18 Teams, Two Races, One Venue…

STOKE-ON-TRENT, U.K. - July 16, 2014 - PRLog -- Months of planning, constructing and a bit of last minute tinkering and perfecting paid off for the EMR sponsored St Margaret Ward team, which secured itself the runner up prize at the race day awards presentation.

Midlands based manufacturing company KMF run their Young Engineer of the Year programme every year to help encourage an interest in engineering at schools in Stoke and the surrounding areas.  KMF rallies the support of local businesses and pairs them up with participating schools, which then have to construct their racing machines and get them ready for the big day.

International metal recycler EMR pledged its commitment to the scheme for this first time this year and was delighted to be paired with the CatholicAcademy.  “We had such a positive response from the students when we first went into the school that it was clear from the start that this was going to be a really great partnership,” said EMR Manager Paul Bodkin.

Under the watchful eye of EMR Fitter Dave Powell, the group of students quickly got to work on turning their pile of bits and pieces into a fully fledged ‘bat mobile.’  “Dave was regularly on hand to offer support and guidance and we couldn’t have done it without him,” said Rob Fryer, Head of Product Design at St Margaret Ward School.

As race day approached, excitement mounted and race day tactics became a hot topic of conversation amongst the students.  The two 1.5 hour races were going to be a test of endurance and the team were eager to hit the track!

Both races were glitch free for the St Margaret Ward/ EMR team and their reliable vehicle kept to a steady pace as others around them started to fall.  “It was such as great experience.  The children thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m really proud of what they managed to achieve,” said Dave Powell.