Students from Banbury college announced as winners of Army engineering competition

Engineering Level 3 Extended Diploma students Harrison, Gareth, Claydon and Aiden were selected by the college to take part in the annual competition.

Organised by the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), the competition tasked students to find ways to make the Challenger Armoured and Repair Recovery Vehicle more lightweight.

Army staff mentored the students, who had to provide a full written report on their findings, produce a prototype and present their ideas to a panel of judges.

The finalists were then selected to attend a day at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in Lyneham, Wiltshire, where they delivered their presentations to the judges.

The students from Banbury were praised for their innovation, their designs' appearance and their understanding of the task and presentation delivery.

They were declared outright winners of the regional competition after excelling in all areas and were highly commended for their interpretation of the brief.

Gareth said: “I was ecstatic that our team won the competition, and I am also grateful to my team members and our teachers for making this victory possible.

“Throughout the project, I learnt many new things regarding developmental engineering processes, communication skills and time management skills. I also gained confidence in public speaking and presentation, which will help me at university and in my future career.

The Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), based at Lyneham, provides engineering support to maintain and repair the vast array of British Army equipment.

Julie Rogers, English Teacher and Lead Practitioner at Activate Learning, who led the project, said: “I’m delighted that the students won because of the effort, teamwork and accumulation of skills they have learnt at college over the last two years that have now come to fruition.”