University News Last updated 25 June 2012
Birmingham City University held its second annual Birmingham TechFest event earlier this month which included projects in gaming, film, motorsports, 3D architectural modelling and an international robotics competition featuring races and even robot football.
Run by the University’s faculty of Technology, Engineering and the Environment, Birmingham TechFest welcomed hundreds of visitors as businesses, schools, colleges and members of the public engaged in a celebration of technology, engineering and science, highlighting the wealth of technical expertise and innovation within Birmingham.
Students from universities across the UK attended the event, including students from Bath, Reading and Manchester.
Following on from the success of last year’s first Birmingham TechFest, this year’s event adopted an employability theme and took place on Saturday 16th June, with students, staff and industry partners highlighting the importance of developing knowledge and creativity skills to thrive within the technology, engineering and science industries.
The day-long event held at Millennium Point included workshops and exhibits from the University and some of its industry partners; leading technical companies that include Apple, Microsoft and Jaguar Land Rover.
The festival incorporated the UK Micromouse championship, an international robotics competition which the University has hosted for the past nine years. Previous UK champions and US champion David Otten were beaten by Tim Foden, a relatively new UK entrant.
Competitors aged from eight to eighty are drawn from all over the UK and Europe and this year’s international competitors included a team from St Joseph’s Institution, Singapore – who visited for the fourth time in five years.