Tameside College’s ‘Greenpower’ challenge kit car project takes off with more schools than ever
Tameside College’s ‘Greenpower’ challenge is bigger than ever this year with five schools taking to the racing track.
Pupils from Denton Community College, Droylsden Academy, St Thomas More School, West Hill School and Mossley Hollins School all took part in the project to build and race electric kit cars.
The Greenpower Trust, which organises the Greenpower challenge, is a national initiative to encourage more young people to take an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects. With the registration of electric cars in the UK growing by 2400% since 2013, the need for experts in the industry is set to grow massively.
Pupils spent two days working with teachers from the college’s automotive department to build the five kit cars from scratch and test them in a time trial. The cars’ gearing and aerodynamics had to be developed to ensure they travelled as far as possible during the race.
On Wednesday 25th September the team competed against 34 other teams from across the UK, at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool. Mossley Hollins School’s kit car finished an impressive 13th in the final race of the day, beating experienced competitors.
Katie Donnelly, pupil at Denton Community College, said:
“I really enjoyed building the car, taking part in something with other young people and being part of a team. Seeing our car race against the other teams made me very proud. It was a lot of fun.”
Janion Slater, head of department for automotive at Tameside College, said: “We are delighted to work with more schools than ever this year for the Greenpower challenge. It’s a fantastic opportunity to engage young people in technology and science in a fun and practical way. If the UK is going to stay at the forefront of these areas we’re going to need a shift in education towards this type of learning. Tameside College has now set the benchmark on this project. Well done to all of the schools that worked with us on this.”
Responses