Stockport College setting the pace with next generation engineers

Stockport College is hoping to put the next generation of scientists and engineers on the fast track to success.

The college has been named a ‘strategic hub’ for the Bloodhound Supersonic Car as it attempts to break the land speed record.

Students will study the car and develop an online community with other hubs to share ideas and data.

The car uses jet and rocket motors to produce more than seven times the thrust of a grid-full of Formula 1 cars combined.

The cockpit is made of multiple layers of carbon fibre and holds a sophisticated dashboard.

Nik Walker, Director of Corporate Development and Work Based Learning at Stockport College, said: “This is hugely exciting for Stockport College, our learners, staff and the local community.

“We are proud to be part of such a once-in-a-lifetime project that will inspire the next generation to engage in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and the careers they can lead to.

“Bloodhound has turned out to be not just a car, but a catalyst for change and Stockport College and the Greater Manchester business community will be an integral part in that change, helping inspire the schools and students to think differently about science, technology, engineering and maths.

“Over the last 18 months Bloodhound education’s core delivery team has run Bloodhound inspired workshops in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for 750 schools across the country inspiring over 30,000 eight to 14-year-old students to think differently about these subjects and the careers they can lead to.”

The Bloodhound was unveiled at Canary Wharf when project director Richard Noble OBE announced the link-up with Stockport College, which will be representing Greater Manchester.

Andy Green aims to drive Bloodhound across the Hakskeen pan in the Northern Cape of South Africa, trying to reach speeds of 1,000mph, beating the current world land speed record of 763mph set in 1997.

A team of 70 designers and engineers, several universities and over 200 high-tech engineering firms in the UK and 23 other countries have been involved in the design and build of this extraordinary project.

The UK Government and the Bloodhound team have been working together for the last four years to help increase engagement across UK education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Bloodhound are creating regional strategic hubs to host education experiences and distribute CPD and resources to local schools and communities.

Stockport College will be working with the Bloodhound team to deliver inspiring workshops, embed Bloodhound into the college STEM curriculum, develop an online community distributing Key Stage specific STEM learning materials, provide open source engineering and live data supplied by the iconic engineering project and collaborate with other hubs, nationally and internationally and engage with employers in the region to promote STEM careers.

Runway tests are expected to take place in Devon in April 2016.