.
Group 1 created a bridge that curved in
the middle to slow down cyclists. They observed that the banks either side were
not the same level so the curve would also mean the bridge could have a less
steep incline. They designed the bridge to be held by a steel arch that sat
diagonally across its length, which supported the bridge through steel wire.
They also added extra support in the middle of the bridge to ensure its
structural integrity. The three engineers gave some feedback about the design,
they thought it was a great idea and it would work well if they made sure that
the bridge was rigid enough to avoid a wobbly bridge scenario similar to the
issue with Millennium Bridge in London.
Group 2 designed a bridge that was split
into two strips, one for cycling and one for walking. Both strips had an
opposite incline and decline to give an effect of waves. The bridge was
supported in the middle by a large steel figure of a person. The group wanted
the bridge to represented holding yourself up throughout the ups and downs of
life and connected this to the university as an inspirational message to
students. The engineers asked the group if they had a name for the bridge or
the steel figure in the design and they said it could be you or could be
whoever you want it to be.
Group 3 had a few different design
ideas before they settled on their final one. They wanted to create an
eco-bridge made from natural materials, this included a bamboo divide in the
centre to separate cyclists and pedestrians. Within this divide they wanted to
have plants and greenery. The group thought that nature was a great theme to
connect the bridge to theme of education and university as it reflected change
and growth. The bridge would be supported by a beam with steel triangular supports.
The engineers thought the bridge has great aesthetic strengths and suggested
the greenery may be better suited to the side of the bridge to avoid having too
much load in one location.
Useful links:
Istructe - Becoming a Structural Engineer
Institute of Civil Engineers - Careers in Civil Engineering
University of Bristol - Civil Engineering courses
UWE - Civil and Environmental Engineering
Useful links:
Istructe - Becoming a Structural Engineer
Institute of Civil Engineers - Careers in Civil Engineering
University of Bristol - Civil Engineering courses
UWE - Civil and Environmental Engineering
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