It’s been a year of change for us: the most significant being our name. We decided to take the leap and move away from the James Watt Undergraduate Society or JUGS for short and become MechSoc. With this new name we hope to reaffirm our identity as a society making it clearer who we are and what we do, particularly to potential new members.
This academic year has once again been full of exciting social events and sporting fixtures. As well as our activities, this year we have also held careers events to help students find placements and graduate jobs.
One such event was ‘An Evening with EDF’ which offered students the chance to talk to engineers from one of the UK’s Big Six energy companies about their day-to-day work and experiences. More details about this event can be found on the College’s website. Another was the Mechanical Engineering Careers Fair which attracted companies such as Rolls-Royce and Caterpillar. This event allowed students to network with leading companies and discuss the opportunities available for graduate jobs or summer placements.
MechSoc Friday Football continues to grow in popularity with competition for places increasing each week. It has been very positive to see a large base of players from all year groups and this term we have seen many more first years join which is very encouraging for the future. Due to the continued popularity and ability of the players MechSoc decided to enter a team into the University’s intramural league. MechSoc FC’s first season in the league concluded on Wednesday (8 March) with a 5-3 win. As a result we secured second position in the league overall, with a grand total of 18 points! We now qualify for the knockout tournament where we’ll face the top 2 teams from the other intramural leagues across campus.
Back for its third outing was the MechSoc Dodgeball Tournament which was as popular as ever. This time teams from across the EPS Community entered and the overall winners were the team from Physics. It was a huge success, even if we didn’t win!
In terms of social events, the traditional spring term pub golf returned and this time we joined forces with CivSoc and EESE Soc. Plenty of fun was had by all before heading to Fab N Fresh in The Guild to finish the night!
The Pub Quiz at the Indie Lounge in Selly Oak made a return and once again hosted as a joint event with CivSoc and EESE Soc. The aim of the evening was to help raise funds for the upcoming Engineering Ball, as well as to continue the rivalry between the three engineering subjects.
One new event this year was a trip to the new trampoline park not far from the University. This was very enjoyable with lots of areas to enjoy like dodgeball, obstacle courses and even a trapeze, but also a lot more tiring than you’d expect!
In other news, we’ve been busing organising the first Engineering Spring Ball together with CivSoc and EESE Soc. We hope this will be an excellent evening and hopefully a permanent fixture on the Engineering calendar.
At the end of a busy year the EPS Societies’ Awards are just around the corner. With so much going on we hope you have enjoyed reading our updates. We are very grateful for your continued support and hope you will consider nominating us for an Award. Thank you for a brilliant year!
With best wishes,
Philip Pagani
Vice President 2016-17