Bloodhound SSC
Inventions and Discoveries
As part of our Bloodhound SSC outreach work this year Wilmington Grammar School for Boys has developed an Inventions and Discoveries Science Fair.
This was in response to a request from Anthony Roper Primary School to visit them with something based on this years National Science and Engineering week theme -Inventions and Discoveries. Our activity invited students to take part in hands on tasks to help them understand some of the basic scientific principles and inventions that will help the Bloodhound SSC reach 1000mph.
Our opening presentation showed videos and demonstrations explaining the aims of the Bloodhound SSC project and gave a context for the topics the students would find out about during the event.
Students moved around the carousel of activities in groups of 5 or 6 and learnt about aerodynamics, drag and thrust in more detail from our STEM leaders.
The team of year 10 engineering and electronics students that accompanied me to run the fair did a fantastic job working with small groups explaining how things worked and why they behaved the way they did.
During the event Anthony Roper students received raffle tickets for asking or answering questions and getting involved in the tasks with Bloodhound SSC. Prizes being awarded to those students whose raffle tickets were selected from the hat.
I would like to thank Wendy Pike from Anthony Roper Primary School for letting us work with her students to develop this project and for giving us such fantastic feedback so we can improve the activity for the future.
This was in response to a request from Anthony Roper Primary School to visit them with something based on this years National Science and Engineering week theme -Inventions and Discoveries. Our activity invited students to take part in hands on tasks to help them understand some of the basic scientific principles and inventions that will help the Bloodhound SSC reach 1000mph.
Our opening presentation showed videos and demonstrations explaining the aims of the Bloodhound SSC project and gave a context for the topics the students would find out about during the event.
Students moved around the carousel of activities in groups of 5 or 6 and learnt about aerodynamics, drag and thrust in more detail from our STEM leaders.
The team of year 10 engineering and electronics students that accompanied me to run the fair did a fantastic job working with small groups explaining how things worked and why they behaved the way they did.
During the event Anthony Roper students received raffle tickets for asking or answering questions and getting involved in the tasks with Bloodhound SSC. Prizes being awarded to those students whose raffle tickets were selected from the hat.
I would like to thank Wendy Pike from Anthony Roper Primary School for letting us work with her students to develop this project and for giving us such fantastic feedback so we can improve the activity for the future.
Rocketing To Success
Bloodhound SSC has just carried out extremely successful trials on the HTP and rocket system that will be fitted in the Bloodhound SSC car and this is a major step forward in this thrilling journey to the 1000mph barrier.
Dave Rowley, Education Programme Director—South Africa said “Everyone in the team had their fingers crossed for a successful firing as it was a live experiment being watched by thousands worldwide and the outcome of the firing is such a big part of the engineering jigsaw picture! Without Daniel Jubb’s rocket, 1000mph would not be possible. So it’s all systems go with further Cosworth F1 pump fed rocket tests planned.”
This was the largest rocket ever to be designed in Europe and the biggest to be test fired in the UK for 20 years. It burned for 10 seconds generating 14 000lbs of thrust. This fantastic event was streamed live across the world sharing the excitement and tension with the team as the Cosworth F1 engine revved up and the rocket ignited with spectacular success.
The mission statement for the Bloodhound SSC team is -
¨ To confront and overcome the impossible using science, technology, engineering and mathematics
¨ To motivate the next generation to deal with global 21st century challenges
Part of this statement includes the sharing of the Science and Engineering of their project freely through their education teams and their website. Cisco one of the many sponsors for Bloodhound SSC has done a wonderful job of producing a range of programmes explaining a wide range of aspects of the project from the effects of drag through to the use of additive manufacture to reduce the impact of the project on the environment. These videos are on the bloodhound SSC website at http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/bloodhound-tv I can thoroughly recommend them.
As an education centre for the Bloodhound SSC project this has fired our enthusiasm for developing further projects to run both in school and at our partner primary schools giving students the chance to find out just how exciting engineering can be.
Dave Rowley, Education Programme Director—South Africa said “Everyone in the team had their fingers crossed for a successful firing as it was a live experiment being watched by thousands worldwide and the outcome of the firing is such a big part of the engineering jigsaw picture! Without Daniel Jubb’s rocket, 1000mph would not be possible. So it’s all systems go with further Cosworth F1 pump fed rocket tests planned.”
