An Edinburgh College HND Civil Engineering student is jetting off to Singapore to showcase a design project she has worked on since she was at school.

Nineteen-year-old Alizah Mughal, was part of the Drummond Community High School team which won the first ever Future Infrastructure Challenge: Design Engineer Construct (DEC) Hyperloop hosted by Bentley Systems and Class of Your Own earlier this year. 

The challenge included pupils aged 16 to 18 from four schools across the UK whose assignment was to conceptualise a design of a Hyperloop high-speed transport system and stations for Singapore.

The schools participating were selected from those across the country studying Class of Your Own’s DEC learning programme, aimed at educating students about careers in architecture, engineering, and construction.

Alizah and her teammates travelled to Bentley Systems’ offices in London where they created a station for the Hyperloop system based on a design they had in mind for a mock project in Edinburgh.

They presented their plans to a judging panel made up of representatives from organisations including: Virgin Hyperloop One, Bentley Systems, Laing O’Rourke, HS2, and the University of Cambridge among others.

The winning team members and their teacher were awarded a complimentary trip to Singapore from Bentley Systems to attend its annual Year in Infrastructure Conference, which will be held at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore from October 21.

Alizah said: “It was an amazing feeling to have won the Hyperloop challenge. We were not expecting it as the structures the other teams had designed were amazing, but due to our project meeting all the specifications in terms of sustainability, design and environmental elements relevant to the area of Singapore, we were successful.

“I’m really looking forward to attending this major conference and meeting with lots of different people from the wider design and engineering sector – I hope to tap into their knowledge and expertise as much as I can.”

Edinburgh College Built Environment lecturer Kamali Srirangam said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Alizah to spend time meeting with industry professionals from around the world and to showcase the immense talent she already possesses at such an early stage in her career. We look forward to hearing how Alizah enjoyed the experience when she returns.” Looking to the future, Alizah aims to complete her HND at College before heading to Heriot-Watt University to study for a degree in Civil Engineering.