Engineering Student Short-listed For National Award

Lancaster University student Chris Plant has been short-listed in the Science and Technology Student of the Year Awards for his research on renewable energy.

Chris, who is studying engineering, has been listed in the category of Best Maritime Technology Student for his involvement in a project on Sub-Sea Electrical Connection System for Offshore Renewables.

The project, which was carried out at Lancaster University and sponsored by Tronic Ltd, aimed to improve the cable installation process for offshore wind farms. Currently the process requires a number of people to be present on the turbine, as well as divers or a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to be in the water to ensure the cable is not damaged.

The new technology put forward in Chris’s project could mean that workers would no longer need to be landed onto the turbine and it removes the need for divers with all underwater work carried out by a smaller ROV. This would significantly reduce the cost and risk (both physical and financial) involved in the cable installation process.

Mike Marklove, business manager for the power and optics connector division of Tronic Ltd, said: "I’m delighted with the hard work and enthusiasm that Chris has put into this project. He is a very promising engineer with a flair for innovation and a natural talent for design engineering. It’s very pleasing to see this quality of candidate coming through University within the engineering sciences."

Supported by British industry and the UK's leading scientific and technical institutions, the Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the Year Awards are established as Britain's most important awards for undergraduates.

The Awards’ Gala Dinner and Presentation Ceremony will take place on the evening of Thursday, 20 September at Alexandra Palace, London. It will be attended by hundreds of technology students, academics and senior industry executives as well as senior figures from government, scientific and technical institutions and the media.

For further details on the SET awards see http://www.setawards.org/index.vc