Bence fulfils Bristol University's AIMS
Bristol University AIMS unit
Client: Bence fulfils Bristol University's AIMS
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Date: 14th March, 2008
Bence fulfils Bristol University's AIMS
Schools, healthcare professionals and medical conference delegates are benefiting from Bence’s mobile expertise and University of Bristol’s biomedical and chemical know-how.
A new Mobile Teaching Unit for the Applied and Integrated Medical Sciences (AIMS) Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) allows the University to take its expertise into the community, providing everything from basic anatomy and physiology lessons to postgraduate surgical training; which literally means storing skeletons in the cupboards.
The AIMS vehicle is based on an 18 tonne DAF unit, with Bence’s hydraulic systems creating the expandable classroom and laboratory space. Because the unit carries sensitive equipment, Bence also enhanced the suspension and handling for additional protection.
The unit expands into a 60M2 , self-contained teaching space for up to 20 participants, with its own power, heating , hot and cold water supply and full laboratory display area. This allows the vehicle to be used in almost any environment regardless of location.
There is a full range of equipment and computer-based recording software on board for experiments such as electrocardiogram, blood pressure and nervous system measurements, as well as systems for more complex medical demonstrations and teaching.
University of Bristol’s Professor of Medical Sciences Education, Judy Harris, is impressed with the flexibility of the Unit: “The design is very good and has everything we need to deliver interactive teaching and high quality presentations. There is plenty of storage and the hydraulic system gives a large amount of extra space”.
For schools, the unit provides an additional resource for teaching human biology and chemistry from primary through to sixth form. It also attends science festivals and medical conferences and, in conjunction with the University’s Chemistry CETL, will be visiting schools in Jersey which has no university.
As a teaching tool, Professor Harris described the unit as: “Absolutely brilliant! The feedback from the teachers and students is excellent. We would like it to go to more schools in the region.”
Bence is set to sponsor the unit to achieve just that. Managing Director, James Brown, is pleased with the relationship: “This project has been particularly satisfying for everyone at Bence. A significant amount of our business is building mobile diagnostic units and it is good to know that one of our vehicles is being used to teach future diagnosticians and clinicians. We are pleased our sponsorship will support the AIMS team in ensuring this vehicle reaches as many schools as possible over the next few years.”