One of our most recent awards has supported an exciting project at Ferndown Upper School. We were invited to a presentation by a team of 4 students, ‘FernDrive,’ who are taking part in the South-West of England ‘F1 in Schools’ competition. They have to design and manufacture a miniature car out of the official F1 Model Block using CAD/CAM design tools. The cars are powered by CO2 cartridges, and they have to follow extensive regulations in a similar way to Formula 1. The competition tests the speed of the car, assesses a creative ‘pit wall’ based on the team, and a 10-minute presentation amongst many other things. The winning team will go through to the UK Finals, and the top three teams from the Nationals go to the World Finals.

The student’s passion for Formula 1 was evident and their commitment to the work involved to enter the competition was truly inspiring. The presentation was excellent, and we were delighted to be able to offer funding to help to give them the best chance to succeed.

Entering this competition will provide a huge range of experience which will give these students an important advantage when looking to enter STEM based industry in the future.

We wish them every success for the South-West of England Competition in the New Year.