Department of Engineering / News / Alumnus helps bring Dyson Centre to life

Department of Engineering

Alumnus helps bring Dyson Centre to life

Alumnus helps bring Dyson Centre to life

Dyson Centre for Engineering Design

The recently opened Dyson Centre for Engineering Design has been supported by a £300,000 grant from Denis Burrell CBE via the Burrell Family Charitable Trust.

We are incredibly grateful for Denis’s generous support of the Department and its students, which will enable them to turn their innovative ideas into reality.

David Cardwell

Burrell studied at Clare College and graduated from the School of Technology with a first class honours degree in Mechanical Sciences. His first job was as a stress engineer at family business Martin-Baker Aircraft Company – at the time it was developing ejection seats for military aircraft, for which it is now world famous. He then gained experience in other areas of the business and was subsequently appointed Chair and Managing Director in 1984 on the death of the founder of the company Sir James Martin.

In 1981, Burrell was elected Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and became Honorary Fellow in 1999. He is a Chartered Engineer, holds honorary doctorates from Brunel University and the University of Buckingham and was a member of the Court of Cranfield University. In 1982 he was appointed CBE for Services to Export.

He is a Deputy Lieutenant for Buckinghamshire and was High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire from 1997–1998.

The Department of Engineering’s Dyson Centre for Engineering Design came about from a £2 million donation from the Dyson Foundation and matched funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The grants provide for:

  • Modern rapid prototyping hardware such as three dimensional printing devices, and materials for rapid 3D printing and 2D cutting.
  • A range of hands‐on and interactive aids demonstrating new engineering concepts.
  • Interactive apparatus to familiarise and offer experiences of engineering concepts giving students knowledge and confidence to invent and innovate their own designs and creations.
  • Machine tools including lathes and milling machines.

Professor David Cardwell, Head of the Department of Engineering, said: “We are incredibly grateful for Denis’s generous support of the Department and its students, which will enable them to turn their innovative ideas into reality.”

The facility offers a place for 21st century engineers to come together to think, exchange ideas, design, experiment and build. Its vision is to provide a space in which engineering students can lead projects; develop creative and innovative engineered responses; and in which school groups can be hosted and engaged. 

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