Tavistock College’s technology faculty have launched a very exciting new engineering project. IET Formula 24 aims to inspire students into exciting careers in engineering and other STEM subjects. Students will design and build an electric single-seater race car which they will eventually race against other schools regionally and nationally at Goodwood circuit. The project started in November this year when Head of Technology, Mr Pete Keegan, launched the project to all year 8 and 9 students in assemblies. To be selected for the team, students had to apply for a range of specific roles within the team. They had to prove their passion and demonstrate any relevant experience that would make them a suitable candidate.
Mr Keegan said: “We are really trying to give the project a ‘real-world context’ and give students a taste of what applying for a job is actually like. We hope to maintain this as a strong theme throughout the project, giving it a career context. After scrutinising many applications the team were selected. The proud and excited students are Jack Kelly of Year 10 (who will be taking on the role of captain), Jack Kerswill (Year 9), Erin Bolding (Year 8), Tom Harrison (Year 9), Bryce Lovell (Year 9), Ben Anning (Year 9) and Sebastian Hennessay-Dobbs (Year 9).
To start the project, the team needed to get fundraising as the initial start-up cost to build a Formula 24 kit car chassis is just over two thousand pounds. So far the team have sourced over half of this through some generous sponsorship from the College’s Trustees, Tavistock Rotary Club and the Tavistock Lyons club. The team have since been spending every spare moment of every day manufacturing laser-cut reindeers which were sold for Christmas gifts via Southwest Crafts and Brigid Foley in Tavistock, as well as through various craft events locally. We have managed to raise over £2,000 so far. Now the students are being given some additional lessons in Race physics, Computing applications in racing, Maths in racing and Computer Aided Design – to enhance their skills ready for the big project ahead. The students would be delighted to receive any further sponsorship and would welcome any assistance from the community or local industry. Watch this space for further news on this exciting project!
