After an introduction to the history and development of safety measures used in motorsports engineering, the pupils were asked to design and build a structure capable of protecting an egg travelling down a steep slope into a solid wall. They were asked to think about the concepts they had learnt about in the introduction and were given limited materials to manufacture their design. A variety of designs were seen, including some very inventive ideas. A few eggs were broken, but many teams produced structures capable of protecting their driver with the eggs being intact at the end of the testing.

Dr Laura Offin, Schools Liaison Officer for the Engineering Department at Lancaster University said “Pupils who have taken part in this challenge have given some really great feedback. As well as enjoying themselves, I think they learnt a lot about being an Engineer and have had the opportunity to use some of the knowledge they will be learning in school in an interesting context”.