Oxford Instruments Apprentice Team Finish Second at The National Apprentice Competition Final

Oxford Instruments Apprentice team based at Tubney Woods (Abingdon) finished second at the National Apprentice Competition final at Cranfield University last Tuesday.

The teams had been set the challenging task of developing a device capable of launching them from a lunar base to a height of 1000 m. Furthermore the device had to be manufacturable in 5 days using materials available to hand on the moon’s surface. The Oxford Instruments team came very close to the winning team from Bombardier.

Apprentice Programme Manager Richard Morris commented:  ‘I am delighted with my team performance. They chose to develop a magnetically levitated launch vehicle which incorporated Oxford Instruments core competencies including Superconducting magnet design and electronics control. They were also able to demonstrate how they would use our XRF analysis equipment to analyse the moon to select the right materials for their project. The innovation and creativity that these apprentice engineers have shown during this task was impressive. They are a great asset in our organisation.’

The team would like to thank Dr Neil Bowles in the Physics Department at Oxford University for his support. Neil gave practical advice as to what it would be like to live and work on the moon which contributed to the success of the project.