Category Archives: Get Involved

Student gets ‘Drive of his Life’ for Placement Achievement

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Final Year BSc(Hons) Motorsport Technology student, Matthew Brill enjoyed the ‘drive of his life’ recently courtesy of his placement company.

Matthew undertook his year-long placement with Staffordshire University partners Slidesports Race Engineering, who currently undertake a wide variety of consultancy motorsport engineering projects alongside their racing commitments in the UK and internationally.

Matthew with the Pallex Slidesports Porsche Cayman GT4 in Hungary recently. Photo: M Jenkins

Matthew with the Pallex Slidesports Porsche Cayman GT4 in Hungary recently. Photo: M Jenkins

His excellent progress and commitment to the placement didn’t go unnoticed with Slidesports providing him with an end of placement experience to remember – tuition and solo laps in a race prepared Volkswagen Scirocco.

Team Principal Mark Jenkins said,

“Matthew came to us in September 2015 and he’s made himself an invaluable member of the team, he’s worked extremely hard all season and that’s why we arranged this experience for him. I’d be happy to do that again for any placement student that showed the same calibre Matthew did.”

Slidesports have worked in partnership with Staffordshire University for nearly a decade to provide ‘live’ work based learning experience to students on the Foundation Degree and BSc(Hons) Motorsport Technology awards.

Matthew following his solo laps in a race prepared Volkswagen Scirocco. Photo: M Jenkins

Matthew following his solo laps in a race prepared Volkswagen Scirocco. Photo: M Jenkins

During Matthew’s placement year he has worked on an extensive range of cars including the Pallex Slidesports Porsche Cayman GT4, the Team BRIT Volkswagen Golf GTi and rally cars.

Matthew had very little mechanical experience prior to his placement, and feels he;

“gained an amazing amount of experience during the placement, allowing the classroom knowledge I’d gained to be put into practice.”

For more information on Staffordshire University Motorsport courses, click here, or contact enquiries@staffs.ac.uk or to contact Slidesports Race Engineering, info@slidesports.co.uk

Staffordshire Greenpower Event

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Debi Roberts, Award Leader for the Automotive and Motorsport Awards at Staffordshire University, gives her personal view on volunteering at STEM activities…

“I’m not normally one for making this blog personal – while there might be the odd personal reflection in an entry, I’ve always tried to make sure that this blog reflects the courses it represents, that I am responsible for, in my role as Award Leader for Automotive and Motorsport, rather than it being me standing on my soapbox offering opinion on everything. However given how personal the STEM Ambassador scheme is to me – how it was one of the activities that gave me confidence to step out side my comfort zone as a new lecturer – perhaps it’s entirely fitting that this entry takes on a personal tone.

Standing at 8:30 am on a quiet but windswept former airfield just outside Stafford, after only one cup of coffee (or even worse, only one cup of earl grey!), likely doesn’t sound like most people’s first idea of a fun day away from the office – but then, this is me!

Around me, a group of volunteers from various companies and industries – coming together to build safety barriers and set up for the events going on during the day.

The Seighford site was about to become the venue for a range of motorsport events – a drag race, timed lap and slalom challenge took up the morning before a set of races consisting of heats and a final took place in the afternoon. All of the teams were local schools and the cars?  These were Greenpower Formula Goblins – designed for 9 -11 year old school children to experience engineering within the curriculum.

Newcastle Under Lyme School (with thanks to the School for the image)

Newcastle Under Lyme School (with thanks to the School for the image)

This is an event I’ve volunteered for a number of times over the years – the excitement and the energy of the children always reminds me why I became a STEM Ambassador in the first place – to use my passion and experience to inspire others, but to make sure they have fun at the same time. I guess my experience as a Brownie Leader and a University Lecturer mean that it becomes very easy for me to step into that ambassador role, and I tend to make a beeline for events where I am leading an event or section of an event – playing on my strengths I guess! However there are so many roles that are needed at the various STEM events over the year – something for everyone.

As usual I was part of the team managing the slalom event – great because it gives me a chance to work with another STEM Ambassador and former colleague Alex. While a huge benefit of the STEM Ambassador role is getting to work with different groups and people, some of whom you wouldn’t generally see in your work environment, sometimes it is nice to work with colleagues, both past and present. Especially when you’d worked together for almost a decade (ouch – cue feeling just a little bit old on realising that!) – the part of the event that you’ve been involved in seems to run just that little bit more smoothly.

Kingsland Academy’s video of the event below (reproduced here with the school’s permission) gives an idea of the day’s events.

The day ends of a prize giving for the teams with a multitude of categories, these are awarded by Phil Brocklehurst of the local IMechE branch and myself in my Staffordshire University, Senior Lecturer role (thanks to Malcolm and Kevin for delightfully dropping this on me at the last minute!). Another thing I’ve found when working as a STEM Ambassador or volunteer – always be flexible!

