The last week I found out about two school projects engineering model cars.

First, through Twitter, I found out about a high school who are building a gas engine powered 1:4 scale car from scratch as an educational project. They are just in the concept stages and getting information together. For the virtual design they will use Autodesk Inventor. They are looking for help on several issues, so have a look at their site and see if you can give them some tips!

Just a couple of days later I read a magazine article about a project in the UK to get high school students interested in engineering. CAD software company PTC and slot racing brand Scalextric put together a competition where students can design a slot car in Pro Engineer CAD software, build it, and then race it against other schools for a prize. Called Scalextric for Schools it is supported and promoted by Top Gear presenter James May.

Schools can get a free software license for the project and parts are available at a discount from Scalextric. 3D-Models of the standard parts (motor, wheels) are available for download to cut down on construction time. The lay-out of the track is known, so you can rebuild it to test your car and compare times with other competitors.

This initiative is a great and inexpensive way for students to get into the complete construction of a racing car. The cars are fairly simple in lay-out, but you have to come up with some good solutions to get the best performance from the chassis. Maybe some other companies can up this a bit and start an rc car construction competition for schools as a follow up series? 

While writing about student engineering, I can't leave out the world wide racing series for students, Formula Student. It's also not rc, but a great way to get into racing and get some job experience. The winner is not just the team who finishes first. A whole range of subjects are rated, from the cars performance to how the team is managed to aquiring sponsors and engineering solutions. If you're studying engineering in some way and are interested in car racing, definately have a look at this series!

It looks like there is still a lot of interest from students to get into engineering, and companies who are willing to promote this even further. Who knows what great creations will come out of this in the future!