A group of students from Birmingham City University are proving they are quick off the starting blocks as they set about transforming a small domestic car into a racing car.
The budding engineers from the Universitys School of Engineering, Design and Manufacturing Systems are working with Scandinavias largest race car manufacturer, Aquila Racing Cars, to learn first-hand the skills required to put them in pole position for when they graduate into the professional motorsport industry.
The new training programme, dubbed The Synergy, will help students to develop a range of practical engineering skills involved in the design and build of a lightweight and fuel efficient single seat race car.
Parmjit Chima, Head of Birmingham City Universitys School of Engineering, Design and Manufacturing Systems, said: This real-world project is teaching our students many aspects associated with motorsports and STEM in just one vehicle! It provides a unique real hands-on experience for all our motorsport students as they tackle the project to build a race car from scratch.
The Aquila Synergy car kit is now being offered out to other schools, colleges and universities across the UK to assist in the teaching of STEM subjects.
This is an inspirational project for budding future engineers of all levels, whether they are at school or university, who will ensure the continued growth and success of the industry in the UK.
According to a recent report published by Engineering UK, 1.82 million engineers will be required between 2012 and 2022. If not enough young people train to be engineers, the UK economy will potentially miss out on £27 billion per year from 2022.
For more information, please contact:
Birmingham City University
Millennium Point
Curzon Street
Birmingham
B4 7XG
Tel: +44 121 331 5400
Web: www.bcu.ac.uk/computing-engineering-and-the-built-environment
New racing car programme to address skills shortage
