The year kicked off with our annual social with NucSoc, then a meal at the Country Girl to welcome the new cohort of direct entry students from our partner universities in China.
A careers-focused November began with an industrial visit to the Exova Corrosion Centre in Dudley. We were given the chance to tour the premises and observe several corrosion-related testing methods first-hand, including sour service testing – the distinctive smell of hydrogen sulphide (similar to rotten eggs) had some of us leaving the room! The trip was followed by the popular annual Careers Fair, where representatives from engineering firms such as the National Composites Centre, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, Rolls-Royce and Instron gave talks and valuable advice on job and placement applications.
The end of first term was, of course, celebrated with our annual Christmas Party where staff and students got together to enjoy mince pies and mulled wine over cheery Christmas music.
The social highlights of Spring Term included bowling, a departmental joint quiz with NucSoc which raised over £200 for the charity Mind, and of course the annual Materials Ball. This year the Ball was preceded by our first ever Alumni Reunion event which attracting alumni from all over the country, some of whom had graduated in over 20 years ago. We would like to thank everyone who attended the Ball and made it such an enjoyable evening. We hope to see you again next year!
BUMS have also been competing in the University’s Intra Mural Sports leagues since the start of the year with netball, men’s football, mixed football and, for the first time ever, basketball! A huge well done to everyone who has participated this year and earned us respectable positions in the leagues – our netball and mixed football teams did exceptionally well coming 3rd and 4th in their respective leagues.
More recently we held the BUMS annual general meeting. Congratulations are in order for Bee Rich and Zak Viney who were elected our new Co-Presidents for 2017/2018, and to everyone who makes up the new BUMS committee. We look forward to seeing what you have in store for us next year!
If you feel like BUMS has made a positive impact on you this year, don’t forget to let us know by nominating us in the EPS Societies’ Awards!
Best wishes,
Nicole Lee
Outgoing Co-President 2016/17