Potters Bar-based precision cold forming and engineering firm Dawson Shanahan is providing grass roots support for UK engineering by sponsoring a young engineers club from local Bedfordshire school the Samuel Whitbread Academy.  The sponsorship has so far included supporting the students as they made their spectacular debut in a schools motorsport event at Silverstone, where the club achieved an impressive 3rd place finish and a coveted podium position.

The aim of the Samuel Whitbread Academys after school club Young Engineers is to inspire and promote engineering as a future career in a number of different ways, one of which is the Greenpower Formula 24 electric car racing event.  Eleven students from years 9, 10 and 12 took the electric racing car they had built to Silverstone to race against 50 other schools from around the country, achieving not only a place on the podium but also an award for 'Best Newcomer'.

Dawson Shanahan have been generous to us and have sponsored the production of a Team T-shirt, which is essential to establish team pride and identity, said Dean Rayner, who runs the Young Engineers club at the Samuel Whitbread Academy.  They have also offered to provide a van to transport the car to the various circuits around the county.  Without this generous offer, the project would struggle financially and the burden would be passed on to the students.

The Greenpower Formula 24 racing programme is designed to inspire and develop the next generation of British engineers. Students are challenged to develop a racing car within a set of rules and guidelines and then compete against each other at major motor racing venues.  The cars are all powered by batteries and motors of the same specification, which prevents teams with bigger budgets from gaining an unfair advantage and encourages students to concentrate their efforts on reducing drag and improving efficiency.