As part of their final year with us, our Year 2 HNC students are required to take on, plan, design and implement a work-based engineering project. Of course with the current pandemic continuing to cause issues, this year’s students had their work cut out for them. From being furloughed from work which meant they struggled to have access to work on their projects, to delays in their materials and components being delivered. On top of that, they had to deal with deadlines having to be constantly adjusted throughout the year.

Ben an apprentice from AB InBev had been working hard on his work-based project and was extremely disappointed when it became apparent that the delays and issues caused by the pandemic meant he would be unable to fully complete his project in time for presentations. Refusing to let this defeat him, Ben took it upon himself to use the little time he had left to surprise us with a second project!

Ben designed, 3D printed in brass, programmed and built this fantastic lightsaber. With multiple settings, a huge variety of ‘light shows’ ranging from traditional Star Wars to rainbows, all with sound effects to match! You can see just a few of these in the video below. What a way to finish off the presentations!

A huge well done to Ben for this additional project, we loved seeing it and loved seeing our students strive to carry on despite the many hurdles faced this year. Also, a huge well done to all our HNC year 2 students who have displayed tenacity throughout a very difficult project year. You should all be proud!