Cambridge University Robotics (CUR) society has been named the Engineering Society of the Year 2023 in a national awards ceremony, set up to celebrate the diversity of the engineering and technology profession.
CUR’s collaboration with other universities, and outreach in local schools, demonstrates the impact of this group in sharing their love of robotics, and clearly is impacting and showcasing opportunities to future robotics enthusiasts.
Judges' comments
CUR is a student-run society founded in 2015 by engineering students. With more than 60 active members, the society aims to make robotics accessible to all.
Kate Lucas, CUR Co-President External, recently attended the Engineering Talent Awards 2023, founded by EqualEngineers, to accept the Engineering Society of the Year award, given in honour of CUR’s outreach activities. These activities include Unibots UK, an inter-university competition for undergraduates that is hosted annually by CUR in the Department of Engineering, and Sparkbots, a day-long workshop teaching Year 9 to Year 11 pupils how to build robots using Arduino, an open-source electronics platform.
On issuing the award, the judges said: “CUR’s collaboration with other universities, and outreach in local schools, demonstrates the impact of this group in sharing their love of robotics, and clearly is impacting and showcasing opportunities to future robotics enthusiasts, especially young girls.”
Kate, who is a third-year Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (MET) student at the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), part of the Department of Engineering, said it was exciting to attend the awards ceremony and for CUR to be recognised for its work in inclusion and diversity.
She added: “This award was achieved in part due to our outreach activities and is one of the many events we have organised to inspire younger students. This autumn, we are establishing a new education technology and outreach project to further develop our society’s skills and knowledge in this area.”
CUR runs a range of technical projects for members including FightFest (combat robots), InMoov (humanoid robotics) and Wise Angel (autonomous drones), as well as an introductory Minibots programme across Michaelmas term, teaching the basics of robotics to new members. CUR also run a range of talks with industry, as well as socials and other events.
Kate said: “CUR projects are open to all students from the University and not just engineers, so please do get in touch. Our activities take place in the Department of Engineering, usually in in the Dyson Centre for Engineering Design workshop.”
Members of Cambridge University Robotics (CUR) society 2023 committee.
