BAE Systems Engineering Challenge

by Zoe Wraight Y9

On Thursday 23rd June 2022, a group of Year 9 students attended the BAE Systems Engineering Challenge.

We got to Princes Hall (where the event was being held) and they split us up into two teams. Both teams were competing against each other and other schools.

The first thing we did was get a brief introduction, and then we were told our task – we had to build an off- road vehicle for a guy who had parachuted out of a plane that had exploded behind him.

Every team was given the same amount of equipment to work with and created some amazing vehicles. Just after starting to make our car and finishing the design, we had a break. They gave us juice cartons and biscuits.

After the break, we continued our build. Our team got it working, and it was able to move along the floor. We had some more time to build and adjust our builds before lunch – we had pizza.

After lunch, the BAE team started setting up the testing zone. Whilst they did this, our team hit a minor bump in the road when we tested if it would go up a ramp; it did, but only halfway, because one set of wheels stopped working. We had to fix it quickly before testing it one last time before it was judged.

The judging was pretty successful; our off-road vehicle made it through in about 36 seconds and the other Wavell's team in about 39 seconds. The competition was very close.

The next two activities we did were the presentation and mini challenge. For the mini challenge, we had to build a catapult and fire a jelly baby the furthest.

After that we had  Awards and good-byes. Unfortunately, neither of our Wavell teams won, but we had a good time. Before we left, they gave us little pin badges to take home with us.