RS Student Fund UK - Meet the Winners

Avis Drone Labs is a student-led drone project working on seven distinct sub-projects.

Sheffield Bionics is a student society focused on building a set of bionic-based projects.

UCL HyperMile is a team of students determined to build an ultra-efficient hydrogen fuel-powered car with over 12 nationalities represented.

Bath Rocket is a student-led organisation dedicated to advancing engineering innovation through high-power rocketry.

A team of five engineering students from Sheffield Hallam University is designing a custom full-suspension mountain bike, blending theory with hands-on skills.

Queen’s Propulsion Laboratory (QPL) is a student-led team advancing aerospace engineering through competitions.

EWBOx empowers students to tackle global challenges through engineering.

OptiSync is developing a wearable device to help visually impaired users find seats on public transport using camera input and haptic feedback.

Jamie Clarke is developing a safety device for time-trial cyclists to improve visibility in aerodynamic positions.

Killian Maguire is creating a “streaming jukebox” that lets groups queue music collaboratively without phones, using an intuitive haptic interface for social settings.

Essex CSEE Rovers are building a scale Mars rover for the UKSEDS Olympus Rover Trials, gaining hands-on experience in space engineering.

SHUROC, the rocketry team at Sheffield Hallam University, is developing a liquid bi-propellant engine and competing in top aerospace events like Race2Space and the UKSEDS Rocketry Competition.

GUD develops innovative drones like Bumblebee (autonomous delivery), Cricket (sports tracking), and Ladybug (search and rescue).

Brum Eco Racing is building an energy-efficient car for the 2025 Shell Eco-marathon, shifting to a battery-electric powertrain with a new carbon fibre chassis.

ManSEDS, the University of Manchester’s student rocketry and space society, supports over 125 members from foundation to PhD level.

The UCL Human-Powered Submarine Team is pioneering sustainable marine technology through cutting-edge innovation in hydrodynamics and propulsion.

Robotics student at the University of Plymouth, is merging his passion for aviation and robotics to develop a full-motion flight simulator.

I.J. Nzeama, a third-year Biomedical Engineering student at Nottingham Trent University, is developing a 3D breast cancer organoid and a VR experience to visualise its extracellular matrix (ECM).

Durham University Solar Car (DUSC), the UK’s leading solar car team and British champions at the 2024 iLumen European Solar Challenge.

The SOAR-Gripper team, is developing an innovative origami-inspired space debris gripper.

A third-year Mechanical Engineering student at Lancaster University is developing a portable compressed earth block (CEB) machine to provide sustainable building materials for underprivileged communities in central Africa.

BruGenie, an innovative coffee dispenser that prevents overflows by measuring cup volume in real-time using mobile ultrasonic sensors.

The RF Multiplexing team is developing a low-cost, chipless RFID reader to replace traditional semiconductor-based systems with a sustainable, affordable alternative.

Warwick Aerospace’s Mach-2 team is building a two-stage rocket with a CanSat using neural networks for image recognition, aiming for the Mach-25 Competition.

Ben Chisholm’s team is using the RS Student Fund to run a teacher training workshop on the low-cost, 3D-printed OpenFlexure Microscope.

The UCLan Rocketeers are developing a carbon fibre rocket for the MACH-25 competition, targeting a 2km altitude at Mach 1.05.

Supported by RS, the GECo team is developing a sustainable 1U CubeSat using eco-friendly materials like biopolymers and high-grade woods to reduce satellite environmental impact.

UCL Rover is a 29-member team building a Mars rover for the 2025 European Rover Challenge in Poland, inspired by NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance.

SnAIRbeat is a noise-free, air-drumming instrument developed by final-year students, using motion tracking and embedded systems to simulate percussion without a drum kit.

The team is developing a recumbent bike tailored specifically for female athletes, addressing the lack of inclusive design in human-powered vehicle (HPV) racing.

The University of Manchester’s Computer Science Society — is hosting StudentHack on 5–6 April 2025.

A team of three final-year students is developing a miniaturised, affordable visible and near-infrared spectrometer for use in agriculture, education, and research.

Hyperloop Manchester is a student-led, multidisciplinary team focused on designing and building advanced Hyperloop transport technology.

The team designs, simulates, builds, and tests the prototype, then competes in two major competitions: Hyperloop Global in Canada (the only European team there) and European Hyperloop Week.

Josep Maria Reig de Val, a first-year Aerospace Engineering student, is designing an affordable, wireless, low-profile split mechanical keyboard.

Sheffield Eco Motorsport is a team of 50 mechanical engineering students designing solar-powered, road-legal vehicles for competitions like the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge and iLumen European Solar Challenge.

GU Rocketry is a 125-member student society focused on high-powered rockets, with 8 sub-teams and a Junior Development Programme covering everything from launch vehicles to outreach.

FemEng is a student-led network tackling gender imbalance in engineering through hands-on outreach, inspiring over 2,500 Scottish pupils with workshops using recyclable materials.

Project MarsWorks is a diverse team of 52 students designing rovers for the Autonomous and University Rover Challenges.

