Young Engineers Navigate Uncharted Waters in W5’s Cardboard Regatta

Maritime Engineering for the Future 

Maritime Engineering for the Future was an exciting project funded by the Ingenious Awards scheme that inspired year 10/11 students from participating secondary schools through creative engagement with engineering projects. It also engaged 30 engineers from the Belfast Maritime Consortium, who received public engagement training and took part in a diverse range of outreach activities. The engineers then promoted marine engineering, culminating in a regatta race of cardboard boats.

Judith Harvey, Group Head of Learning and Public Engagement at Odyssey Trust Ltd (which includes W5) and Project Manager, worked on the development and delivery of the project with W5’s Learning and Engagement Team and the volunteer engineers. She said: “Belfast is famous for building the Titanic. So, whenever you think about maritime and Belfast, people only think about the Titanic, but we have a very rich maritime history.”

The team at W5 wanted to look at sustainability within the maritime realm and put it into the context of Belfast in Northern Ireland to showcase all the fabulous work that was happening locally, but few people were aware of.

The culmination of their efforts was a display at W5 LIFE on 22 June 2023, where the six teams and their dedicated engineer crews presented their cardboard boat designs.

Maritime Voyage

In November 2022, the project kicked off with the engineers taking part in public engagement training and workshop development. They were then partnered with local schools, diving into a series of workshops alongside students, helping them to explore key concepts and expand their engineering knowledge.

Throughout the programme, students engaged in a dynamic blend of theoretical and hands-on activities. The diverse themes included an introduction where students met the engineers and explored the history of lifeboats with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution linked with essential lessons on water safety. Later sessions looked at the physics of forces, stability, materials, buoyancy, and maritime engineering.

Following the workshop sessions, students applied their engineering knowledge in hands-on building sessions, adding a practical dimension to their learning journey. Despite providing the same training and guiding the engineers through a structured process, each boat created was entirely unique. This showed exceptional creativity not only among the engineers but also from the students themselves.

The Cardboard Regatta

A spectacular display of maritime skills took place at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) Boat Club on 23 June 2023 as students competed in a regatta, navigating their cardboard boats with precision through the river.

W5's Ingenious Maritime Engineering showed how talented students are, and allowed young minds a great chance to discover their abilities. The dedication, innovation and collaborative spirit of the engineers, teachers and students revealed how important engineering is in shaping our world .

Challenges and Stories

“Initially sceptical, we were pleasantly surprised as the boats not only floated but withstood the challenges of races.” Said Elaine Steele, Project Lead at W5. She continued “End results in product development can often be disappointing, due to time constraints. Also, teachers may not necessarily have certain skills. However, incorporating the insights of engineers, who possess that extra layer of knowledge, proved to be a game-changer.”

The project's impact extended to students with additional needs with the self-esteem and the confidence of shy students noticeably increasing.

Advice for Future Ingenious Projects

Firstly, Judith stressed the importance of being honest with the engineers about the expected commitment. “It is not something where you just turn up to a seminar and sit at the back and not engage,” she says, “there has to be that commitment to the project. There are a lot of rewards for the engineers involved but there is a level of work that has to be committed to.”  

Additionally, Emma Boyd, learning and engagement officer at W5, highlighted the significance of flexibility and pairing engineers with schools near their offices “This meant that engineers could nip to schools over their lunch and go back to the office .”