Young Engineer of the Year 2018
- Luke Nixon
- Jun 12, 2018
- 2 min read
When we were asked to take part in KMF Young Engineer of the Year we couldnt really say no. Our MD Shaun Lees is a governer and his children attend Birches Head Academy, it was meant to be.
The Mechanix were born (well, selected) and the team were set out to make an Ecart, they needed to consider design, weight and aerodynamics. So it was handy to be partnered up with one of the best steel fabricators in the country (Im bound to be a little bias).
The cart frame, electrics and motor were all donted by Greenpower.
After a lot of hard work, time, effort and maybe a little stress from a few involved the cart was built and ready for track day at Mallory Park, Leicestershire.
The sun was out, my legs were too, and all the schools, sponsors and event team were ready to go. The event was covered by the media in the forms of Signal 1's Johnty and also BBC's own Mike Bushell. The atmosphere was great and the children were focussed on the task ahead.
The day consisted of two races, the first being fastest lap and the second be an endurance race. But most importantly it was about winning...oh and having fun of course!
Throughout the day we were able to track progress of the race and times etc via Greenpowers website. It was great to see the consistancy we managed to get with our cart. Running at an average speed of 15.1 mph and lap times of 3 minutes 59 seconds. We were not the quickest but there we no major faults on the day and the team should be very proud of themselves.
There were some amazing results produced on the day and some of the carts looked fantastic.
The one thing that made The Mechanix cart stand out was the clear white bodywork covered in hundreds of signatures from various pupils and teachers associated with Birches Head Academy. You could pay a small donation to sign the cart with all proceeds going to local charity The Douglas Macmillan Hospice. A wonderful gensture and over £300 was raised.
At the end of the event all of the pupils and teachers involved were awarded with a medal with the full presentation and winners to be decided at the awards night on 3rd July.
Its been a very well organised and thought out event, a big well done to KMF for organising and also to all of the other local businesses and schools for taking part.
Next year will give the schools and pupils a chance to build there very own Robot Wars machine! Not im sure we have a few cutting discs free for this one!
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