London, 2010-Apr-26
Siemens has announced that it is supporting Greenpower, a national programme to promote engineering and technology to students aged 9-25 through a unique hands-on project to design, build and race an electric car.
With this year’s challenge kicking off on Sunday 25th April at Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex, Greenpower is a nationwide project that asks young people 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.
Siemens is supporting The Greenpower Education Trust with funding and has committed to help boost participation through its existing network of schools and encouraging employees to become involved in helping with projects and events. Siemens is keen to widen participation and will host events for schools across the UK. It has also agreed with Greenpower that some of the support funding will be directed towards match funded bursaries to encourage more schools to get started. The company also hopes to help local schools and projects by providing information and engineering expertise in 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.”
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 to have the support of Siemens this year, which will be valuable in making the project an even bigger success this year. The competition is becoming increasingly popular, with record numbers taking part last year. This is testament to the projects unique approach to engineering and its ability to bring together and excite young people from a variety of different areas and backgrounds. “
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Notes to editors:
Siemens and e-mobility
Siemens researchers are working on all aspects of electro mobility, including vehicle technology, energy management, power electronics and sensor technology. Siemens and car manufacturer Ruf have developed ‘The Greenster’ - a fast electric sport scar that has zero carbon emissions and is based on a Porsche 911 Turbo. As well as supplying the integrated motor/generator system for the Greenster, Siemens is looking at delivering ‘smart grid’ infrastructure that will enable cities to lead the world in zero-emission electric cars.
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 167 years ago and now employs 16,915 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
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 Bazeley
Greenpower Education
TrustTel. +44 (0)1243 552305
