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Bradford Beauty sees off Mr G's Panda

An University of Bath product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 17, 2003

Five year 10 pupils from St Laurence School in Bradford-on-Avon have triumphed in the Schools Dragster competition organised by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath.

Five year 10 pupils from St Laurence School in Bradford-on-Avon have triumphed in the Schools Dragster competition organised by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath.

The competition is designed to find the fastest spring-propelled dragster to complete a 10m course.

Each team was supplied with an axle assembly, a standard extension spring and fishing line by the university and the schools had to provide materials for the body of the dragster.

Each dragster was timed from a standing start, and catapults were not allowed.

Nine teams took part from the John Bentley School in Calne; St Gregory's College, Bath; Hartcliffe School and St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon.

The design and construction of the dragsters varied considerably, from the lightest at 71g up to the heaviest at 209g, with the lighter dragsters proving superior.

Each entry was allowed three timed runs down the 10m track, with the best time to count.

One of two entries from St Laurence School, Blythe's Bradford Beauty, set the standard with its first run of 2.47s, which proved unbeatable.

In second place was Mr G's Panda from St Gregory's College with a time of 3.30s, and in third place was Red Flame from Hartcliffe School in 3.41s.

The winning team comprised Matthew Blythe, Kristen Orrell, Amanda Bolton, Sophie Everard and Rachel Hogg.

Their dragster, made from a carbon fibre fishing rod with CD-ROMs for wheels, was designed during lessons in graphic products with the Head of Design and Technology at St Laurence School, Paul Quinn, who received book tokens to the value of GBP 75 for the school.

"The competition has really made the pupils think for themselves", said Quinn, "and today has given them a real sense of achievement.

It has brought home to them the necessity of testing designs".

The competition was funded by the Balance project that is intended to encourage wider participation in engineering.

After the prize giving the schools were given a tour of the Department of Mechanical Engineering by Senior Lecturer Dr Jos Darling, who organised the competition and was very pleased with the outcome.

"It was great to see the school pupils having a fun time bringing engineering to life in this design and build exercise", he said.

"I know the students put a lot of time and effort into their designs and this paid off with a number of excellent dragster designs that were both original and well built.

An excellent time was had by all and no one went away empty handed".

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