HANDS-on students at a Rugby secondary school came top of the class at a major competition designed to get more young people involved in manufacturing.
A team from Lawrence Sheriff School beat off 14 other schools to win the Design and Make Challenge Manufacturing Award at the University of Warwick’s Innovation District.
Rhianna Lear, Daniel Harker, Alex Jackson and Tabitha Kimberley used a box of simple materials to build a device that could securely lift a 23kg metal block with nothing more than a pulley system.
The students designed, tested and built their solution, working closely with apprentices from eight Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN) companies and graduate engineers from the university.
As part of the prize package, Lawrence Sheriff School received a 3D Printer which will be used to develop additive manufacturing and design skills.
Austin Owens, Managing Director at Grove Design and Co-Chair of the Manufacturing Assembly Network, said: “What a fantastic way to celebrate the fifth year of the Design and Make Challenge, with the biggest turnout of students we’ve ever had – that really shows the appetite to learn more about a possible career in industry.
“The competition is all about inspiring young people to get hands-on with design and engineering skills, working together to come up with a solution that then competes with other schools in terms of efficiency, innovation and design for manufacture.
“All of the MAN companies were so impressed with the quality of thinking and the sheer commitment from pupils to see their ideas through.
“That’s what our sector is all about and I’m sure we’ve seen potential engineers from Lawrence Sheriff in the room during this competition.
