This year the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (PMAG) in Hanley is opening a new gallery to celebrate the iconic Spitfire created by the designer Reginald J. Mitchell who was born and educated in North Staffordshire. The gallery will be an education hub that celebrates design, engineering and technology and re-interprets the story of the Spitfire and its place in history.
PMAG challenged Staffordshire University students to explore ways to engage the next generation of designers and engineers by using the iconic aircraft as inspiration. Students were tasked to think about synthesizing community, learning, heritage and technology to provide a creative solution to engage visitors with activities and artefacts.
The competition brought students together from Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering Design, Film, Fine Art, Games Design, Graphics, Industrial Design, and Mechanical Engineering as part of the Creative Connections Project funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Over two days, five teams worked together virtually using Microsoft Teams, alongside tutorials from Visiting Professor of Innovation Andrew Lawrence, Jean Milton from PMAG, Bev Reardon from the Spitfire Project, and Associate Dean and RAE Project Lead Professor Jess Power.
The winners came up with the “Spitfire Gallery Pilot’s Logbook” based on a WW2 logbook from the Battle of Britain. The concept includes activities about women in engineering and the life of Reginald Mitchell with the team designing accessible versions for people with visual impairments.
BSc (Hons) Engineering Design student Ash Johnson from the winning team said: “My neighbour Roy was an RAF engineer and a friend of the family when I was growing up. He didn’t get chance to work with the Spitfire but he was a huge admirer of the plane – he even made Spitfire weather vane which I now have in my back garden!
“His enthusiasm sparked my interest in aircraft and I have often visited RAF Cosford. I knew if there was a way to thank Roy for all the knowledge that he passed on to me, then this project was it. It feels amazing to have been chosen as the winners!”
The winning team also included BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering student Matthew Lunt, BA (Hons) Fine Art student Laura Williams and Lucy Archer. Prizes of £300, £200 and £100 were awarded to the best three concepts.
Visiting Professor Andrew Lawrence is Executive Creative Director at global brand consultancy Elmwood. He said: “Having a subject matter like the Spitfire, with so much history and heritage, provided rich pickings for the teams during their ideas generation. It was great to see the teams working together and creating idea platforms that could evolve over time keeping the exhibits fresh and engaging.”
Museum and Gallery Manager Jean Milton added: “It is a privilege to work with Staffordshire University and their students across a range of disciplines, I look forward to taking some of their ideas forward. I have been impressed by the enthusiasm and passion shown for the challenge and look forward to delivering more exciting programmes in the future. The outcomes from this project will not only benefit the students, but the museum and all its visitors. This has been a really exciting and inspirational challenge to be a part of.”