STEM, Education and The Bloodhound Project

This post details how I found out about The Bloodhound Project and, after a quick look at their website, looks at how deep their commitment to inspiring young people about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) appears to be.

It's Friday evening and I am tagged in a Tweet from my good friend James Stanbridge (@Stanbridge) and it would appear he's been saying nice things about some of my previous projects to some of his colleagues.

This is followed by another Tweet mentioning a project that I have never heard of before.

STEM, industry, education and a recommendation from James to check it out... OK, says I. No problem!

First thing that catches my eye about this project who's aim is for a land based vehicle to reach 1,000 mph?! from an educational context is that their offices were moved in 2016 to UTC Oxfordshire.

I'm a big fan of UTC's precisely because of the kind of collaboration that they have established with industry. When I was working in FE when these institutions were established I felt the impact of UTCs, from a cultural perspective, could have a big impact across the sector.

I then check the projects Education page out and my first impression?

It might be tempting to say that this does not look like an "Added Extra"...something that's been done because it's part of the requirements for some funding grant or something, but add this looks like a deep commitment to inspiring young people to get engaged with STEM.

But when the opening sentence on the education page includes

"The main aim of the Bloodhound Project is to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers"

It takes the guess work out of what the project is about and their commitment to education.

Bloodhound Project Education Page

There is something on this page for students of all ages and various ways to get involved from some maths questions and competitions to becoming a Bloodhound Ambassador and helping to arrange an event at your school.

As I explore the range and scope of the project further I wonder, "How have I not heard about this before now" and remember that a lot of my more recent projects have been focused more on US education.

56,000 Educators and 77,000 pupils involved... and Uni STEM admissions increasing

I'll be looking into this in more detail but, in the mean time, to all those innovators that I've spoken too over the last few years this certainly looks like it's bringing STEM subjects to life for many students... and there's still time to register for the 3rd Race for the Line Competition.

I'll be watching this project with interest.