Bigger and better but the essence of BUCES remains!
BUCES (Birmingham University Chemical Engineering Society) is characterised by its jam-packed schedule and this October has once again seen much loved and well-established events go off with a bang.
Despite the ever increasing first year intake dictating that this year’sWelcome Dinner would once again be held in the enormous Avon Room and that Pub Golf must take place over a larger number of bars rather than our usual small pubs of central Birmingham, it was clear to see the unique community feel and social atmosphere of Chemical Engineering at Birmingham has not been lost – despite our School growing in numbers year upon year.
This year’s Welcome Dinner saw the return of the fancy dress theme, with each BUCES ‘family’ designated an animal to dress up as! The Avon Room played host to the new crop of students in their best fancy dress, ready to find out what a degree in Chemical Engineering at Birmingham has in store for them. After the mountains of food and drink where polished off, the herds migrated to houses in Selly Oak before setting off to the final stop of PopWorld on Broad Street, in what was, yet again, one of the best nights of the year for all involved!
This November saw the annual Industrial Dinner, which was attended by over 100 students and 14 companies (including Dow Corning, BP, GSK, Mars and Atkins) at Birmingham’s Copthorpe Hotel. The guests enjoyed a spectacular three-course meal and a quiz, with Dow Corning’s table winning a bottle of champagne. In addition to this BUCES organised for a charity raffle to take place with all proceeds – a brilliant £264 – going to our chosen charity, Acorns.
Guy Hart, third year Chemical Engineering student and current President of BUCES said, “I think this year’s Industrial Dinner has been one of the best BUCES events so far. The quiz was great; everyone enjoyed it and there was a good mix of senior management representatives and recent graduates to impart their knowledge and to network with the students. The night was a great success thanks to the hard work of the BUCES committee!”
BUCES is continuing to adapt to the new challenges and opportunities which an increased department presents, ensuring that our classic events are open to more and more students! This year’s Industry Dinner was taken to a new, larger venue and the Intra-Chem Eng 7-a-side footballhas grown to an outstanding 15 teams of talented players. We’re also using our ever-expanding membership as an opportunity to introduce new and original events! This term will see BUCES take to the tracks for the first time as we go go-karting, raise money for Acorns Children’s Hospice in our first ever charity pub quiz and treat first years to a seasonal surprise in our first Christmas Secret Santa!
BUCES is bigger than ever but it’s only getting better and better!