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Teenage eco- tycoons Make It in industry
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05/02/2010
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Future designers, engineers, manufacturers and marketers demonstrated their environmental credentials when they entered the Hyde Group Make It Enterprising Schools Challenge. The 13 and 14-year-old boys and girls from high schools across Manchester competed to create, market and sell a world-beating eco-vehicle for land, sea or air.
The event took place at Wellacre Technology College, Flixton, Manchester, which is one of the first specialist high schools in the country to offer the pioneering new Diploma in Manufacturing and Product Design (MPD). It was part of The Manufacturing Institute's Make It in Manufacturing campaign (www.makeit.org.uk) to attract young people into the sector.
The teenagers responded to a tough challenge set by The Hyde Group, which is responsible for making key aerospace components for the likes of Rolls Royce, Airbus and BAE Systems.
Each team established a mini-manufacturing company for the day and selected job roles; from managing director to operations managers, through to finance, sales and marketing managers.
They developed, designed and costed their ideas and then pitched them to a panel of business investment 'dragons' from The Hyde Group, and Salford University.
The winning multi-school team 'Riot Rhino Police Protection' developed a fuel-efficient crime fighting vehicle in the shape of a rhinoceros, with tracks instead of wheels so that it could manage all terrains (pictured).
At the end of the event 37% of the pupils said they were definitely considering taking the MPD Diploma with a further 45% saying they were interested in the qualification and would like to hear more. As well, 96% of the pupils said that the day had improved their understanding of the range of jobs available in the sector.
Photo caption:
Sarah Stott of Flixton Girls School and Jack Taylor of Wellacre Technology College are pictured with their winning Riot Rhino crime fighting vehicle
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Author
Ken Hurst
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