If there was a competition to take an F. Ball yellow bucket to an unusual or interesting place, the edge of space would surely win it.
That’s exactly what students from Westwood College in Leek did as part of their entry in the Young Engineer of the Year competition, which saw teams from 23 schools across Staffordshire compete for the coveted honour.
This year competing schools were tasked with launching a capsule attached to a weather balloon, that would then travel up to a potential height of 33km – the very edge of space. The capsules were equipped with two GoPRo cameras to take photos and video during the flight, a GPS tracker and electronic equipment to carry out experiments and retrieve data from the mission.
As sponsor of the Westwood College team, members of F. Ball’s engineering, technical and marketing departments have been working with the school to help in the design and build of the capsule.
The capsules were launched from RAF Cosford on 12 May 2016. As you can see from the photograph the F. Ball balloon and capsule made it to the dizzy heights of space, before the balloon burst and the capsule fell back to Earth, where it was recovered by the students using GPS tracker software.
Now in its fourth year, the Young Engineer of the Year project was initiated by Chesterton based engineering firm, KMF, to challenge and inspire Year 10 students within the group of subjects commonly referred to as STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and to equip them with the skills required for industry.
The scheme’s long term aims are to close the STEM skills gap and open up career paths for students in the local area.
Winners of the competition will be announced in July.