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Transatlantic Engineering Challenge comes to THS

THS Technology students took part in a transatlantic engineering challenge this November, hosted by Gatwick Airport in the UK and Engineering Tomorrow in the USA.

As one of 20 schools participating from both side of the Atlantic, students were tasked with building a bridge to span a gap of 28cm, following an introduction by an ex-NASA engineer and discussions about types of bridges, forces and engineering structures.

Resources were supplied by Gatwick and mirrored those being used by other schools in the UK and USA. Students designed, built and then tested their bridges with our winning bridge holding 13kg whilst only being made of lolly sticks, thin dowels and glue!

Mr Stender, Science Teacher and Extended Leadership Team, said: “This was a fantastic challenge for our Year 10 Tech students. They really enjoyed being able to see students from across the Atlantic all participating and working on the same problem. Thank you to Gatwick Airport and Engineering Tomorrow for the resources and input – we loved it.”

Our students said: 

  • “the time went so fast, I really enjoyed the design and making process.” 
  • “testing was nerve wracking, I didn’t want our bridge to break” 
  • “I could really see how simple designs benefit the strength of a bridge” 
  • “I loved feeling like I was doing the same thing, at the same time as people hundreds of miles away across the ocean.”