SHARC is a student group designing a gaming system on RISC-V, aiming to submit a chip via Tiny Tapeout in November 2024.

FemEng is a female-led society running STEM outreach in Botswana, inspiring over 2,700 children since 2017 with hands-on workshops.

HackNotts is an annual free hackathon organised by University of Nottingham’s HackSoc, open to university students and recent graduates across the UK.

HumanEd, also known as Edinburgh Humanoid Dynamics, is the University of Edinburgh's Humanoid Robotics Society, dedicated to the investigation and development of humanoid robotics, limbs, and exoskeletons

Their mission is to design, prototype and test a total artificial heart that could potentially be used in patients with total heart failure

The project will focus on developing a group of roughly 20 students from any background or discipline towards becoming more rounded, technically apt, and safe engineers in a world where UAVs are playing an increasingly large role

Creating an open-ended wind tunnel so that students can test their RC prototypes multiple times for iterative development to help with their design development

We are bringing robotics to the worlds of fitness and sports. Our goal is to develop humanoid robots that can not only perform practical tasks like tidying a busy gym but also learn to shoot a basketball through advanced AI.

I have been developing a series of inverted pendulum robotics projects to evolve into a dissertation next year.

The goal of the project is to develop a biocompatible membrane suitable for use in a portable artificial lung device

The project is looking into using biomimetic designs; that is, designs which take inspiration from the natural anatomy in the human body.

They are building a unified simulation and hardware testbed for microwave wireless power transfer, which is one of the core technologies behind SBSP.

A team of passionate engineering students at The University of South Wales designing and building autonomous drones.

Our main project is a fixed wing UAV and this takes up the lions share of the groups time. We also have a quadcopter project that we're developing from the ground up including the control systems and avionics.

We are the NRC Division of the Lancashire Aerospace Society. Each year we enter the National Rocketry Championship hosted by UKSEDS at Midlands Rocketry Club.

Our mission is to empower women and under-represented genders in STEM through a diverse programme of employability, academic, skill-building, wellbeing, and outreach events.

Cardiff University's first student rocketry team, established in 2024 to give students the opportunity to design, manufacture, and test rocket engines and launch vehicles.

Our goal is to foster collaboration between our members, enabling them to develop prosthetic devices, irrespective of their previous experience. Our mission is to design devices that are affordable worldwide, and easy for prosthetists to manufacture.

We’re passionate about STEM and ensuring that a student’s background doesn’t dictate access to science learning. We provide and advocate for high-quality STEM activities for young people across Edinburgh and the Midlothian area.

We are an award-winning, student-led, free academic society available for all students/alumni/associates at the University of Staffordshire focusing on employability, upskilling, and community volunteering.

A student society at the University of Manchester with the aim to promote space science and development through educational and engineering projects

UCL Rover is a student-led, interdisciplinary team from University College London dedicated to designing, building, and testing a Mars Rover, inspired by NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance.

Every year we send a team to compete in the American Astronautical Society's (AAS) CanSat competition to design, build and launch a can-sized satellite.

This project focuses on the design, manufacture and implementation of an advanced pneumatically actuated active rear wing system, targeting high downforce during cornering and low drag during straight-line acceleration.

The Fleming Society is the student society of UCL's Electronic and Electrical Engineering department. We spark innovation through workshops, industry talks and careers events, host lively socials, and support members in creating their own projects.

At Robotics Society, we hope to conduct robotics workshops, hackathons and give non-engineering and engineering students a makers space/lab to work on their projects, in the engineering building

A thriving student-run network which aims to combat gender imbalance within the field of engineering. It does so through a range of inclusive activities which support and connect female students within the School of Engineering and encourage young, potential students to pursue further education in engineering.

Imperial College London's official team competing in the Shell Eco Marathon, an international engineering challenge to design and build the world’s most-energy efficient vehicles.

We are the Bath Rocket Team, and this year we are undertaking three incredibly exciting projects.

A series of activities aimed at promoting wellbeing, outreach, and professional development among our members throughout the academic year. These activities align with our mission to create an inclusive, supportive, and empowering environment for women in engineering and other STEM disciplines.

A combat robotics society, recently founded to bring together students passionate about mechatronics, design, and engineering innovation.

Accelerate ME is Northern England biggest student leading startup accelerator, they are hosting a tech heavy hackthon on 29th November, expecting around 250 ambitious engineering students to join.

Warwick Hyperloop is an extracurricular student-led project of over 50 students at the University of Warwick. We aim to be the first English university to demonstrate a complete hyperloop pod at European Hyperloop Week, the world’s largest international hyperloop competition.

Green Bath Racing is a student competition team that designs high efficient environmentally friendly vehicles.

We are a group of engineering masters students from the University of Southampton with backgrounds in Mechanical and Astronautical disciplines, who are following on from a previously funded design project, GECo.

An ongoing innovation project titled “Cost-Effective Self-Guiding Wheelchair System for Disability Aid with Integrated Safety and Navigation Features.”

Sheffield Eco-Motorsport is a team of undergraduate engineering students across all disciplines (material science to mechanical engineering) working as hard as we can to build ultra-efficient electric vehicles.

