University of Sheffield Team Takes First Place in Railway Engineering Challenge.

Engineering Excellence: Sheffield Students Build Prize-Winning Locomotive

The Sheffield students have won the Railway Challenge 2024, showing their top-notch engineering abilities in a prestigious competition for future railway engineers. This award is a testament to these students' hard work and dedication, as they constructed their small-scale locomotive. Post this success, Sheffield has now become the second to win this prestigious title. The competition is led by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers which challenged the students to design and build their own 10¼” gauge locomotives to compete in various trials on and off the track. This event aimed to develop engineering skills beyond the learning of degree programs and motivate students to pursue a career in the rail industry.

Undergraduates and postgraduates from different levels working on locomotives alongside their studies took part in this event. Each team was instructed to build a small train following strict rules and using detailed technical specifications. Final testing of the train was carried out during a competition weekend at Stapleford Miniature Railway in Leicestershire. Winners were chosen in several categories, and an overall Railway Challenge champion was named based on who demonstrated the best skills across various engineering areas.

The University of Sheffield students won the Grand Champion prize, achieving their highest points ever. They also secured first place in individual categories both on and off track. These students used innovative techniques to handle the problem of leaves on the tracks, which causes delays and cancellations each autumn. Sheffield was the only team that successfully achieved all four challenges present in the competition. Additionally, Sheffield’s students, with an accuracy of 99%, set a new record in the Auto-Stop Challenge where each team had to bring their locomotive to a precise stop over a distance of 25 meters.  

Charlotte Currie, a mechanical engineering student and the 2024 Team Principal for the Railway Challenge Sheffield team, shared her experience that firstly they were nervous as their locomotive was about to compete, considering the team’s ups and downs over the years but they learned from their past experiences and improved the model. Seeing their hard work and lessons pay off with an almost flawless performance of locomotives in the challenges was very rewarding for them. She was excited by their record-breaking Auto-Stop Challenge performance, where the locomotive stopped precisely on the mark, exciting the crowd. Leading the team and seeing their success filled her with immense pride. University made history as the first Sheffield team to win and set a record points total. The Team Principal had aimed for this victory since taking on the role a year ago and felt immense pride in the team's achievement. Currie praised this year as the second phase of their locomotive design and admired the team's ambitious engineering solutions. She felt immense pride in their successful performance, which highlighted their hard work and dedication throughout the design, manufacturing, and testing process.

Maximilian Deil, the 2024 Structures & Dynamics Sub-Team Leader, noted that designing and building the locomotive train was quite challenging but the passion for engineering and trains motivated them to keep going. They spend countless hours without any extra academic credit but winning the award was their greatest reward. He thanked all team members, university, and sponsors for their support and looked forward to another successful year. Jacob Whittle, the Doctoral Supervisor, expressed great pride in the engineers' achievement of creating a top-notch locomotive and becoming Grand Champions. He credited their success to the hard work of the current team and over 100 past members.

This year, the Sheffield students honored the Richard Pover Endowment Fund with a special sticker on their locomotive. The fund, created in memory of Richard Pover, a passionate mechanical engineering student who died of cancer in 2013, supports Sheffield’s engineering students. Richard’s family has worked hard to create a lasting tribute through the Richard Pover Endowment, which provides scholarships and prizes to mechanical engineering students at Sheffield. Over £50,000 has been raised for the fund. Many members of the University’s Railway Engineering Challenge team, both past and present, have benefited from this support.

Editor’s Note:

The University of Sheffield established in 1828, has a rich history of academic excellence and skill-based learning, recently university students marked their presence in the field of engineering by showcasing their exceptional skills to design and building a locomotive train using various technicalities and won the Railway Challenge prize 2024. Competing in a top-tier challenge for future railway engineers, their innovative design and hard work have earned them well-deserved recognition. This victory not only highlights their technical expertise but also their dedication and teamwork. After years of hard work, teamwork, and support from the university and sponsors, these students proved their skills and paved the way for other students around the world to use their academic knowledge to create innovative solutions. 

Skoobuzz congratulates the winners and appreciates their dedication and passion for their subject.