College News

Duke of York and Hovercrafts

QE’s annual Engineering Challenge Day was a great success, made even more memorable by the presence of HRH the Duke of York.

The Challenge Day sees around 100 Year 9 and Year 10 pupils from Darlington schools descend on QE with a brief to design and build a working hovercraft capable of racing and carrying a pilot. It’s a fun, educational day organised by QE with the support of the University of Bradford and Darlington’s Foundation for Jobs. The aim is to get the pupils working in teams to problem solve, engage with engineering and use their maths and science in a real life way.

Vice Principal, Steve Hunnisett, worked with QE’s Future Engineer students and professors from the University of Bradford  to assist the Year 9s and 10s. Steve explains:

‘It’s always a great event but the visit of Prince Andrew added to the excitement of this year’s challenge. The Duke of York asked to come along and really joined in the spirit of it all. He talked to the teams, asked questions about their experiences and started off the race between the hovercrafts of Carmel and Hurworth schools.  He also presented a trophy to Hurworth who won this part of the competition.  After the Duke of York left, there were further races with Darlington School of Maths and Science being the victors of the Great Race Off.’

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