Yes, we are working on the Bloodhound SSC. In terms of work, design and general enthusiasm, this has to be the biggest and best project we have done to date – and I am excited! Normally projects involve some sketch work, some CAD, maybe some innovative conceptual work, but all of this tends to be for mass manufactured products. Designing the test rig for the seat for a 1000mph car is a one off. There will not be lots of the seats made, tit will not be designed for everyone, and on top of that the car will only do several runs. As Andy Green said to us, this is a continuous experiment, not a corporate build.
There has only been one slight let down with the entire Bloodhound concept as far as I can tell though. The project is based here at UWE. The models have been made at UWE, and the first full scale mock-up is being built ten minutes from… you guessed it… UWE.
When you Google Bloodhound though, it is Swansea University that comes up with all of the hits. In fact, Swansea is second on the list, whereas UWE is tenth. On Wikipedia, under the heading of Design, it is stated “The School of Engineering at Swansea University have been heavily involved in the design of the vehicle from the start.”
As far as I can tell though, Swansea has been based around the aerodynamic testing of the design, and the general forces that revolve around it. The BBC upon the announcement of the project wrongly stated that the project was ‘being run by Swansea University’.
I am not angry with this. Swansea was one of my top choices of University. My brother and my parents both went to Swansea, and fair play to them they are promoting themselves for all that they can. Perhaps though UWE should take a greater interest in the promotion of the project. It has students working on it, it has events for the project based on its campus, and so now maybe it should update Wikipedia too…
Tags: bbc, bloodhound ssc, second year, swansea, uwe, wikipedia
It does sound like that Swansea has a better press machine that UWE. We’d better sort that out!