Last month, the Bloodhound Education team returned to West Cumbria to bring the excitement of the Bloodhound LSR world land speed record project to two local schools, sponsored by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) West Cumbria and supported by local IMechE members. Some 120 students selected across the schools enjoyed a full day of activities, learning key employment skills while having fun putting their classroom learning into practice.
The school visits on 4 and 5 December marked the third trip to the West Cumbria region for the Bloodhound Education Team, demonstrating the strong and invaluable relationship between Bloodhound and the IMechE. The hands-on Engineering Challenge event capitalised on the hugely successful high-speed trials of the Bloodhound LSR car in South Africa, which had reached a peak speed of 628mph just two weeks beforehand, providing the theme for the day.
Putting learning into practice
Together with the IMechE volunteers, Bloodhound Education’s Mike Ford and Anthony Rhodes ran a full day of activities with selected students from Years 8 and 9 at Workington Academy and Beacon Hill Community School.
At each school, the students worked in teams under timed conditions to design, build and test rocket cars, putting engineering skills and knowledge gained in the classroom into practice. Each day culminated in a race where the students’ cars ran at speeds of over 50mph.
The Engineering Challenge events are designed to enhance students’ careers enterprise skills as well as giving them hands-on experience of an engineering activity. This is extended further by getting them to present their data, findings and results to the whole group after racing their cars.
As well as applying classroom STEM skills, they benefit from experiencing team building and decision making, and having to overcome challenges just as engineers do in the workplace.
“On a rainy, cold December day, Workington Academy students applied their STEM skills, and particularly their knowledge of forces from KS3 Physics, to design an aerodynamic air and rocket powered car that would achieve as high a velocity as possible,” explained John Savage, Curriculum Leader (Science), Workington Academy. “Alongside this, students were placed in mixed teams with others outside their usual friendship groups, to try to encourage their team building and collaboration skills.
“The students fully engaged with the Bloodhound project and thoroughly enjoyed the competitive nature of the challenge. They also collected a large amount of real-world data that could be used to support what had been learnt in the classroom.”
There was plenty of evidence that the students enjoyed the day as well as benefitting from many aspects of it, with feedback including:
- “I enjoyed designing the cars!”
- “The rocket cars went much faster than I expected.”
- “I thought that my team’s design was good until we tested it out.”
- “I really enjoyed it, and our car was the fastest.”
- “It was easy to make our rocket car, the air powered one was a bit trickier.”
- “Our team worked really well together, and I enjoyed the day”.
Local engineers provide vital inspiration
Students also benefitted from working with IMechE members, who were invaluable in giving them a chance to engage with local engineers.
“Since 2017, the IMechE West Cumbria area and Bloodhound have provided educational events for over 1,000 local primary and secondary school children,” said Simon Mandale, immediate past chair of IMechE West Cumbria area. “A key objective of the IMechE is to inspire the next generation and the programmes provided by the Bloodhound Education team do exactly that.
“Bloodhound Education provides a link between the school curriculum and the workplace using a fun mixture of practical and theoretical exercises. We look forward to developing our working relationship with the Bloodhound team into the future.”
Kirsty Allpress, CEO of Bloodhound Education, commented: “We have greatly appreciated the support IMechE has provided over the years. This extends to regional IMechE networks like West Cumbria who make it possible for us bring the excitement of real engineering projects like Bloodhound LSR to their area. Their members and Ambassadors join us at schools and colleges to share their insights and skills, all of which helps students make links between the classroom and career opportunities.
“At a time when we need more engineers in the UK, both financial and practical support are vital to encourage more students to pursue engineering as a career, so we’d like to thank them for their great support for this event.”
Find out more
Find out more about the Engineering Challenge and other Bloodhound workshops and events.
If you would like the Bloodhound Education team to come to your school or college to inspire your students, please get in touch.
Also, we always welcome new volunteers to join our Ambassador team. This kind of support is invaluable and provides great inspiration for students who may be considering engineering as a career. Find out more about becoming a Bloodhound Education Ambassador.
Finally, if your business or organisation is interested in supporting us as a Partner, just like the IMechE, and helping us run educational activities, find out more about Bloodhound Education Partnerships and then get in touch.