T-Level students hoping for great track record after winning start
Students on our Engineering and Manufacturing T-Level are hoping they can establish a great track record after a winning start with their first project.
The students are pictured with tutor Martin Keegan during the build of the go kart and at Croft Circuit.
For they have won an award after building an electric go kart to race at Croft Circuit, near Dalton-on-Tees, as part of a nationwide competition.
The young engineers on the Technical Qualification in Maintenance, Installation and Repair for Engineering and Manufacturing put together all the key components including the chassis, drive shafts, brakes and electric motor.
They were the only ones who built their go kart from scratch and won the award for ‘Best Presented Team’.
T-Level Course Lead/Tutor Martin Keegan said: “This is a big achievement for the students, having only started their engineering journey last September.
“Some of the students hadn’t even picked up a screwdriver but now they have experience of milling, turning, hand-fitting, aluminium fabrication and technical drawing of components which they then manufactured.
“Their practical skills have come on leaps and bounds throughout this project. Embedding this project into the T-Level curriculum as proven a success and will help shape next year’s curriculum, where the students can practice reverse engineering the go-kart to improve it for the next competition. I am very proud of what they have achieved in a short space of time.”
The competition was run by the Greenpower Education Trust, which inspires young people around the world to excel in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) through the unique challenge of designing, building and racing an electric car.
The UK-based charity uses the excitement of motorsport to kick-start careers in engineering by helping to unlock potential and spark enthusiasm for STEM subjects.
One of the award-winning T Level students Jacob Normal, 17, of Crook, said: “Croft was a great experience and driving the kart was fun. It was great to see our hard work pay off. It was interesting seeing other kart designs and learning what we could do better in the future.”
Fellow student Luke Anderson, also 17, of Bishop Auckland, added: “Croft was a very intense but fun experience, it allowed us to gain a wide range of knowledge and gave us the opportunity to experience being part of a pit crew. Seeing out design go round the track, going faster than other karts was very exciting. Overall a good experience and good day!”
• Find out more about the T-Level and other full and part-time engineering and plumbing courses apprenticeships at swdt.co.uk
