School of excellence: Lochgelly High

Published on Tuesday 22 April 2008 15:06

SCOTLAND has always looked back with pride at its many outstanding engineering achievements – but pupils from Lochgelly High are proving the great engineers are not all in the past and that history is still in the making.

Nine pupils from the Fife school have recently returned from Kuala Lumpur, where they reached the final of the annual Bernie Ecclestone 2008 World Championship Trophy, which ran in conjunction with the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix

The Ecclestone trophy lays down a huge challenge to pupils to develop a model Formula 1 car across a whole range of disciplines including IT, physics, aerodynamics, design and manufacture – then to use skills in branding, graphics, sponsorship, marketing, leadership, teamwork, the media and financial strategy to make the project work. They key is to be practical, imaginative – and competitive.

The Fife pupils have very much proved they have a competitive instinct. Seven million students from 15 countries worldwide took part in the contest, but Lochgelly made it to the final by creating a balsa wood Formula One car, which they designed and built themselves using computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies.

The school is the first in the world to send two teams to the finals. Team XLR8 flew the individual school contest flag for Lochgelly, while pupils also competed for Team Hybrid, a partnership between Fife and a school in Georgia, United States. The individual team missed out, but Team Hybrid scooped Best Collaboration – repeating its success in the 2007 finals in Melbourne, Australia.

Scott Hunter, design and technology teacher at Lochgelly, says: "The 3D model was designed using virtual reality using robots to manufacture the cars. The pupils had to design the cars, test them and race them. The kids work together and help each other – and we now have a lot of experienced engineers at the school."

The students worked in teams of three and six people, with each person assigned different roles. The teams had to prepare a business plan, develop a budget and raise sponsorship to fund research, travel and accommodation – as well as carrying out the engineering side of the competition.

"The teams are run like real F1 teams," says Mr Hunter. "We have a business manager and have had to raise 30,000 in sponsorship. The kids really work together on the project, which covers all areas of the curriculum. To have got to the finals is a massive achievement."

Lochgelly High was built in 1987 in the former coal mining town, where pupils come from a wide range of social backgrounds. The school's motto is Optimum Cuique (the best for everyone), and the F1 World Championships is a great example of how the school is striving to achieve this.

As well as excelling in engineering, Lochgelly is also proud of its musical achievements and has an excellent pipe band.