The Nuts and Bolts Society

A note on the Nuts & Bolts coat of arms may be worth while, as many current members of the Society may not understand its symbolism. It was originally produced in about 1974 by Julian Cocket, a member of the Society. (See Biographical History, Vol. VIII p 440.) It was subsequently updated to include references to new branches of Engineering, such as Control and Communications. Julian produced on the cover of the menu for that year a detailed heraldic description of his design. Unfortunately, no copies are currently available (I should have one but I cannot find it!) However, from memory the following features should be noted. The brick on the lower right side ('a brick of Cam clay proper' in heraldic terminology) represents Civil Engineering. The circular device at the top is a turbine wheel, representing thermodynamics and heat engines. The bolts, cotter pin and spanner above the brick symbolise Mechanical Engineering, and these now support one of the newer innovations, a Computer Display that refers to Information Engineering and CAD. On the left of the shield, starting from the bottom, we have a circuit to represent conventional electrical engineering (including power) and above this the black band is a slab of semiconductor, with the red and blue circles representing holes and electrons. This covers electronics. Above this we have a mechanism (Control) supporting an aerial (Communications). The motto below the crest is also a recent addition, dating back to the introduction of the four-year course.

Previous page  Next page