Newland House School Wins Shell Eco-Marathon at Rockingham
02 July 2010
NEWLAND House School went the extra mile on Wednesday (June 30) at Rockingham and scooped the top prize in the Shell Eco-marathon Youth Challenge UK.
The team from Twickenham competed against 22 other schools from across the UK in this national driving competition where speed is sacrificed for efficiency. Their winning mileage was a staggering 1766 mpg in a car they built from scratch.
The Shell Eco-marathon competition challenges 11-16 year olds to design, build, and test fuel efficient vehicles. Pupils aim to complete the course around Europe's fastest racing circuit - the banked oval at Rockingham using the least fuel possible whilst maintaining a minimum speed of 15mph.
This year the event was truly international as the UK school teams were joined by guest teams from universities in France, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Italy and Switzerland, who were there refining their models for the European event in 2010.
Shell has been running Eco-marathon events for over thirty years in the UK and they are specifically designed to encourage the engineers of tomorrow to continue with their studies of science and engineering subjects.
Holger Paesler, Site Manager Shell Technology Centre Thornton & Global Manager for Shell Global Solutions presented the team with their award. “I’m always impressed by the student’s enthusiasm and would like to congratulate the students at Newland House School on their great achievement. I hope that they will go on to achieve great things in the world of science, technology engineering and maths.”
Barry McGovern, teacher at Newland House, was overjoyed at the achievements of his students. “Taking part in the Shell Eco-marathon has been a wonderful few days with a great atmosphere and stiff competition. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to work together as a team. They have been able to apply theory and use the skills they have learnt in the classroom on the track”
Shell volunteers play an important role in running the event. Staff assisting on the day included the Ferrari Formula 1 Project manager and the scientists who develop fuels for the Ferrari F1 team.
Norman Koch, Shell Eco-marathon Global Technical Manager, based at Thornton, says: “Our team of technical experts has a unique level of expertise in delivering all aspects of this competition, from the vehicle scrutineering to fuel measurement and safety inspections.”
“By participating in the Shell Eco-marathon Youth Challenge UK, the students get practical experience but also learn about how exciting the application of science can be. We hope that it will lead them to consider a career and ultimately opportunities in science to enhance the talent pipeline.”
Find out more about how Shell is promoting scientific careers in the UK on our website www.shell.co.uk
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