Engineers of the future in pole position at university of Bolton

The Formula 1 in Schools competition final was held at the University of Bolton’s National Centre for Motorsport Engineering (NCME). School pupils designed, built and raced their own F1 car as part of an exciting project to find the engineers of the future, encouraging youngsters to learn and give them a head start, should they wish to study the STEM subject at university.

Using the latest computer software to design the car, the vehicles were created out of a foam block in a Computer Numerical Control machine, with other components produced by a 3D printer. CO2 cartridges were used to propel their creations along a 20-metre track in under one and a half seconds! The overall champions in the Professional Class at the North West final were the all-girl ‘Team Nebula’, from Sandbach High School. The University of Bolton presented the team with a surprise cheque for £1,000 and offered each member of the team a £3,000 scholarship should they study engineering at UoB.

The girls’ teacher Kevin Gornall said: “This is unbelievable. The university has been amazing – to get money and the scholarship offer as well is beyond our wildest dreams. It has been a fantastic day.”