Greenpower, the national programme to promote engineering and technology to students through a project to design, build and race an electric car, has reached a record number of participants.
After 10 years of development, the project now has over 5,000 children and young adults participating this year and over 600 schools across the UK involved.
Greenpower is a nationwide project that asks young people aged 9-25 throughout the UK to take on the challenge of designing, building and racing an electric car to compete against other teams all over the country, while giving participants an insight into the real, tangible world of engineering. The top 75 cars from regional heats take part in a national final – this year to be held on 17th October at Goodwood race track.
Since starting in 1999, Greenpower now holds the ‘Goblin Formula’ series for primary schools, ‘Formula 24’ for secondary schools and ‘Formula 24+’ for those aged 16-25. As the competition advances through the different age groups, the task of meeting the specifications becomes more challenging and engaging. This continuous development within the competition itself encourages its participants further into developing their own skills and knowledge, and allows a team to stay with the competition throughout their education, getting more enthusiastic as they go.
Jeremy Way from Greenpower says: “We are delighted that we have reached such a milestone in Greenpower participants. The competition is becoming increasingly popular and the record numbers taking part is testament to the projects unique approach to engineering and its ability to bring together and excite young people. “
Siemens is supporting The Greenpower Education Trust with funding, some of which will be directed towards match funded bursaries to encourage more schools to get involved. The company also hopes to help local schools and projects by providing information and engineering expertise on the topic of electric cars.
Andreas J. Goss, Chief Executive at Siemens plc, said: Greenpower is a fantastic project to involve young people in sustainability and electric car engineering in an exciting and fun way. Projects like this are invaluable to companies such as Siemens, helping us to reach tomorrow’s talent by engaging young people in engineering and science from an early age, as well as addressing the topics that underpin challenges of the future. We hope that our support will result in many more schools and young people taking on the electric car challenge and choosing science and engineering as their future career path.”
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About Greenpower
Greenpower promotes engineering as a rewarding career to anyone aged 9-25, while also focusing on sustainable engineering, teamwork and the community. The annual Corporate Challenge provides an opportunity for companies to get involved and compete against school teams. Following the design and build of an electric racing car, at all levels the project culminates in events at well known venues such as Goodwood, whether it is a driving skills test for primary schools or the unique four hour endurance race for older students and corporate teams.
For more information, visit www.greenpower.co.uk
Contact:
Emma Tyler
Greenpower Education Trust
Tel. +44 (0)1243 552305
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 167 years ago and now employs 17,000 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £4.2 billion. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
For more information, contact:
Kerry Milton
Siemens plc
Tel. +44 (0)1276 696338
Mob: +44 (0)7808 826389
Kerry.milton@siemens.com
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