Newcastle under Lyme School wining the main award at Seighford. (Picture kindly provided by the school)

Newcastle under Lyme School wining the main award at Seighford. (Picture kindly provided by the school)

So, as a STEM Ambassador, you can bring a passion for your area of STEM, or perhaps any area. You can help to engage and enthuse young minds and perhaps even educate them on a new area. More than that though, as is often the case, the teacher becomes the student – you can stretch yourself, increase your confidence and remind yourself just why you became interested in science, technology, engineering or mathematics in the first place. I’m working on encouraging my students and graduates to became more involved in STEM activities as it will give them just as much as the people they work with.”

 

Welcome Week 2015

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It’s been a little while since our last blog post, pre- semester preparation giving way to clearing. This was followed rapidly by our new and old students joining or returning to the campus for the excitement that is Welcome Week and the start of a new term. As the chaos of the first week dies down, we thought this was a fantastic time to bring you up to date with the activities of our students during Welcome Week 2015.

Our new Level 4 Automotive and Motorsport students joined us on the Monday, where Award Leader Debi Roberts briefed them on the awards they were going to be studying and the key rules and regulations they needed to stay on the right side of during their time at the University. Sounds a little dry perhaps, but by knowing exactly what is expected from the start, we can avoid any situations further down the line.

Time was also taken to help the students find their timetables and learn to access systems such as the email and Blackboard learning environment.

It was not all work for the students though, a School of Engineering buffet was held to allow them to meet their tutors and get to know other students on the Engineering courses and for the Automotive and Motorsport students – a free trip to the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon was organised for the Thursday.

After travelling down to Gaydon, we were given a tour of the exhibits by the museum staff, who were able to supplement the students own knowledge with their own tales of the history and the engineering of the exhibits. We then got to explore the rest of the museum and hear the plans for the new hall – currently being build nearby. All of us had a fantastic day with some really interesting discussions taking place.

Students discussing the engineering challenges of one of the first ‘modern’ automobiles

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National Motorsport Week

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It’s National Motorsport Week this week (27 June – 5 July 2015) – this is a celebration of the UK Motorsport Industry. It encompasses a busy week for the UK Motorsport scene, the Goodwood Festival of Speed starting the week, the first Formula E race in London and finishing with the F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend.

However, it’s not just about those high profile events, National Motorsport Week is about initiatives and activities to promote UK Motorsport. This can range from novice taster events, to factory visits and open days. It’s about promoting the industry, inspiring the excitement to new audiences – this brings more interest, more spectators, more competitors, more officials and marshals – and as a result more jobs and a huge benefit to the UK economy.

Here’s some UK Motorsport Industry facts provided by the National Motorsport Week team to show what a big deal this is;

  • The 750 or so motor clubs registered with the MSA have an estimated national membership of a staggering 200,000, with more than 32,000 MSA Competition Licence holders in the UK.
  • Britain has produced more F1 World Champions than any other nation – 10 title winners; Brazil and Finland are up next with 3 each.
  • More British drivers (32) have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans than those representing any other nation, including hosts France (27).
  • Seven out of the 10 current F1 teams are based in the UK
  • Over 4,300 UK companies are involved in the high-technology business world of Motorsport, and performance engineering, with £9 billion of combined annual turnover, of which £3 billion is exported.
  • Motorsport in the UK supports nearly 41,000 full and part time jobs, of which some 25,000 are qualified engineers.
  • Motorsport is a genuine UK success story and something this country should be very proud of.

So if you are looking to get involved in Motorsport – what is the best way?

Volunteering?

All Motorsport events need volunteers to help run them both safely and effectively. Getting involved in marshalling, scrutineering, timekeeping or rescue will get you out there and involved – volunteers are welcome at any are, although there may be restrictions on the duties you can do. The best place to start is the Volunteers in Motorsport website.

Driving?

The really good news for those getting involved in competitive motorsport is the range of different disciplines to pick from. This means there is something for every person. From arrive and drive karting championships and track days to formal competition, there are plenty of chances to find something that suits you.

Working?

Motorsport has wide ranging career choices, and it’s a worthwhile and rewarding industry. However, it can involve working long hours, weekends and being away from home…. Not to mention being exposed to the elements…. So if you’re still interested… What do you need? 

Again this depends on the path you wish to take – Engineers will want to be looking at English, Maths and Sciences – moving on to these at school or college and then maybe looking at these or more vocational qualifications before considering University and one of the many Motorsport, Automotive or Engineering courses out there.

But Motorsport is not just about Engineering: there are so many supporting business roles – sales, marketing, accounting, project management. You need to think about what you enjoy and where you want to be in the future; office role or more practical?

It’s great to gain experience, work on your own vehicle, help out a local team with basic duties, volunteer as a marshal to get experience and meet others but most importantly, learn about the industry, and look at the skills you are gaining and how they might be transferable too.

Watching?

Watching on television is one thing, but nothing beats the experience of seeing motorsport live, the smell, sights and sounds are spectacular! There are over 4,500 events taking place every year, all over the country, so you are bound to find something of interest near you. It’s well worth checking out GoMotorsport for events.

There’s a way for everyone to get involved so however you want to do so, get out there and get involved in Motorsport in your area.