A team from Garstang Community Academy, Garstang, Lancashire has been selected to compete in the UK finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge. As a winner in the second of three heats being held at Preston iSTEM College, Preston, they will go head to head with teams from across the country at The Big Bang Fair on Friday 17 March 2017.

The winning team of 10 students built, programmed and controlled LEGO robots for a series of ‘space missions’. They have also had to research, design, plan and present their own solution to a contemporary scientific problem - developed by LEGO Education with NASA.

The Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge introduces student teams to real-world engineering, technology, robotics and computing challenges. The challenge aims to help students put their school learning into context and discover exciting new careers.

Team member/teacher Miss Sugden said: 'The students have worked extremely hard and displayed some fantastic team work!'

The students in the team are John Crawley, Isobel Alexander, Chloe Ball, Taya Bell-Jennings, Joe Flint, Adam Holland, Jennifer Mitchell, Anna Robinson, Harry Slinger and Lilly Swyer.

Research from EngineeringUK, which runs the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge, shows that communicating engineering careers to young people is vital for the future of the British economy.

Chief Executive of EngineeringUK Paul Jackson said: “In order to meet the country’s demand for engineers we need to double the number of graduates and apprentices entering the engineering industry.

“Programmes such as the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge aim to help young people from all backgrounds understand the variety, excitement and opportunity presented by a career in engineering.”

Applications for the next round of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge are now open at robotics.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk.