The most looked-forward-to 24 hours of every chemical engineer’s year; Frank Morton. The annual event where students studying chemical engineering across the country come together to participate in a variety of sports from football to crazy golf, tennis to ultimate frisbee.

This year on the 11th February it was the University of Strathclyde’s turn to hold the event. Three coaches of students from the University of Birmingham travelled 300miles to the city of Glasgow to participate in the games.

Tensions were high as the varying universities congregated at the opening ceremony. There was tough competition with the likes of Manchester University and Imperial College London, but as always the University of Birmingham played their greatest with the determination to win.

The teams for both football and rugby dominated the fields and the PHD students won the bowling. The rounder’s team had a close game, only getting knocked out of the tournament in the semi-finals by the hosting team themselves. Birmingham also placed in the top three for netball and pool and a special mention to Kingsley Wong who smashed it for Birmingham, achieving the first ever second place in badminton!

A massive thank you would have to go to all those who participated in the games and those who travelled all the way to the event to spectate and cheer on those representing the University. Despite all the motivation that was given by every student on the day, the University of Birmingham missed out on winning Frank Morton by one point! Despite this, after the closing ceremony everyone had fun on the bar crawl, experiencing the nightlife of one of Scotland’s biggest cities.

This is the second time in a row Birmingham missed out on winning Frank Morton by one point, but there is always next year where we plan to come back bigger and even better in an attempt to win Frank Morton.

BUCES Frank Morton 2013

Fazely Studios in Digbeth played host to this year’s iteration of the BUCES Winter Ball. With the growth of the department the event saw around 150 chemical engineering students come together for a night of wine-fuelled antics. This represents a huge growth in numbers up 50% on previous years. The venue itself is a spectacular former Unitarian Chapel designed by George Ingall in 1876. On offer was a large dining hall, gargantuan entrance hall, dance floor, dedicated bar and outdoor courtyard perfect for a quick cigar.

The night started to the sound of a live jazz band whilst people slowly filled the entrance hall. The photos taken at the previous year’s ball adorned the entrance hall and were available to take home for a small charitable donation. The night then moved into the dining hall where a fantastic three course meal was served. Conversation was flowing as the table wine was slowly exhausted, following a fantastic desert people moved onto the dance floor where after another hour or so the live band was replaced with a DJ taking the night on until 3 am.

The whole night was representative of the growing size and stature of the department and is a prime example of the work BUCES does to really enhance the student experience in the School of Chemical Engineering.

BUCES winter ball 2013 1
BUCES winter ball 2013 2
BUCES winter ball 2013 3
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