Students from the University of Warwick’s WMG Academy for Young Engineers have visited Sarginsons Industries as part of a new collaboration between the university and the Coventry firm.
The WMG students were given a guided tour of the foundry as they took their first practical steps towards discovering the fundamentals and subtle art of metal casting.
The visit was organised as part of a new course assignment for the students which will see them design a World Rally Championship rear brake assembly for Prodrive.
Sarginsons and the students will be casting and then supplying a selection of their best designs to create the hand brake assembly.
Throughout this process, Sarginsons will be demonstrating not only the latest casting techniques and considerations but also the rigorous testing that takes place, including x-ray, spectoro and microscopic analysis, dye penetration and tensile testing.
Anthony Evans, Managing Director at Sarginsons, said: “I believe the WMG students really enjoyed their visit to the foundry as it gave them a first valuable insight into the work we carry out here.
“By helping to provide these engineering graduates, the future of UK manufacturing, with practical, hands-on experience of understood and emerging metallurgical techniques from the ground up, we will add breadth and depth to each student’s learning.
“Sarginsons has always had a strong and well regarded apprenticeship scheme and we can see the value of delivering graduates with practical knowledge to work alongside engineers who have learned their craft in the foundry.
“Only by investing in future skills will Sarginsons be able to continue their work in creating the most reliable, lightweight, strongest and most technologically advanced components available.”
Coventry-based Sarginsons prides itself on being a centre of excellence for aluminium lightweight solutions and through continued research and innovation, is confident that UK manufacturing in general and the UK automotive sector in particular will continue to be a leader in this key market.
Sarginsons celebrates 80 years of trading in 2016 and counts Jaguar Land Rover, Caterpillar, Bombardier, JCB, Aston Martin and Rotork among its client base.