Our main mission is to research, test, develop, and optimise modular CubeSats capable of servicing a variety of possible payloads, with the intention of implementing various aspects of conditional monitoring and management to allow for controlled scientific experimentation.

This project aims to explore the feasibility of implementing small-scale hydroelectric systems in rural communities in the Peruvian highlands. Many of these communities have limited or unreliable access to electricity, despite the presence of abundant water resources.

A Engineering Decathlon event, which is an interactive, multidisciplinary event that brings together students from various engineering fields to compete in a series of hands-on technical challenges

A group of six aeronautical and astronautical engineering students from the University of Southampton whose project involves the design, manufacturing and testing of a 5-Degree of Freedom (DOF) wind tunnel rig.

First Order Robotics is a young competitive robotics team based at Imperial College London, aiming to become the first team to represent the UK in the prestigious RoboCup Small Size League (SSL).

This project revolves around launching a 2 Unit satellite to improve space situational awareness (SSA) and design for demise (D4D) initiatives.

We are working on designing a flight computer to be used in our high-powered rockets. Alongside this there are several other electronics/avionics projects.

A student-led engineering team representing University of Leicester in the IMechE UAS Challenge 2026, an international competition that brings together universities from around the world to design, build and operate an unmanned autonomous air vehicle (UAV).

Project Sunride is the University of Sheffield’s student-led rocket team that strives to push boundaries of student rocketry.

QMUAS is a student society and competition team based at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Our aim is to build a drone capable of autonomously performing a number of assigned tasks for entry into the IMechE UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) competition in June 2026.

Green Bath Racing represents the University of Bath in the Shell Eco-Marathon, one of the world’s leading competitions dedicated to pushing the limits of energy efficiency.

We are keen to organise workshops with the society to learn with our members more about kubernetes and how compute cluster architectures work and to get this built.

An accessible, low-cost device to empower small, independent venues to self-regulate noise exposure and protect their staff and audiences.

Developing a product designed specifically for farms, that integrates the needs of machines, operators, and pedestrians. Improving pedestrian visibility for drivers so that no one is ever put at risk simply because they were unseen by the operator.

My Smart Energy Meter project focuses on designing and developing a system that can measure, record, and analyse household energy consumption in real time.

Building on the success of Genesis, our IREC 2025 rocket, this year’s project, Conquest, marks a significant step towards our long-term ambition of developing the capabilities needed for a future UK university space shot.

eam Bath Roving is a student lead extra-curricular competition team that focuses on the AIRBUS Olympus Rover Trials (ORT), a national Mars rover model competition.

The Fleming Society is the student society of UCL's Electronic and Electrical Engineering department. We spark innovation through workshops, industry talks and careers events, host lively socials, and support members in creating their own projects.

The Design Dash is a student-led, inter-London engineering competition bringing together university teams to complete fast-paced challenges in design, electronics, problem-solving and sustainability.

Gear Prix is a student-led engineering challenge where teams design, build and test small electric vehicles in a single day, giving students hands-on experience in mechanical, electrical and manufacturing engineering.

Winds of Change is a student-led engineering project designing and building a small wind turbine prototype to compete in the International Small Wind Turbine Competition, while supporting sustainable energy solutions for local communities.

This final-year project develops a small vertical-axis wind turbine with adaptive morphing blades to improve efficiency and performance, combining aerodynamics, control systems, and electronics in a fully instrumented demonstrator.

KCL Womxn in STEM is a student-led society empowering women and non-binary students through workshops, mentorship, and outreach, inspiring young people across London to engage with STEM and build confidence in science and technology.

Team Bath Zero is an electric motorcycle team competing in MotoStudent, developing innovative sustainable propulsion systems and adjustable components while inspiring young people to explore the future of electric motorsport.

Shannon is developing modular motocross goggles with replaceable components, creating safer, more sustainable and cost-effective gear while reducing waste and making high-quality equipment accessible to young riders.

LeedsHack is a student-led hackathon run by Leeds Computing Society, providing an inclusive space for UK university students to solve creative tech challenges, develop coding skills, and collaborate over hardware and software projects.

HyPower Bristol is a student rocketry team designing and testing high-powered liquid-fuel rockets for international competitions, breaking UK student records and inspiring young engineers in aerospace and propulsion

Van is researching morphing aerofoil camber using NASA-developed Macro Fibre Composite actuators, combining FEA, CFD, and wind-tunnel testing to explore scalable smart-material solutions for UAVs and other aerospace applications.

The team are developing a fully regenerative electric motor dynamometer using Emrax 228 machines. The dyno minimises energy waste by feeding power back into the system, enabling long-duration testing and student experimentation with electric powertrains.

The SD² team is building competition-ready downhill mountain bike frames with integrated telemetry to optimise performance and durability. Funding will support hardware and electronics needed to complete, test, and validate the bikes for racing.

ICLR is a 150‑student team designing and launching advanced rockets for the European Rocketry Challenge. RS support will fund electronics and cabling for our 9 km liquid rocket and test site, enabling safe avionics, propulsion testing, and hands-on aerospace experience.