University In Tv Fame
The University of Hertfordshire makes an appearance on Fifth Gear and Beat the Ancestors
The University’s School of Engineering and Technology will be featuring in episodes of new television series ‘Fifth Gear’ and ‘Beat the Ancestors’.
‘Beat the Ancestors’ is a series based on a team of modern engineers rebuilding some of history’s most extraordinary technology.
The episode ‘Churchill’s Rocket’, which features Ray Wilkinson from the University as consultant and health and safety expert, looked at a rocket motor device for landing equipment dropped from aircrafts used in World War II.
Using some 21st Century thinking, the team made huge improvements to build a better rocket motor, with some explosive results.
Ray explained the stunt: 'The team decided to build a hybrid rocket motor, hoping to stop a motorbike and pallet of several hundred eggs hurtling to the ground from a 40m crane. Technical accuracy and safety were an absolute must for the stunt and required precise timing and calculations to work out how much thrust the rocket motor would need to bring the load down safely. The result – well you will have to watch the episode to find out!'
The episode is due to broadcast on Channel 5 in May.
Two episodes of ‘Fifth Gear’ were televised on our screens during February and March on the Discovery channel, both of which were filmed on campus.
One episode involved lecturer Gareth Williams with presenter Johnny Smith investigating fuel saving devices using a Vauxhall Insignia.
Johnny later returned to film the University’s very own Cruden Formula One car Simulator, which is used to train F1 teams and benefits the students in their Engineering courses, and he completed the virtual track to see if he could improve on his performance.
Ray was pleased to say: 'If these programmes help to excite people about science and engineering in an interesting and informative way, we’ve all done our jobs.'