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Komatsu student prizes for bright sparks

Two North East engineering graduates have scooped prizes at their graduation ceremonies this week. The Komatsu Prize is organised by Birtley based excavator manufacturer, Komatsu UK, to recognise young engineering talent. The winner, Newcastle University’s Peter McLaughlin, and runner-up Tim Lisle, were astonished when they discovered they had won the awards for their final year projects, which were the culmination of four years’ work.

Peter will join Rolls-Royce as a trainee graduate engineer in September. His winning project, RoboCup, saw intelligent robots battle it out in the ‘Robotics World Cup’. This involved teams of five robots playing football against one another autonomously.

Tim studied MEng Mechanical and Automotive engineering and has been working as a mechanical engineer at Design Unit for just one month. He was awarded the Komatsu Prize for his overall achievements in the last four years, which include first class honours and producing various insightful projects and reports.

Tracey Wilson, Komatsu UK’s HR manager, said: “The awards recognise both students’ overall performance and outstanding project work. It is inspiring to see such forward-thinking research taking place in the region’s universities. “We set up the Komatsu Prize to promote young engineering talent and are absolutely delighted to award this year’s prizes to two such dedicated and hard working students; we wish them both every success in the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .