Our Makerspace (our decided equipment space!) launched in January, with more machines and equipment being added to the collection over the last couple of months. Our 3D printers have especially been busy with a great many printing requests from our active members to turn their designs into realities! The space has been included in departmental tours on Open Days and Applicant Visit Days, alongside CAD demonstrations to showcase not only the resources available to students in the School of Engineering, but also promoting the Society to lots of potential future members. These tours have attracted a lot of interest with many wanting to know more to ask about computer aided design, and we’re happy to help. We’ve also been branching out and have been planning outreach workshops to be delivered in local schools to teach school pupils about 3D printing.
Amazing feedbacks were received as we invited a Technical Consultant from Autodesk, our lead sponsor, to host a 'Generative Design' two-day training course. This was an interactive design process exploring all possible design alternatives to engineers. As CADSoc aims to provide interesting opportunities, our members were invited to participate as judges at the 2020 VEX Robotics UK Nationals Competition. It was a one-of-the-kind experience and everyone learned valuable lessons. Here's some pictures from the VEX awards ceremony:
As all of our founding members will either be graduating or going on their placement year soon, it’s time to elect a brand new committee for the next academic year. Following the success of our first ever AGM in March (luckily right before campus closures due to COVID-19), a new committee has been elected – formed of 6 students from across Civil and Mechanical Engineering. Our first AGM was good fun; everyone got to greet our new committee over pizzas and refreshments. We look forward to seeing what the future brings and hope that CADSoc will grow even stronger after our fruitful first year!
Throughout the year we’ve been planning an Industrial Design Challenge in partnership with our sponsor, Caterpillar. This was due to be a two-week competition to solve a real-world problem, with the help of experts from Caterpillar. Unfortunately due to the unforeseen circumstances of COVID-19 and resulting lockdown, we had to cancel but look forward to recreating this next year. Despite this sad news, we are currently organising a virtual design challenge for an F1 racing car. This will be delivered via an online platform where members can freely submit their ideas, post queries, start a discussions with other participants, learn new CAD skills, and receive help from us instantaneously. In times of crisis, this is an amazing way for us to reunite and have fun from designing cool stuff with the pleasure of staying at home.
As an EPS Society we’ve been contacted by several companies looking to invent solutions to tackle issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Academics from across the University of Birmingham have also been in touch with us to borrow our 3D printers for the production of face shields for NHS workers due to the scarcity of PPE resources. Other companies have asked for our team to join their virtual projects to swiftly design affordable ventilators. We have offered our assistance and are proud to help in any way we can.
Next month is the College’s EPS Societies' Awards! We encouraging everyone to nominate for us and help us celebrate a brilliant first year. If you like what you’ve been reading, please consider nominating us for the 'Outstanding Event Award', ‘Industrial Award’ or 'Head of College Idea of the Year'! For details of why you should nominate CADSoc, check out our Facebook and Instagram – we've been actively outlining our achievements! We can't wait to attend the virtual awards ceremony...
Wishing success to the second year of CAD Society.
Marie Law
Co-founder & Media and Communications Officer
CAD Society
To find out more about RailSoc visit their website www.birmingham.ac.uk/eps/cadsoc.
There are 39 student groups in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. To learn more about their projects and activities head to www.birmingham.ac.uk/eps-societies.