How One Challenge Helped Shape Our Society

Introduction

As a new and still developing engineering society, one of the biggest challenges we faced was not a lack of ideas, but trying to create opportunities before we even had the structure or resources to properly support them.

When we entered The Big Pitch, run by Engineers Without Borders UK in collaboration with RS Group, we were not officially recognised by our university’s student union yet. That meant we had no society funding, no formal support system, and very limited resources, while still trying to deliver a project that balanced creativity, practicality, and global responsibility.

Our project focused on a portable water purifier designed to help improve access to clean water globally, but the experience ended up shaping much more than just one idea.

Building Before We Were Official

At the time of Big Pitch, we were still operating as an unofficial society.

Without student union recognition, we had no funding or structured support to rely on, so a lot of the workload ended up falling onto just two people. Balancing the project alongside university work made it a huge commitment.

Developing the design, improving the concept, and preparing the final pitch under those conditions forced us to become organised very quickly. It also gave us an early understanding of what it actually means to build something from the ground up, where every decision has to balance ambition with what is realistically possible.

Access and Opportunity

One of the biggest things we took away from Big Pitch was how much access and funding can affect opportunities for student engineers.

Without formal support, things like travelling to events, accessing resources, and entering competitions became much harder than they should have been. Even though we were proud to finish as top 10 finalists, the experience really highlighted how important it is to make opportunities accessible to students regardless of their starting point or financial situation.

Turning Prize Funding into Society Growth

The funding we received from Big Pitch became a really important stepping stone for us as a society.

Instead of putting all of it into one project, we used it to help support wider society growth and participation. A lot of it went towards transport and access costs for engineering competitions and events that would have otherwise been difficult for a new society to attend.

Because of that support, we were able to take part in:

• AMPlify Impact Challenge at MACH 2026, where we were again recognised as top 10 finalists, helping us continue building momentum from Big Pitch and develop our presence in larger engineering competitions.
• Chapter Design Challenge in Birmingham, where we achieved 2nd place with our water treatment system. The project focused on recovering nutrients from septic wastewater using a modular algae synthesis system and represented a major step forward in both technical complexity and globally responsible engineering.

The funding also helped us run social events for members, which ended up being just as important as the competitions themselves. Those events helped people connect, increased engagement within the society, and made it easier for new students to get involved. For a new society, building a strong community mattered just as much as technical success.

Growth Through Experience

Looking back, Big Pitch became the foundation for a lot of what came after.

It taught us:

• How much can actually be achieved with limited resources and a very small team
• How strongly access and funding can shape opportunities
• The importance of making the most of every opportunity you get
• That societies grow through community and engagement just as much as projects
• That the hardest early challenges often build the strongest foundations later on

What started as one competition ended up becoming the start of something much bigger for us.

Conclusion

Big Pitch was one of the first major challenges our society faced, and definitely one of the most demanding.

We entered the competition without official recognition, worked with very limited resources, and balanced everything alongside our academic workload. Even though we did not win overall, becoming top 10 finalists gave us confidence that we were capable of building something meaningful.

More importantly, the funding and opportunities that came from Big Pitch helped us continue growing afterwards. It allowed us to attend more competitions, achieve 2nd place at the Chapter Design Challenge, take part in the AMPlify Impact Challenge at MACH 2026, and grow a stronger and more connected society through social events and member engagement.

We are incredibly proud of how far we have come as a society, especially considering where we started.

For us, the impact of Big Pitch was never just about one competition. It was about everything, it helped us build afterwards.