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Pupils from Woodlands School in Coventry proved they had plenty of drive and ambition by becoming the overall winning team of Matrix 2005 last week - an automotive led competition to find the industry’s young engineers of the future.
Organised by EEF West Midlands and sponsored by Skills4Auto, Jonathan Lee Recruitment and Jaguar Matrix is an educational initiative aimed at encouraging youngsters into the manufacturing industry and experience the automotive and engineering sector first hand. Nine schools from across the Midlands region took part in the 2004/5 final, each partnered by a leading engineering company. Mentors from the likes of Jaguar, Peugeot, Lear Corporation and Denso Manufacturing worked with their allocated team of 15 students for the past year to help provide and incorporate design ideas throughout the whole process.
As part of Matrix 2005, all nine schools were provided with a second hand car and were tasked with redesigning it as if it were a car fit for a superhero. The final was staged as a pupil’s motor show and saw the superhero cars on display during some exciting school presentations.
The winning entry from Woodlands School, in conjunction with Coventry based partner Lear Corporation, was for their winning car for superhero, Titanium Ninja. Titanium Ninja was devised by the school with special powers to protect the world and the ability to turn things into titanium to help him fight his arch enemies. Bob Rainsley from Lear Corporation was also presented with the Best Company Mentor prize.
Other prizes included Best Pupil, Best Teacher and Best Matrix Partnership for the school and the company.
Makhan Singh, project officer at EEF West Midlands, comments, “This project gives 11-14 year olds the opportunity to combine fun with learning. The companies involved brought their extensive expertise to the project and encouraged pupils to also learn in a fun way the highly important skills needed within the engineering and automotive sector.
“I would like to congratulate Woodlands School and Lear Corporation particularly for winning, but also all the schools and companies which took part in the project. Going by the wonderful presentations which took place, the pupils had a great time creating their cars and I’m sure they also gained a valuable insight into the exciting opportunities engineering can offer.”
The final took place at Jaguar, Castle Bromwich on Thursday 14th July.
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Notes to editors:
The teams who entered this year’s competition were:
1. St Michaels School & Sertec
2. Pershore High School & Morgan Motors
3. Sir John Talbots School & Denso Manufacturing
4. Turves Green Girls School & Huf UK
5. Kings Norton Boys School & Pilkington
6. Woodlands School & Lear Corporation
7. Bartley Green School & Jaguar (Castle Bromwich)
8. Coventry Blue Coat School & Peugeot
9. Archbishop Illsley School & Hollow Extrusions
The full run down of winners is as follows:
1. Overall Winning Team - Best Car: Woodlands School
2. Best Pupil - Hannah Saunders from Sir John Talbots School
3. Best Teacher: Brian Hill from St. Michaels School
4. Best Company Mentor: Bob Rainsley from Lear Corporation.
5. Best Matrix Partnership for School and Company: Turves Green Girls and Huf UK
6. Best Presentation: Coventry Blue Coat School
7. Best Portfolio Case Study: Bartley Green School
8. Best Pupil Personal Development: Lee Sandel from St.Michael's School
EEF West Midlands is the largest employers’ association in the region, representing primarily engineering, manufacturing and technology-based organisations. Serving those member companies is a team of 120+ staff providing a wide range of experience and expertise.
EEF West Midlands supports and advises on all aspects of HR including employment law and employee relations (ER). The ER team handles over 600 employment tribunals for members annually. Other areas of support include health, safety and the environment. With its training centres, EEF West Midlands can also help develop the workforce required for businesses to succeed. Regionally and nationally EEF represents the interests of those determining the economic and social conditions in which employers operate.
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