Leighton Park School – The Greenpower Project Inspires Students!

22 Feb 2017

A mix of 25 engineers and designers from Year 7 -11 have been spending the last few months putting together their creation for the Greenpower Project. Each student has been taking on their own role, whether it be assembling, designing, or fundraising!

The Greenpower Education Trust’s objective is to advance education in the subjects of sustainable engineering and technology and created the Greenpower project to inspire young people to become interested in engineering by getting them to design, build and race their own electric powered car. The event sparks a lot of interest in pupils nationwide, with 450 schools taking part in the event that involves 2 x 90 minute races at some of the best motor sport venues across the UK!

Many schools take the event very seriously and put together proper racing teams as well as a bespoke kit for their designs, however, all teams must follow these stipulations: the car must have the same motor and one pair of 12 volt batteries per race; at least three team members must drive the car and up to six further members can act as pit crew; drivers may only drive for one car and for one team for a minimum of fifteen minutes.

Myles Nash, Head of DT has been guiding students, “The Greenpower project is great opportunity for students to focus on their design and technology skills and embrace engineering by looking at aerodynamics, stream-lining and your ability to manage power”.

Students have been customizing, adapting and assembling their standard kit this term and now will begin fundraising for sponsorship from companies in the local area with any manufacturing expertise or interest in children learning engineering. The races will be taking place in the summer – We look forward to seeing further progress over the coming months!