Arran Schools’ Engineering Challenge
Rory Cowan of Kildonan is sponsoring an engineering challenge for all Arran children of school age. The final will be held on Saturday 19th March in Kildonan Hall. The competition details and entry form can be found at the end of this article.
The background for this is my engineering experience and my wish to ensure that the importance of engineering is not lost in the stampede for fame that seems to be the media’s desire for all youngsters to pursue. In the UK we do not really understand the fundamental importance of engineering in our society and we do not appreciate how important the contribution of the engineer is. There is very little what we use, consume or look at in our world that has not have some form of engineering input – be that a piece of fruit that has been picked, packaged and delivered to a supermarket, or at the other end of the spectrum the space probe. Engineers are involved in making raw materials, manufactured goods, processes, designs prototypes etc etc and society just takes it for granted. By contrast France does consider its engineers more worthy of recognition by contrast to the UK where we have members of that profession who are as well qualified and equally competent – some would argue more so and largely unrecognised. As an indication of how good we are at engineering, all you need to do is to research the huge numbers of British inventions that have been exported for commercial gain and exploitation. Frankly we want to do some of that exploiting ourselves and the first step in that direction is to recognise we can do it and then demonstrate that we can take those ideas and develop them. So enough of the tub thumping, let’s look at how the competition came into being.
Firstly I have always wanted to promote engineering somehow and the opportunity came recently when I was left a modest legacy by my aunt. I have therefore set aside a sum of money to promote this competition for the next 10 years or so and this is the first of those competitions.
The competition is open to all children being educated on the island and who are not old enough to drive a car on the day of judging. In brief the task is to build a cantilever to be attached to an anchor on a table and the cantilever has to reach 1 metre from the edge of the table. The cantilever has to support a weight of 3kgs without breaking and is to be made from softwood, 80gsm paper, fishing line and glue (not superglue). The entry has to be able to fit in a particular size of box on arrival at the venue, and construction / assembly has to be completed at the venue. Teams are to be of up to 3, the average age of the team will be calculated and used to weight the marking as will the verbal presentation and the workmanship of the entry. The initial mark for each entry will be calculated by dividing the weight of the entry into 3 kgs. This will provide a number which will then be adjusted by the three factors – age, workmanship and presentation. There will be a judging panel of three, at least two of which will be professional engineers (or retired engineers).
So that’s the competition. Say thanks to my Aunt Rachel for enabling it to happen with the prize money and let’s hope there are some spectacular entries and a keen competition. – Oh yes and no cheating by getting your dad or mum – or elder brother or sister to do it!!
We will consider the volume of entries on 7th March and may have to decide thereafter to close the entry if there are a very large number of competitors.
The competition rules can be found here and the entry form is here.
