Full STEM ahead!

Thirteen school teams have worked well beyond the boundaries of the classroom to complete the ‘STEM In The Pipeline’ project run annually by TechFest-SetPoint.

Over the last three months the 17 year olds have put their knowledge of physics, maths, chemistry & geology into practice and produced a field development plan to optimise the production of a realistic field whilst minimising CO2 emissions. Along the way they have been supported by teams of young professionals from BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips. The students will be gathering at BP on Friday December 5th to present their results to a panel of senior industry professionals.

The event is also supported by the Energy Institute who will invite the winning team to present their project to members at their monthly meeting.

The 13 teams taking part are:

The Mavericks from Aberdeen Grammar School
Blue Oak from Banchory Academy
Banffshire's Best from Banff Academy
Fraserburgh Oil Elite from Fraserburgh Academy
W.T.F? (Where's The Fuel?) from The Gordon Schools
INVERCO from Inverurie Academy
AKRAH Oil from Mackie Academy
Pascal's Petroleum from Peterhead Academy
Oilmachar from Oldmachar Academy
That's Classified! from Portlethen Academy
Aberdon from Ellon Academy
Chronic-Oil from Westhill Academy
WEST-TEC from Westhill Academy

Alford Academy Win First-Ever Scottish Heat and Trip to Goodwood!

Could you design, build and race an electric car? Young enterprising engineers and technologists from schools in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Caithness and Clackmannanshire did just that at the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford!

A team of five pupils from Alford Academy won the top prize which included a trip to drive their car at the Greenpower National Final at Goodwood, plus the Best Engineered car award. Shell sponsored the event and will also fund the winning team to represent Scotland at Goodwood. Jim Niven, Shell's Stakeholder Manager said: "We are delighted to support this event to encourage kids to take an interest in engineering and technology. It gives them an invaluable opportunity to experience these subjects hands on, while also gaining skills in teamwork, business, design and marketing. On top of this the whole process of planning, building and racing the cars is great fun for them."

The other prizewinners were :-

2^nd place – Banff Academy with their car "Original BART"
3^rd place plus Fastest Lap – Bankhead Academy with their car " Bankhead Blazers"
Best Car Design – Cordyce School
Spirit of Greenpower Award – Thurso High School
Best presented team – Banchory Academy
Best use of Recycled Materials – Banff Academy with their "BART" car.

Over 120 pupils came together on Sunday 22^nd June at the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford to drive their electric-powered cars and compete against each other for a chance to take their cars to Goodwood! The project is divided into separate 'Formulae' to suit different age groups and to allow continuity from Primary right through to S6 : Primary 7 (Formula Goblin – a 24volt electric motor and 2x12volt batteries); S1-S4 (Formula 24 – a 24 volt electric motor and 4x12 volt batteries) and post 16 years (Formulae 35 and Catapult – as F24 with added suspension). Each stage builds and develops the skills gained from the previous Formula. Students are encouraged to run this project as a racing team focusing not just on the engineering challenge but also to consider the marketing, sponsorship and business aspects involved.

The project was initiated and managed by TechFest-SetPoint, a charity organisation whose aim is to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths to young people

(they organise the science festival TechFest).

It is hoped that this will become an annual event and that more schools and/or clubs will take up the challenge next year!

If you require any further information please contact Frances Chapman on 01224 274191

Notes to Editors

1) TechFest-SetPoint is a charity organisation promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to school children and the wider community. www.techfestsetpoint.org.uk

2) Greenpower is a national project which has been running since 1999 and is designed to promote and encourage young people to develop an interest in and understanding of engineering and technology: www.greenpower.co.uk

3) Shell U.K. Limited is a leader in the UK sector of the North Sea, operating on behalf of Shell, Esso and other co-venturers. It employs directly and indirectly around 5000 in Scotland (circa 9000 in the UK) with about half of the Scottish total based at the Aberdeen headquarters of the Exploration and Production division. The company also operates 3 onshore gas plants stationed at St. Fergus, near Peterhead, and at Bacton, in Norfolk, along with the Mossmorran NGL (natural gas liquids) plant in Fife. Offshore, the company has interests in 59 fields and is operator of 50 of those with 34 platforms and 3 Floating Production Storage Offtake (FPSO) vessels, and 16 subsea installations. As operator it produces around 20% of overall UK oil and gas production.

Participating Schools

Alford Academy

Banchory Academy

Banff Academy – 2 cars

Bankhead Academy

Cordyce School

Dollar Academy

Forfar Academy

Thurso High School

23rd Jun 2008

Other Top Press Releases

16th Jun 2008	Pupils go Green!
28th Feb 2008	Government Minister to Celebrate Pupils’ Achievements
23rd Feb 2008	In the Circle of Death Only One Will Survive
12th Dec 2007	STEM In The Pipeline – Victory for Inverurie Academy
4th Oct 2007	RECORD NUMBERS ATTEND TECHFEST IN SEPTEMBER
26th Sep 2007	TECHFEST-SETPOINT pipeline challenge attracts top students to industry
27th Aug 2007	Local MP to support STEM In The Pipeline 2007

» View Press Release Archives