Coachmakers join Kingston University to Explore Engineering

Kingston University’s Explore Engineering open day brought together alumni, their families and supporters with a shared interest in engineering to discover the cutting-edge facilities at its Roehampton Vale campus. Junior Warden Eric Wallbank, Chair of the Charity Committee Assistant Roger Woodbridge, and member of the Aerospace Awards Committee Liveryman Anthony King represented the Coachmakers.

What a fascinating morning it turned out to be. We were hosted at the materials lab, where Kingston drives innovation in 3D printed ceramics and composites. The aerospace facilities include a number of wind tunnels used by undergraduates to carry out experiments, as well as a full A320 flight simulator: students can ‘fly’ hours that are credited towards their training towards careers as pilots. Anthony and Eric completed successful landings, but an internet glitch prevented Roger from attempting to fly under the Queen Elizabeth II bridge over the Thames at Dartford. The same lab had some humanoid and dog robots that were disturbingly realistic.

The automotive lab was a surprise, while Kingston doesn’t offer an automotive engineering degree, it does have an automotive ‘pathway’ specialising in years two and three of a mechanical engineering degree. The department has a well-developed Formula Student car as well as a tie-up with McLaren Automotive, and many students have gone on to work with Formula One teams.

There is a saying, ‘it’s not rocket science’ but the site’s propulsion facility is just that, with live firing in a test facility on site.

We were warmly welcomed by engineering staff including Professor Simon Philbin, Head of the School of Engineering. The school appreciates our bursaries for aerospace engineering students and our long-standing support for the Saturday Engineering Club: dates will be announced soon for members of the Livery to visit the Club to see it in action and meet the some of the students who benefit from our funding.

It was a great day that deepened our relationship with the engineering department at Kingston which bodes well for future collaboration. As the event closed, Professor Simon Philbin shared: “It was great to see alumni, family members and supporters of Kingston University at our Roehampton Vale campus. It was a really nice atmosphere, and I hope everyone who visited enjoyed the event and we inspired some future engineers too.”