CLAAS Foundation awards for gifted engineers

Posted 21 November 2013

Two students from Harper Adams University were among a small group of young engineers from across Europe who received prizes from The CLAAS Foundation for their theses in the field of agricultural engineering and general engineering. 

Helmut Claas Scholarships were presented to four winners, and a further three bonus prizes and four International Student Prizes were awarded at CLAAS headquarters in Harsewinkel, Germany. Nominees gave a 10 to 15 minute presentation on their research to a judging panel comprising the CLAAS Board of Directors and senior staff, plus an assembled audience of about 60 people

Miles Metcalfe, 23, was revealed as the second runner-up. Miles, who is in the fifth year of the MEng Agricultural Engineering course at Harper Adams, was awarded more than £4,000 after presenting his work on the design, construction and testing of a virtual split grain tank for sampling grain with an NIR (Near-infrared) sensor on a combine harvester. His report was the result of work completed while on work placement with CLAAS, in Germany, throughout the third year of his course.  

Miles, from Hornby, North Yorkshire, said: “I was delighted to receive the award. While the prize money will, of course, be useful, it’s much more about the recognition and the opportunity to get my name known within the sector I want to work in. The achievement was made all the more meaningful when I discovered that the two students placed ahead of me were both older, and had presented dissertations from their undergraduate degrees – something I haven’t completed yet.”

During his current, final year at Harper Adams, Miles will complete a Masters’ research project in conjunction with CLAAS, a company he is very impressed with and would love to work for after he graduates in September 2014.

Fellow Harper Adams student Alex Skittery, 23, also fifth year MEng Agricultural Engineering, and from Little Marcle, Herefordshire, received a bonus prize of more than £1,200 in the category “Technical Engagement“. In his project he establishes a method where he optimises agricultural machinery components using finite element analysis - a numerical method of solving partial differential equations using computer aided design software.

Alex said: “It was a privilege to be awarded such a prestigious prize. CLAAS is at the forefront of engineering, so it was an honour for my project to be recognised at an international level.” 

The remaining scholarships and bonus prizes were awarded to German students, while the international prizes were taken home to the Netherlands, Slovak Republic and Hungary. Following the ceremony, the participants had a joint lunch with plenty of networking opportunities.