Three Pembrokeshire College engineering students have won £500 after coming up with a solution to a brief set by Valero.

Level three students Jordan Gough, James Griffiths and Thomas Preece entered the Engineering Education Scheme Wales (EESW) challenge in March and competed against 80 other teams from schools and colleges across South Wales to complete the real-world task.

Held at Swansea University’s Grand Hall, the boys were tasked with designing a machine to record the pressure of water inside a piece of pipe over an hour, a process called hydro testing, meaning that in a real plant a worker would be able to continue with other tasks while the hydro test is run automatically.

The boys all enjoyed the challenge, Jordan saying: “It was good to work as a team and it gave us a real flavour of what it would be like to work in engineering.”

James agreed and commented: “We designed our prototype and then tested it before taking it to the event, I really enjoyed it.”

Thomas said that it was good to see ideas presented by other students and to talk to so many different engineering employers.

“I think the event inspired us all and we learnt a lot,” he said.

The annual event is designed to link students with local engineering companies, to give them a platform to showcase their skills and a taste of the real world through live briefs.

The boys impressed the judges with their design and were congratulated on the efficiency of their machine.

The three successful winners will share a cut of the prize money, while the majority of the winnings will be spent on equipment for the college, the item in question to be decided upon by student votes.

Also attending the event were fellow students Dan Griffiths, Aaron John and Thomas Wood, who took part in a similar challenge, designing a portable device to test valve leakages.

Interested in engineering? Find out about courses at Pembrokeshire College by visiting: pembs.ac.uk/courses