New ‘remotely controlled’ lab will inspire Engineering undergraduates
Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton have been awarded a £30,000 teaching development grant from the Higher Education Academy (HEA) to begin developing a remotely controlled laboratory to assist with the teaching of control systems.
The experimental facilities will be accessible to students to operate not only in the laboratory, but also remotely via the Internet. They will be used in hands-on design exercises to develop practical skills and complement classroom theory.
The new lab is expected be running in autumn 2013 to initially support the control design module SESM3003, which is an optional module delivered as part of the Mechanical Engineering curriculum, taken by students on third year and MSc programmes within Engineering and the Environment. Second years, who take dynamics and control as a compulsory subject, will also benefit from the facilities.
The bid was made by Dr Dina Shona Laila and Dr Suleiman M Sharkh. It was one of just seven chosen to receive an award in the latest round of this funding programme, out of 204 applications received by HEA. One of the anonymous reviewers commented that it was "An excellent proposal that I very much hope to see funded."
"We are delighted to receive this grant," says Dina. "It will enable students to implement the mathematical concept of control design into real practice through experiments like servo motor control and robotics manipulator control that will be included in this lab. This hands-on experience will improve students understanding while also make the learning more fun."
Helen Howard, Academic Lead Teaching Development Grants and New to Teaching Workshops at the HEA adds: "Bids for these grants are very competitive as they give departments opportunities to further their passions for improving teaching practice within higher education."