The SolarStore was unveiled at the annual MET Design show earlier this year.

A design for a solar fridge by three manufacturing engineering students has won this year’s Shearline Manufacturability Award.

The SolarStore was unveiled at the annual MET Design show earlier this year. The team, comprised of Gareth Keeves, Anna Spinks and Lucy Browning were each awarded a trophy, certificate and a cheque for £100 by Shearline’s Andy Hayward, the firm’s sales and marketing manager.

The innovative device was designed for communities without access to electrical power, instead it uses the sun’s energy as a power source, allowing food and perishable items to be kept fresh.

Shearline Engineering were impressed by the simplicity of the design and its potential for ease of manufacture. The Cambridgeshire-based manufacturing organisation sponsored the MET Design show and will be supporting next year’s event.

Also receiving awards were Harry Bullivant, Clare Stevenson and Camilla Winfield for their work on the Pod, a rocking chair for autistic children. They won the Proctor and Gamble prize for best overall Major Design Project. They received a certificate and £50 gift tokens from lecturer James Moultrie.

Dr Claire Barlow, head of MET, presented the last award of the afternoon – the Morcom Lunt prize for best academic performance in MET1. This went to Philip Deakin.