technology
department
news
|
The
following items have been extracted from the parents newsletters written
December 2007 F1
Challenge The
F1 challenge is a technology challenge, offered to schools and colleges
throughout the UK and across the world. The objective is to work on
enterprise principles to form a team which will design, test, make and
race a car exactly like a real F1 team. Harris academy entered three
teams from S3- S6 in the regional event at sensation in November of this
year, competing against 14 other Scottish schools. They managed to put
together a portfolio, presentation and manufacture their car all within
6 months, rather than the normal 10 month timescale. They all put on an excellent display, impressing the judges with their PowerPoint presentations, project folio, team pit stands and scaled F1 cars. All teams were judged on the above factors as well as their team identity and sponsorship gained, the accumulation of points would decide the highest in the three age categories on the day. The sixth year team gained 1st place in their category, as well as this, their car was one of the fastest on the day. They have now gone through to the national final in Birmingham on the 14th January, we wish they the best of luck.
December 2006 Engineering
for Life On Tuesday 14th November a group of 40 pupils from Harris Academy’s Physics and Technology Departments attended the Engineering for Life event, held at the University of Dundee’s Bonar Hall. The event comprised a morning full of mini-workshops designed for the pupils to find out about the diverse range of engineering disciplines, to let them have “hands-on” experience and to talk to professional engineers about their work. Each workshop gave a clear illustration of the impact that engineering has on the world around us – our buildings, the transport we use and even our water supply. Activities on the day included the Royal Engineers, robotics, bridge-building, computer-aided design and testing, water pumping, road-surface testing, water pollution and more. Everyone enjoyed a stimulating and thought-provoking morning and we thank the Institute of Civil Engineers for organising this event.
October 2006 Insight
into Engineering During
the summer holidays, Pamela Pirie, B1 participated in a week long
residential course organised by Strathclyde University designed to
increase awareness of the opportunities available in the various
engineering disciplines. The
organisers were highly impressed by Pamela’s involvement in and
commitment to the team based project where she was involved in the
design, construction, presentation and racing of a remote controlled
propeller powered vehicle. Dr
Malcolmson for the University said that “she would be delighted to
welcome Pamela back to the University of Strathclyde at any time”.
March
2006 In January, 15 S1 pupils from Maths and Technological Studies attended a project “New Orleans: What next? Engineering for life”. The pupils took part in 5 interactive demonstrations which dealt with disaster recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; providing life systems e.g. potable water in the developing world by, bridge building and town planning. Our pupils responded well to the project and as enjoyable afternoon was spent by all especially when 85% of a town’s population was saved from using chemically contaminated water by their actions.
Formula 1 Technology Challenge The F1 challenge is a technology challenge offered to schools and colleges throughout the UK and across the world. The objective is to work on enterprise principles to form a team which will design, test, make and race exactly like a real F1 car team. Harris Academy entered the regional event at Sensation in December of this year, competing against 19 other Scottish schools. They managed to put together a portfolio, presentation and manufacture their car all within 4 months, rather than the normal 10 month timescale. They put on an excellent display, impressing the judges with their PowerPoint presentation, project folio, team pit stand and website design. As well as this their car was one of the fastest on the day. They were judged on the above factors as well as their team identity and sponsorship gained, the accumulation of points would decide the highest in the three age categories, 1st place going through to the national final in Birmingham on the 14th January. Harris did exactly that, winning overall in the 16+ age category in the Scottish regional final.
|