We were delighted to play host for the second year running to the Faraday Challenge Day in Ealing at the end of January. Run by STEM professionals from the IET (The Institution of Engineering and Technology), one of the world’s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community, the Faraday Challenge Days give students the opportunity to research, design and make solutions to genuinely tough engineering problems.

Each IET Faraday Challenge Day involves school teams, each made up of six Year 8 students who are interested in either Science, Design & Technology, Mathematics or Engineering. The Challenge is all about letting the students be creative and use their own problem-solving skills to explore their capabilities as engineers and can lead to a CREST Award.

A total of 187 IET Faraday Challenge Days are taking place across the UK during the 2022-23 season. Up to six teams of local school students will compete at each event to find the best solution to an engineering-related challenge. Three local schools were invited to take part along with NHEHS – Drayton Manor High School, Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls and Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School.

This year’s challenge was in association with UKRI’s Future Flight Challenge, based on future flight technology. The teams had to race against the clock to solve a real-life engineering problem, putting their engineering and technology knowledge and skills to the test.

All the teams put together some fantastic solutions but congratulations and good luck go to the winners on the day – Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls – who will now go on to the next stage of the competition!