So BUMS had another busy semester to kick off 2020!
We started off in January with another BUMS vs NucSoc social, with a mix of members from first years all the way through to postgraduates coming together to continue our friendly inter-School rivalry. We had a fancy dress theme of farmers and farm animals to keep things entertaining!
February began with BUMS does Pub Golf, with members dressed in their best golfing attire, including gloves and hats! Then was the biggest event of them all – the Materials Ball. Students, staff and graduates from all of courses in the School of Metallurgy & Materials were invited to our annual celebration in the Great Hall. Everyone looked fabulous, dressed to impress while sat at the beautifully decorated tables for their 3-course meal. This year we celebrated the life and work of Professor Rex Harris, who became our Head of School in 1996 and was awarded for his Extraordinary Contribution to Materials Engineering. Thank you Rex! This year we used the event to fundraise for Parkinson’s UK through a raffle and we’re pleased to announce we raised a total of £561.
Following the success of the Ball, we had an incredibly busy March. We took part in a joint quiz with oSTEM with a great turnout. The following day we hosted our first event in collaboration with UKMagSoc, the UK Magnetics Society, to promote careers in magnetics. The afternoon started with a buffet lunch and networking, followed by talks from visitors from Paragraf and NEMA about their career opportunities, and a talk from our own Dr Richard Sheridan about the research the department carries out in this field. This event was incredibly successful, seeming to inspire many of our members.
As the end of term approached it was time to celebrate BUMSport with our annual awards night. Nine awards were given out across our three sports: football, basketball and netball. BUMS Football entered 2 teams into this year’s campus league, with BUMS A topping the league and remaining undefeated in every game! Our basketball team performed well again this semester following on from a 3rd place finish in semester one’s campus league. Netball also had another successful term!
Sticking with the sporting theme, BUMS were named overall winners of this year’s EPS Trophy. This one-day tournament allows teams from any society in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences a chance to compete for glory. The day started early with touch rugby, with BUMS being the only team to have a 50/50 mixed squad. The morning was a success, with a second place finish and everyone in good spirits. Netball was the next sport for us to tackle, up against some difficult and well-trained competition we finished 3rd – especially thanks to some great work from Sam and James in the second half of our final game. Rounders followed on from this and the team continued success, as we placed first! Meanwhile BUMS’s two football teams battled against 14 other teams all afternoon. BUMS A again proved that they are unstoppable, gaining us another first place and remaining unbeaten this year. With two 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd place, we topped the overall table and our hard work paid off when we lifted the trophy!!
To finish the year off we held our Annual General Meeting – slightly differently to normal. This year the election was hosted online, with candidates for each role writing about what would make them part of a successful committee for next academic year. The online vote encouraged an incredibly high turnout, with nearly 100 voters. We can’t wait to hand over to the new committee and let them get started on what we are sure will be another successful year!
We leaves us to introduce the new BUMS 2020/21 committee:
- Co-Presidents: James Griffiths and Lydia Hemmings
- Social Secs: Greta Mariani and Matt Sangster
- Careers Reps: Emma Kelwin and Amy Smith
- Sports Rep: Seb Wayles
- Netball Captain: Amy Johnson
- Postgrad Rep: Miles Fan
- Social Media Rep: Joseph Gresle Farthing
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Rep: Emily Jenkins
We’ve been incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved this year, and wish the new committee the best of luck for next year!
Thanks everyone,
Emma Kelwin and Anna Dickinson-Lomas
BUMS Co-Presidents, 2019/20
To find out more about the Materials Society visit their website www.birmingham.ac.uk/eps/bums.
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.