Challenge returns to Essex

Teenagers from five Essex schools competed against each other on 15 December to find engineering solutions to transporting radioactive waste across an environmentally sensitive area.

Scale models were designed, built and put to the test as part of the May Gurney Challenge, which returned to Essex for a second time last month. This time round the Challenge was staged in Tilbury for students from Chelmsford, Westcliff-on-Sea and Wickford.

The students, aged between 13 and 16 years, presented their solutions to a panel of consultants who marked the teams on design and originality, team working, marketing and presentation skills.

The day finished with a dramatic 'final challenge', which saw each team put its model to the test across an obstacle course built to replicate an inhospitable landscape.

The overall winning team, from St Thomas More School in Westcliff, received a £500 cheque for the school, and a £20 book voucher for each team member (see pic above).

This was the fifth May Gurney Challenge. The first and fourth were held in Norwich in 2004 and October 2006 respectively, the second took place in Essex in 2005 and the third in Sussex early in 2006.

As part of its continued commitment to encouraging school leavers to consider construction services as a career, May Gurney has recently launched its Starting Out programme - a variety of initiatives aimed at education, recruitment and career development.