Feeling technologically challenged? - these kids aren’t…

Posted by Colin Hensley on April 02, 2009 in Uncategorized

I grew up as science loving son of a science teacher & electrical engineer. Unsurprisingly, I am always happy to see projects or activities that help to instil enthusiasm for science into school kids. A really nice example of this is the Toyota Technology Challenge which is aimed at 11-16 year olds in the UK. It is funded by Toyota Fund for Europe, and run by TMUK in collaboration with Rapid.
There are two categories in the challenge. One is building a solar powered car, the other a car with a microcontroller enabling it to detect and avoid obstacles. You can see all of the details in the link above, but the basic idea is this:

• The team registers to participate
• A kit with everything they need to make the vehicle is sent to them
• They produce a folder all about their planned vehicle and submit it (Feb)
• Folder judging – best entries invited to one of 7 regional finals (April)
• At the regionals the folders are presented and vehicles race
• Winners are invited to national final at TMUK (16 May)
• More presentations and racing to find the champions!

This is the 5th year this has been run as a national challenge. Each year they receive about 400 registrations and typically about a quarter will actually submit their entry folder. The first of the regional finals will be held next week in Scotland, so good luck to all of the teams, and watch this space to find out who is successful.

These will be the engineers and scientists of the next decades, developing the technologies and products that we will need to ensure we have a sustainable future. So it’s really important that we get as many students as possible involved in this type of activity, and celebrate their enthusiasm.

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