A team of four PhD students is working on the project, assisted by an army of technicians
from the Engineering Department. "We currently have just about every available mechanical and electrical
technician working flat-out on the project, building mechanical and electrical components", said Richard
Roebuck, one of the students. "It is a huge undertaking".
This is a sophisticated and ambitious programme. "It has only been possible because the structure of the
Consortium enables its Members to operate in a non-competitive environment, so that the component
manufacturers are no longer working in isolation from each other. The strength of the programme arises from
the strength of the team," remarks David Cebon. "The other factor is the multi-disciplinary skills of the
students. Having been through the undergraduate engineering course at Cambridge they are capable of working
in all these different areas of Engineering: from setting up sophisticated computer control systems to
designing the mechanical, hydraulic and electrical systems. In an industrial environment, work like this
would require a large team of engineers each with a different set of skills. Here, we have four researchers
who are taking on the whole job. This not only gives excellent value for the research funds, but also means
that there is total co-ordination and full understanding of the project amongst the team members. It is also
a great learning opportunity for the students involved who will be highly skilled in many areas as a result
of their work."
The Team
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| David Cebon |
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Ben Jeppesen |
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Arnaud Miege |
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Richard Roebuck |
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Edwin Stone |
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