The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) is to launch the 2018 edition of their competition for D&T and engineering students, the Technology Design and Innovation (TDI) Challenge.
The annual competition for schools and colleges has grown in prominence over the past decade to becoming one of the leading extracurricular school’s competitions in the UK.
To promote this year’s Challenge the MTA have produced a series of short clips and interviews to be shared on social media to inspire this year’s entrants.
The videos focus on last year’s finalists and some of the imaginative designs that led to their well-deserved place in the final.
Previous winners and participants have used the TDI as a springboard into the industry, with last year’s winner in the 17-19 age category, Halimah Ershad of Forest School in London, receiving an undergraduate scholarship to the Dyson School of Engineering.
Her project was call BrooDen – which was High End Chick Brooder. Halimah said: “I can’t believe I have won, it has been a great day and I have really enjoyed myself.
“It was a brilliant experience seeing a modern manufacturing facility like Mazak. This is a great first step for me in to a career in engineering.”
Entry categories for 2018 TDI challenge
The TDI Challenge has four categories, and is open to anyone in the UK who has created an impressive Design & Technology or Engineering project within school.
- Individual student aged 14-16 (GCSE/KS4/BTEC L2)
- Individual student aged 17-19 (A-Level/BTEC L3)
- Student group (3- 6 members) aged 14-16 (GCSE/KS4/BTEC L2)
- Student group (3-6 members) aged 17-19 (A-Level/BTEC L3)
According to the MTA, many students enter the TDI Challenge with their existing coursework projects, and it is not necessary to spend time creating a new project; but, students cannot enter both the individual and group categories.
The competition is free to enter, and students can win prizes including an iPad, GoPro, UE Boom Speaker, drone plus many more.
The winning school in each category will also win £2000 of credit to spend with Technology Supplies Limited (Design, Technology & Engineering specialists for education worldwide) on D&T equipment for the classroom. Runner-up prizes of £1000 and £500 are also available for schools in each category.
Laura Pickering, Education and Development manager at the MTA, said: “This year the TDI Challenge is even more important, as we are in the Year of Engineering. We want to use this opportunity to inspire the next generation of engineers, and to help widen the diversity of employees within the industry.
“Students from all backgrounds should be aware that there are many rewarding and interesting careers in engineering available to them, accessible via apprenticeships and further/higher education.”
She continued: “The TDI Challenge exists to show off the innovation and flare of students from across the UK. We’ve seen previous winners of this competition go on to great things and we’re confident that in 2018 we’ll unearth even more top UK talent.”
The closing date for entries is 11 May 2018, and the competition is limited to only one application per student or group. Entries and questions can be submitted to [email protected].
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