The country’s first ever post-16 Space Engineering course has honoured the achievements of Loughborough College students completing the programme at a major event held at the National Space Centre.
The pioneering course, established by Loughborough College in association with the National Space Academy, provides a host of opportunities - students recently met Princess Anne to discuss opportunities for female engineers and have talked to British astronaut Tim Peake during the first live broadcast from his mission on the International Space Station. Past students on the two–year programme meanwhile include Jess, who received a full scholarship to study for a Masters degree in the US and Nigel, who joined top aerospace company Airbus, builders of the Mars Rover.
Dr Zoe Washington, who leads and teaches on the Space Engineering programme at Loughborough College, said: “The Awards Ceremony is a formal recognition and celebration of the success and commitment of all our students. It also gives us the opportunity to reflect on this outstanding course and the exciting enrichment activities these exceptional students have immersed themselves in.
“Space Engineering is a pioneering collaboration between Loughborough College and the National Space Academy and the progress and pathways of our students are monitored at the highest level, including with the UK Space Agency, the Lloyds Register Foundation, the Ogden Trust and the Science and Technology Facilities Council. And I am joined by wonderful, dedicated and enthusiastic teachers on the course – Andy McMurray and Sophie Allan at the National Space Academy and Hugh Campbell, Michael Spence, Christina Brady and Michael Chandler at Loughborough College.”
Presenting the Space Engineering Ambassador Award, Dr Washington paid tribute to nominees James Brown, Tyler Laffar and Nathan Marsh, praising their promotion of the programme and how they had shared their experiences and “their passion for Space Engineering”, including at an event meeting astronaut Al Worden.
On announcing winner Tyler Laffar, Dr Washington said his enthusiasm for the course “simply cannot be quelled” and he had been “the model of commitment,” leading by example.
James Brown was also in the running for the Outstanding Commitment to study award alongside Cameron Jones and Milosz Placzek, presented by STEM Ambassador Liaison lead Dr Sarah Myers.
Dr Myers explained that taking a four A-level equivalent course meant all the students were committed to working and studying hard and the three nominees had been outstanding but presenting the award to Cameron Jones, she added that he had “a commitment to making progress” and “a natural curiosity into how things work”, fuelling “consistent effort” even when things had been difficult, making him “a deserved winner.”
James Brown and Nathan Marsh joined the nominee list once again for the coveted George Fraser Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, with Tom Doughty and Jacob Kellock. Presenting the award was John Holt from the Space Research Centre at the University of Leicester, who described the winner James Brown’s “desire to look beyond purely getting the correct answer” as setting him apart. Not only could he always be relied upon to complete his work above and beyond expectations but he was “always willing to help others in the class with their understanding, showing a mastery of the topics and a real love of learning and explaining physics and technical subjects.”
Pictured: The achievements of Loughborough College students are celebrated at the 2018 Space Engineering Awards