Group Skills
Milling ● Turning ● Drilling ● use of Hand Tools ● Metrology ● Fitting ● Health & Safety
About The Workshop
The Engineering Applications (EA) workshop provides training and access to manufacturing and fabrication equipment for undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking a course within in the Department of Mechanics, Materials and Manufacturing (M3). The facilities are focused on metal working and machine assembly, and include; milling, turning, drilling, marking and fixturing, as well as manual equipment for metalworking and basic workshop metrology.These EA workshop facilities primarily support students undertaking design and project tasks in modules such as Engineering Design and Project (1st year),Design, Manufacture and Project(2nd Year) and Group Design and Manufacture (3rd Year).
The EA workshop is also available to students who have completed training in the workshop safety and use of equipment for personal projects.
Overview of the Workshop Technical Support
The technicians are a highly skilled team of dedicated staff who train and oversee the students during their time in the Engineering Applications Laboratory. The technicians provide all the practical elements of the mechanical engineering courses to students who generally have very little previous practical experience, as many school level GCSE courses don’t offer a hands-on approach. The students gain a basic workshop machining and fitting experience, giving them an insight into manufacturing practices and enabling them to incorporate this understanding into their design projects
The technicians take the lead in the practical training, not just on the skills side but with focused and tailored advice for all the student projects, both group and individual.
The facilities exist to provide students with the confidence and skills to design and manufacture their own components and assemblies and to enhance their employability. We have a dedicated team of 2 full time technicians and over 20 staff from outlying workshops from across the Faculty (equivalent to another 6 full time staff), who are fully responsible for all the workshop training for 1000+ undergraduate students in the Department.
The Faculty’s large well equipped workshop is a major draw for students to choose the University of Nottingham over its competitors. All of the practical sessions from the first year students’ initial training to the final year group projects are run purely by the technical staff. They lead the practical side of student design and make projects, providing the link between the academic theory and the ‘hands on’ realities of manufacturing, giving specialist advice to each and every student that uses the workshop. They develop new teaching methods and activities through improvements to existing training structures and the introduction of more manufacturing techniques such as computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining. The technicians are involved with the students from the design concept, advising on the design, and throughout all of the stages in a supporting role through to production.