A Loughborough University engineering student has been crowned winner of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Mechatronics Student of the Year competition (sponsored by LB Foster Automation & Materials Handling).

Guy King (aged 20) is a final-year student studying Mechanical Engineering. His ‘Design and Build Chess Playing Robot’ entry was the overall winner at the final presentations held at IMechE’s headquarters in London.

He received a cheque for £1,000 and a glass trophy from LB Foster.

Mark Aston, chief technical officer at LB Foster (www.lbfoster.eu), said: “Mechatronics is a multi-disciplinary field of engineering that includes a combination of mechanical engineering, robotics, electronics, computing, telecommunications, systems engineering and control engineering.

"Guy’s project was an exceptional example of mechatronics in action. In addition, his competition presentation was thorough and professional and impressed all of the judges.

“Creating an automated chess-playing robot, taking into account the complexity of some chess moves, is an extraordinary accomplishment.

“It demonstrates a clarity of thought, as well as recognition of the potential commercial opportunities.”

Mr King beat off competition from three other finalists. Leah Edwards from Loughborough University presented her ‘Automated Noughts and Crosses System’; Andrei Ciobanu talked through his ‘Vision-based Target Tracking System for Sports’; and Mathus Thongkerd shared his ‘Design and Development of Autonomous Picking Robot’ project.

IMechE Fellow Martyn Paradise, who chaired the competition (www.imeche.org), said: “The quality of competition entries is of the highest level and reflects the exceptional engineering talent that we have in our universities.

“IMechE champions these type of activities, as we are all about harnessing talent and developing skills and competencies through a commitment to continuing professional development.”