Network rail

Where do you turn when you have had an idea, and there is just one problem that you can't solve? Well, for Old Arnoldian Ben Clarkson the nearest port of call was his old school.

Ben is now the project manager/supervisor for a commercial shop fitting and joinery company and has had the idea of an illuminated handrail, designed for the visually impaired, for use in an emergency situation or just for fun. After university he started as an automotive design engineer, then a sub-sea petrochemical design engineer, then a project controller for BAE Systems R&D, before his move to Maxwell Interiors Ltd.

The main body of the rail is stainless steel, and he is hoping to use this to create a touch switch.

He has tried to research the workings of touch switches, and knows they use a constant value of the metal plate to look for any change in impedance when touched to trigger the circuit.

But the problem is that the handrail may be either 2m or 200m long? Is there a simple solution? Having unsuccessfully approached several commercial companies for answers to his design problem, Ben returned to his roots at Arnold for help!

Head of Physics Ruth Matheson hit on the idea of Ben coming into the Sixth Form Physics groups and putting his problem to them. They gave him a ‘Dragons-Den' style grilling, offering lots of ideas and questions that needed further consideration; in particular, the need to make the solution cheap and reliable was prioritised. This led to a suggestion that electronic switching, rather than mechanical switches or motion sensors, would be the preferred route. The students then left to carry out research on the necessary electronics over the half term holiday.

The students were very interested and excited to be able to link their AS electricity studies directly to a commercial and innovative problem. Imogen Waktare said, "It was very interesting to see that an engineer could put their skills and training to use in a small local interior design company as well as working in the big manufacturing corporations." Dominic Mistry said, "it seems like having experienced quite a few different companies in a short time, you have given us an insight into how an engineering background could be used for jobs that we haven't even thought of - like interior design!" Miss Matheson felt that her point was proved; just about everything in the universe involves physics, or engineering, to explain or produce it!

We look forward to the results of this new link between the physics dept and an entrepreneurial venture in a local business.

Posted by: Miss R Matheson
Date: Friday 07/11/2008