This was the largest rocket ever to be designed in Europe and the biggest to be test fired in the UK for 20 years. It burned for 10 seconds generating 14 000lbs of thrust. This fantastic event was streamed live across the world sharing the excitement and tension with the team as the Cosworth F1 engine revved up and the rocket ignited with spectacular success.
The mission statement for the Bloodhound SSC team is -
¨ To confront and overcome the impossible using science, technology, engineering and mathematics
¨ To motivate the next generation to deal with global 21st century challenges
Part of this statement includes the sharing of the Science and Engineering of their project freely through their education teams and their website. Cisco one of the many sponsors for Bloodhound SSC has done a wonderful job of producing a range of programmes explaining a wide range of aspects of the project from the effects of drag through to the use of additive manufacture to reduce the impact of the project on the environment. These videos are on the bloodhound SSC website at http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/bloodhound-tv I can thoroughly recommend them.
As an education centre for the Bloodhound SSC project this has fired our enthusiasm for developing further projects to run both in school and at our partner primary schools giving students the chance to find out just how exciting engineering can be.
Bloodhound Day a Spectacular Success!
Primary school pupils joined the Mayor of Dartford and other guests as Wilmington Grammar School for Boys hosted members of the British team behind the 2013 world land speed record attempt in South Africa. Star of the show was the full sized model of the Bloodhound SSC (SuperSonic car) which has been designed to not just break the current land speed record of 763 mph set back in 1997, but to surpass the 1000 mph barrier. To put it into perspective, at full speed, the thirteen metre Bloodhound car will cover the measured mile in just 3.6 seconds.
The visit coincided with the launch of Wilmington Grammar School for Boys as an official Bloodhound education centre, one of only three schools in the country and the only one in the South East. Mr Williamson, the school’s Headteacher, was delighted by how overwhelmed both the pupils and adults were when they saw the car. “As the only specialist engineering school in Kent, many of our students are focussing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths for their futures. As a Bloodhound Education Centre, we will be able to provide them and other local pupils a fantastic opportunity to inspire and educate them.” The day started with a Business Breakfast attended by over 40 guests followed by pupils from over ten different primary and secondary schools schools and concluding with a number of parents seizing the opportunity to learn about this engineering adventure. All were treated to a video presentation, an opportunity to meet the engineers behind the project and take part in a number of related activities laid on by the school.
At the end of the day however it was the model of the Bloodhound car, which will have the equivalent power to 180 Formula 1 cars, that stole the show. As twelve year old Samuel Webb from the school said “Since I can remember, I have been interested in fast cars and hope one day to have a career in car design or motorsport. The day was fantastic, especially the video presentation showing the Bloodhound car race against the Eurofighter jet and won! ”
The visit coincided with the launch of Wilmington Grammar School for Boys as an official Bloodhound education centre, one of only three schools in the country and the only one in the South East. Mr Williamson, the school’s Headteacher, was delighted by how overwhelmed both the pupils and adults were when they saw the car. “As the only specialist engineering school in Kent, many of our students are focussing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths for their futures. As a Bloodhound Education Centre, we will be able to provide them and other local pupils a fantastic opportunity to inspire and educate them.” The day started with a Business Breakfast attended by over 40 guests followed by pupils from over ten different primary and secondary schools schools and concluding with a number of parents seizing the opportunity to learn about this engineering adventure. All were treated to a video presentation, an opportunity to meet the engineers behind the project and take part in a number of related activities laid on by the school.
At the end of the day however it was the model of the Bloodhound car, which will have the equivalent power to 180 Formula 1 cars, that stole the show. As twelve year old Samuel Webb from the school said “Since I can remember, I have been interested in fast cars and hope one day to have a career in car design or motorsport. The day was fantastic, especially the video presentation showing the Bloodhound car race against the Eurofighter jet and won! ”
Engineering Focus Bloodhound SSC Special | |
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WGSB - A Bloodhound Education Centre
WGSB was recently chosen as a Bloodhound education centre, giving us strong ties with the Bloodhound team, and access to a variety of educational resources. The team are attempting to break the world land speed record, and achieve 1000 mph in a purpose built, jet and rocket powered car. WGSB will not only get the chance to be partnered with the team, but will also get a visit from the model car later in 2012, an event which promises to be very exciting for both students and staff. Stay tuned for more news on the teams progress, or visit the official site for more information as the record attempt nears. The videos below should help give you an idea of the scale of what the team are trying to accomplish.