Six Birmingham students have been offered early careers opportunities with Siemens after impressing at a 48-hour engineering hackathon.
The Sir William Siemens Challenge has been designed to identify the emerging engineering talent from across the UK and give young people a taste of what it is to work for a leading technology company.
Held at the University of Birmingham, the competition brought together more than 70 students from 27 UK universities studying engineering, mechatronics, robotics or digital courses including computer science, cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, telecommunications or a related degree.
Multi-disciplined teams of seven were challenged to build and programme a unique mechanical/electrical device which brought to life data from Mindsphere, Siemens’ industrial cloud-based operating system.
The winners, Team Simocast, were six students from the University of Birmingham: Subhaan Hussain, Axel Gonzalez, George Edwards, Alexandru Spinu, Dumitru Mavris and Ayman Hussain.
They created a robotic flower with petals and an LED array that opened and closed and changed colour in response to the temperature and levels of carbon monoxide and oxygen in the room.
Dumitru Mavris, 20, studying BSc Computer Science, said: “As a computer science student it was amazing to interact with engineering disciplines and see my code come to life. The hackathon was a great experience and I would very much recommend it to any student.”
Subhaan Hussain, 21, from Birmingham and studying computer science, said: “This was my very first hackathon experience and I really enjoyed it. I learned new skills, including how to solder, gained confidence working as part of a team to solve a problem in strict time conditions, and learnt the importance of effective communication and time management.”
George Edwards, 20, from Halesowen and studying a MEng in Electrical and Railway Engineering, said: “It was an intense, thrilling experience where I put into practice learned knowledge from my course. The team members were fantastic, and we collaborated really well together.”
Aymon Hussain, 20, from Birmingham and studying AI and computer science, said: “The most enjoyable part in my opinion was the collaboration. My key contribution was to overcome the hurdle of getting the hardware and software to interact accordingly. We worked so well together that we were able to decorate our final piece to make it more appealing and plan our presentation.”
Alexandru Spinu, 23, from Birmingham and studying mechatronic and robotic engineering, said: “It was a gruelling two days in a high energy environment and reminded me of what engineering teamwork embodies."
Axel Gonzalez, 21, studying robotics engineering, said: “This is the best hackathon I have been involved in. Working with my team was amazing, we all had good ideas, but what I think that distinguished us was the great communication we kept all over the weekend. I ended up with a bunch of new friends and cool experiences.”
The team were among 30 participants offered internship or graduate opportunities with Siemens’ Digital Industries, Smart Infrastructure, and Mobility businesses.
Amelia Donaldson, senior talent acquisition specialist for Siemens, said: “Now in its fifth year the Sir William Siemens Challenge has become an extraordinary annual showcase of the engineering and digital talent emerging from UK universities.
“Having moved the competition online during the pandemic, we were delighted to return to an in-person event again."
On behalf of the judges, Colin Morris, Siemens Mobility’s lead development engineering manager, said: “The judges were blown away by the standard of the competition and the range of innovation on display throughout the weekend.
“There was a clear demonstration of adaptability, collaboration and problem-solving skills from across the teams. The winners stood out for excelling in the data-driven, engineering and creative elements.”
