Edwin Duthie

Solving a real-world problem for a final year project 

For his final year project, Edwin produced an automatic cat feeder.

"The idea came from a friend who has cats and is very unreliable at looking after them. She’s a bit of a hippy and is always going off for weekends. I told her I would make her something that would look after her cats when she was away. 

I built this myself from start to finish and it took me from seven months. There was a lot of building involved, not to mention all the mechanical and electrical aspects. There are already a few similar things on the market but where mine differs is that it comes with a GSM modem, the same thing that’s inside your phone, so you can text it a message to feed the cat. There’s also a sensor, which will send you a text when the food is running low.

Reflecting on studying Engineering at USW 

During the course, I was fortunate to spend a year out in industry with Renesas Electronics Corporation. I loved it – it was right up my street. It made me a ten times better engineer than I was this time last year.  You learn so much more by doing a placement than University alone. 

I would love to go into product design after I graduate. I enjoy all aspects of seeing my designs turn into real products and being able to create things that can be solutions to everyday problems."