QE engineering students so impressed industry leaders with their innovative plans for improving crane safety that they have been offered sponsorship to develop their ideas.
After their success at the Tower Crane Interest Group’s quarterly safety meeting, the Year 13 team could now go on to present their ideas to major crane manufacturers in Europe.
Burhan Ashraf, Karan Dewnani, Christopher Wong and Sachin Leelasena participated in the Engineering Education Scheme whilst in Year 12 and had to develop methods for rescuing incapacitated operators trapped in a crane seat. The challenge, over six months, was to create proposals for improving the safety of tower crane operators, using the best available technology, while also ensuring the ideas remained economically viable.
Their solution and engineering report greatly impressed the scheme’s assessors and, as a result, the team were invited to present their concepts to the crane industry leaders at their quarterly safety meeting (pictured below).
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The team’s solution focused on a fundamental change to the method of removing the operator, greatly improving access and speed of the rescue.
“It is different from anything implemented before and yet is elegant in its simplicity; they have created a system that dramatically reduces rescue times, which, ultimately, would save lives,” said QE’s Head of Technology, Simon Vincent. “The boys impressed the collected leaders of the UK tower crane industry and members of the Government’s Health and Safety Executive with their first-rate presentation and underlying concept.”
“The great advantage of this scheme to engineering companies is that the students are not held back by previous solutions and often solve problems in unexpected and innovative ways,” added Mr Vincent.
Syd Appleyard, Chairman of the Tower Crane Interest Group, has since received a number of offers of sponsorship from group members to help the pupils develop their idea further.