Written by Olivia Warburton.
TALENTED students from Alcester Grammar School fought off tough competition to become one of the main winners at the first ever ‘Design and Make challenge’, organised by the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN).
Four students, Henry Sherrington-Lodge, Ellie Barker, Frazer Forbes and Will Baxter, represented their school and impressed judges with their teamwork and creativity, taking the manufacturing title.
As they were one of three main winners of the day, the students brought home an amazing Ultimaker 3D printing machine for their school.
Ellie Barker, one of the lucky participants, said: “It was a quality day and a great opportunity to do something different, working as part of a team to solve a problem.
“It certainly made me want to focus more on being an engineer – the industry needs more female engineers.”
The students were given a box of materials and the task of designing and making a device capable of lifting 13kg, using just a friction grip.
The pupils from Alcester Grammar came up with a concept that successfully met the brief and was chosen as the design that would be the easiest to manufacture on a large scale.
The event, hosted by Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), is the first in a number of activities created by MAN in order to help develop the next generation of keen future engineers.
Austin Owens, founder of Grove Designs, said: “We want to get young people excited about design and engineering so decided to bring the collective strengths of the group together and host a special challenge that would get them thinking about STEM skills, designing and making a solution for a real engineering problem.”
