Interview with Engineering Student, Adam Bayliss – A Winner in Canterbury Christ Church University’s Product Design Challenge

Congratulations to Adam Bayliss (third from left), one of four engineering students who won the Slam Lock Design Project challenge run as part of the BEng (Hons) Product Design Engineering Programme at Canterbury Christ Church University this year. Adam tells us a little about his experience of taking part in the Design Challenge.

Why did you take part in the competition? 
Our CDIO Project for the Introduction to Product Design Engineering module was to create a van slam lock, this project was supplied by AMC (Advanced Metal Components) and TVL (Trade Vehicle Locks), as part of this project our tutor informed us that the group with the best design chosen by TVL would receive a prize.

Can you tell us three things that you learned from taking part in the competition?
From this project I learned the key structure to planning and formatting a project for it to run smoothly and coherently. I also learned many new features within fusion 360 (FEA analysis, CAM Simulation, Parts Animation). I also learned how to effectively portray my ideas to my group members to make sure they understood the concepts that I had come up with.

What elements of the competition did you find most challenging?
Making a design which covered all the brief set by AMC, but also keeping it compact and aesthetically pleasing. For instance, one point of the brief was the locking mechanism was to use a standard euro lock, however, these are quite long, adding another constraint to the size of the product.

Would you recommend it to other students/why?
Absolutely, as a first project at university, it was great, though the product itself is relatively simplistic, there were many angles to attack it from, making for a wide range of concepts to explore and develop. It also helped to show our strengths and weaknesses, and from this, we could then support each other and improve that area.

What were the benefits of taking part?  
I now have an industry link with AMC, which I intend to contact to ask for a placement to develop my skills in an industry setting. It’s also something I can include in my CV and can make me a stronger candidate compared to others.

How do you think the skills you learned in the competition will help you in the future?  
This was our first CDIO project, so it worked as a foundation to base future work on and use the feedback to create an even better product next time. Therefore, I think this project is essential to my future in engineering.

Has the experience inspired you to take your business idea further or to develop new ideas?
Since receiving feedback from AMC about the design I have some concepts to improve the design further to create a more compact and even more secure product, I hope to share these with AMC and possibly be part of the team that sees the product go into production.

Will you be taking any further business courses to increase your knowledge of how to bring an idea to market or how to run a business?
Possibly over the summer period between year 2 and year 3, I may take a short course to give me a more in-depth understanding of how to bring products into the market.

You can see details of the team’s winning innovation here.