Appliance of science

APPLIANCE of science. . . . Ferranti’s Rob Wormal with (from left) Bethan Gard, Sofia Moura da Luz, Elliott Holland and Jason Bhayani

Ferranti switches on to Hulme brainwave

BOSSES at an international technology firm were so impressed by a product designed by Hulme Grammar School pupils, they decided to use it in their own factory.

Jason Bhayani, Sofia Moura da Luz, Bethan Gard and Elliott Holland worked with Ferranti Technologies as part of the Government’s Engineering Education Scheme.

The A-level students had to design a product to protect electronic circuit boards from damage during manufacture for the defence and aerospace industries.

They worked closely with the Waterhead company for six months as well as spending three days at Liverpool University.

And bosses at Ferranti were so impressed that they are to make the product for use at their own plant.

Science teacher John Heston said: “The students we took were very capable.

“They were given a real problem and put a lot of effort in, researching it deeply. The stuff Ferranti Technologies make is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and during the manufacturing process some of it gets damaged.

“The project for the students was to design a system for handling the boards passed through the factory in the assembly process to reduce the damage.

“It seems simple but the processes there include ovens and soldering so it is quite a complex product. They worked hard to design this piece of kit.”

Production manager Andy Lyons added: “This has been a problem on the shop floor for a while.

“Research shows there are currently no suitable containers on the market to suit our needs. The project could potentially save money by reducing labour costs.”