WMG gets budding engineers in Coventry primary school revved up about a life in engineering

Local budding engineers from a Coventry’s Howes Primary School will be working alongside researchers from WMG, at the University of Warwick, to get a taste of what a career in engineering is really like by building and racing their own electric vehicles.

The Greenpower Education Trust looks to address the skills gap that is growing in the UK automotive industry by engaging students in engineering at a young age. Pupils aged 9 to 11 will be given their own electric kit cars to design, build and race - guided by their teachers and supporting mentors from WMG and engineering students from Warwick. Pupils will then compete with their car in a regional Greenpower IET Formula Goblin race, scheduled to take place towards the end of the school year in 2017.

The initiative is supported by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) and the APC Spoke Community. WMG is the Electrical Energy Storage Spoke for the APC, and will be supporting Aaron, Amber, Hana, Matthew and Maya from Howes Primary School, in Coventry, in trying to win the competition.

Professor David Greenwood from WMG said “We are delighted to be working with Howes Primary School on this exciting project to build and race their own electric car. The IET Formula Goblin competition is an excellent initiative which shows young people some of the fun and rewarding ways that they can engage with science and engineering subjects. The Howes team were selected as our winners based on their highly creative and innovative poster submission showing the ways that they think people will travel in the year 2050. I look forward to seeing how they will bring their creative approach to the car build.”

Sioux Cooke, Head Teacher of Howes Primary School said "Our whole school community is extremely excited about being given the opportunity to take part in this amazing project. Engineering is a key focus for us as we have just embarked on a three-year European STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) project.

Rebecca Bollands, Deputy Headteacher added "We can't wait to start working with engineers from the University of Warwick so that we can develop a good understanding of science, technology and engineering and then apply it in such an exciting way. We are very proud of the winning team who worked incredibly hard on their entry."

Chris Baylis, Chairman of Greenpower commented “Greenpower Education Trust is thrilled that the APC UK has given schools from across the UK the chance to win Goblin Kit Cars. The winning schools will be working with local universities during the project, which we at Greenpower believe is a fantastic opportunity for children at such a young age to start to develop their skills in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) whilst linking with higher education and an amazing organisation such as APC, who are also driving change for future generations.”

Notes to Editors:

The seven schools and their sponsors in the national project are as follows:

• Aston-on-Trent Primary School - Loughborough University

• Bourmoor Primary School – University of Newcastle

• Broad Heath Primary School – The Advanced Propulsion Centre

• Elwick Primary School – University of Newcastle/University of Nottingham

• Howes Primary School - WMG, University of Warwick

• Round Hill Primary School – University of Nottingham

• Somervale School – University of Bath

The APC Spokes are academic centres of excellence that focus on key technology areas in the automotive industry. Their purpose is to support collaboration between academia and industry. Each of these have joined the APC in sponsoring a primary school to encourage the youngsters to start thinking about a future in engineering.

For further information please contact

Lisa Barwick, Head of Marketing and Communications, WMG,

University of Warwick Tel: 024 76 524721 or 07824 540845 L.Barwick@warwick.ac.uk

Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Policy

University of Warwick

Tel UK 024 76523708 office

07767 655860 mobile

Tel Overseas:

+44 (0)24 76523708 office

+44 (0)7767 655860 mobile/cell

Email p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PR501 10^th November 2016

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