Page 13: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2011)

September 2011www.marinelink.com 13BMT Engineer Competesin Sky1 TV ChallengeNaval Architect Sam Stevens, from BMT Nigel ee, recently undertook one of the biggest engineering challenges ofhis career. Sam was part of a team of four competing in the Sky1 premiere of SAFEBEAKES, a new series pro- duced by Maverick TV, hosted by Ben Shephard. Sam and his team were tasked with building an amphibious car from scratch, with a budget of 1000. After just two days designing and building the special machine, his team, The CADS, went head to head with fellow engineer- ing enthusiasts to battle it out for the topprie of 5,000, secured in a safe in a seemingly inaccessible location. This fast paced, engaging series encourages mindpower and problem solving. Each week two teams must construct their own vehi- cles, from fire engines and bulldoers to cranes and tanks, in a mechanical chal-lenge that will push them to their limits.To win the money, the teams must collect the numbers needed to crack the code onthe safe with speed and agility, which is easier said than done. Sam Stevens ex- plains Building a car in just two days was certainly no mean feat, but we were very proud of the end result. The most challenging aspect of the design was the compromise between the required per- formance on land and water, while ad- hering to the limited budget for parts and materials and the very short timescale in which to build the machine. All this re- quired some innovative engineering eao odauust. Beat the Block? Challenge8,000 Tons of Steel vs. 50 Cyclists The mid section of the UK?s first ueen Eliabeth Class aircraft carrier last month left BAE Systems? shipyard at ovan, step one of a 600 mile jour- ney by sea to osyth, where the aircraft carrier will be assembled. With the hunk of steel left 50 cyclists from the yard , tracing the path of ower Block 0 on land in an attempt to beat the block? to its final destination on the Forth and raise money for the oyal Navy and oyal Marines Charity. This marks an important milestone -the start of the assembly phase of theMS ueen Eliabeth aircraft carrier, said erald owarth, Minister for In- ternational Security Strategy. Steven Carroll, ueen Eliabeth Class Project Director at BAE Systems, said There?s a real sense of pride in the yard and across the Carrier Alliance today. Watching ower Block 0 be towed down the Clyde gives us chance to reflect on the huge achievements of the past two years since we cut the first steel on this first section.