Marine engineers of the future? Schools battle it out on the water in this year’s Schools Marine Challenge
Students from schools from across the South East took part in this year’s Schools Marine Challenge Race Day last month with over 30 craft entered into the competition. Yet again, the standard of entries was outstanding with some really innovative entries that addressed the need for speed but which also took the environment into account with their engineering.
Winners included St Andrew's C.E. High school (Worthing) for their Solar powered boat, Quilley School of Engineering (Eastleigh) for its electric powered boat and The Leigh Technology Academy (Dartford) for its biofuel powered boat.
There were also winners for teamwork (Quilley School) and innovation (Leigh Academy). Judges also looked at how schools had performed overall in all three boat categories and looking at how they worked to get to the final race day. The overall winners were Southampton-based Oaklands Community School.
David Flowers, a teacher at St Andrew's C.E. High School in Worthing has been working with his class every evening after school to make their designs a reality.
"We really wanted to embrace the whole ecological side of making our solar-powered boat. So we set out to see what materials we could use to make a boat that had a low carbon footprint but that also performed really well."
"We eventually came up with this design, with the hull made from cow parsley stems and laminated local ash. And after testing lots of different motors we found a winning formula and our hard work paid off as we took 1st place in the solar category."
Southampton-based Quilley School of Engineering were racing in the competition for the third consecutive year and showed that year on year they have been able to hone their skills. This year they gained 1st prize in the electric category and also won a prize for teamwork.
Teacher Paul Beverley-Smith has been impressed with the commitment from his students. "It was the 4 months of hard work leading up to today that really counts, rather than how well the team did on the day itself. To be so successful this year is just a bonus. We have made the most of the tools at our disposal at school and have even made use of a pond in the school grounds to test our models. The kids have learnt so many new skills taking part and I was delighted to see how their teamwork was also recongnised."
The Leigh Technology Academy made the most of its location near Bluewater shopping Centre. The teacher commented: "Bluewater very kindly let us use their lakes to test out our designs. In fact we had a lot of local support for our entries with sponsorship from the Fire Brigade and local company Liftout. We also had a local GRP company come into the school to talk to us about making our own boat moulds which meant that we have been able to build the boats from scratch.
"We have built the Challenge into the Btec in Engineering, and the experience has been a great tool for helping the kids to learn in a fun way and work together as a group."
The hotly contested event took place at the Southwater Water Sports Centre near Horsham, with school supporters and many local businesses backing the event. Students have spent the last few months designing and building solar powered, electric powered and biofuel powered boats for Race Day 2008.
Organised by the British Marine Federation and Marine South East, the aim of the challenge is to introduce school children to the world of marine engineering. Marine companies across the South East link up with local schools to give the pupils an insight into the world of boat building.
From September the Schools Marine Challenge will be integrated into the BTEC Vocational 1st Diploma Engineering, Unit 10: using CAD Drawings. Many schools have welcomed the new engineering diploma and competitions which link with industry also help to drive skills development across the South East.
Participating schools:
Oaklands Community School
Quilley School of Engineering
Midhurst Intermediate School
Seaford College
St Lawrence College
Springfield Technology College
Manhood Community College
The Leigh Technology Academy
Oxford and Cherwell Valley College
St Andrews C.E. High School
St Anne's Catholic School
St Birinus School
The Forest School
Winners List:
Overall Winners - Oaklands Community School
Teamwork Prize - Quilley school of Engineering
Innovation Prize - The Leigh Technology Academy
Race Positions -
Winner - Methanol Boats - The Leigh Technology Academy
Winner - Electric Boats - Quilley School of Engineering
Winner - Solar Boats - St Andrews C.E. High School
Technical Prizes
Methanol Boats
Hull & Superstructure - Seaford
Powertrain - St Andrews
Electric Boats -
Hull & Superstructure - St Anne's
Powertrain - St Andrews
Solar Boats -
Hull & Superstructure - St Lawrence
Powertrain - Leigh
Go to http://www.marinesoutheast.co.uk/ongoing_projects and click on Schools Marine Challenge to find out more.
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