Water great technology tournament!

Students from schools across Thurrock took part in a technology tournament held in partnership between South Essex College, the Rotary Club of Grays Thurrock, and Port of Tilbury.

The tournament, held at the Port of Tilbury, saw 50 school students create small motorised boats out of polystyrene, battery operated propeller, and other basic materials. The boats were put to the test on a makeshift ‘pond’ set up in one of the Port’s halls.

Apprentices from the College were also on hand to help the teams with soldering the wires to the electric motor. They also built the test pool, operated the cutting and glue gun workshops, gave the teams giving advice and support and presented certificates to those who had participated in the event.

Stewards from the Rotary Club of Grays Thurrock and head judge, Sunny Bamra, from South Essex College, awarded marks for how far the boat travelled, how quickly it travelled the distance, and the way in which each team worked together to tackle the task.

The tournament, now in its second year, was designed to enhance the students’ engineering and teamwork skills while showcasing the engineering courses available at the College.

Teams also had to create a poster and come up with a name for their team.

After all of the designs took to the water, the team of students from Gable Hall School were crowned the overall winners.

Sunny Bamra, Head Judge, and Engineering & Construction Curriculum Development Manager at the College said the event was fantastic.

He said: “The tournament is a simple yet effective way to get the students working together as a team and put their engineering skills to the test. All of the teams came up with inspiring designs and it was interesting to see how they solved some of the problems they encountered each time they tested their boats on the water.

“The College has a vast Engineering offer and competitions such as this are a fantastic opportunity to showcase our courses to the students who are looking to study the subject once they leave school.”

Mark Dvorkin, President of the Rotary Club of Grays Thurrock, joined Sunny in presenting the participants with their certificates and awards. He said: “All the teams did remarkably well. From the looks on their faces they all had fun while learning some new skills.”

At the end of the tournament, former South Essex College Apprentice Emily Hamlin inspired the students with a presentation about her experiences and spoke about some of the careers available in the industry.

To find out more about courses available at the College, visit www.southessex.ac.uk. To find out more about the Rotary Club of Grays Thurrock, visit www.graysthurrockrotary.org.uk