UK education urgently needs major STEM projects and Bloodhound SSC is one of them, writes Emily Bird 
With STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) high on the national agenda, the Bloodhound Project’s attempt to break the world land speed record is a perfect rallying call for schools and young people.
Its engineering challenge – to build a car that out-accelerates a jet fighter and can reach an incredible 1,000mph – has caught the imagination of boys and girls in more than 4,000 UK schools. And this week Richard Noble OBE opened a purpose-built £1 million Bloodhound education centre in Bristol.
There were audible gasps around the room as he unveiled the Bloodhound Car to schoolchildren and apprentices from the S&B Automotive Academy. The centre will provide a focus point for STEM education, with hands-on activities designed to instill a passion for the Bloodhound Project, and its possibilities, in young people.
“It’s a huge battle to actually change anything or do anything new in Britain,” says Richard Noble. “There’s great resistance to it. The fascinating thing about Bloodhound is that we have 1.5 million schoolkids who are highly enthusiastic following this project, so people have to take notice. And it’s amazing the way this thing is now growing. It’s a huge battle and we could never, ever have done this without education.“
Richard Noble on the challenge to innovate in the UK
The affable package of inspiration, drive and tenacity that is Richard Noble should not be underestimated, and his communication skills and deep enthusiasm affect children and adults alike. The Sun newspaper’s refusal to print a story about his previous record breaking car, which smashed the world record in 1997, because “our readers are not interested in and do not understand technology”, simply spurred him on to set up his first website. It was filled with technical information and data and has never looked back.
"British people love technology, they can’t get enough"
“People literally couldn’t get enough,” he says. “At the time our European server simply couldn’t cope with the traffic. We had to move the hosting to California where the infrastructure was better. And what were people looking at, again and again? It was the data, the nuts and bolts. British people love technology, they can’t get enough. That website still exists. It has had 300 million hits to date.”
Noble’s statement comes on the back of Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s speech lamenting the fact that, “the country which invented photography, television, computers and the internet has lost its passion for STEM and needs to reignite children's passion for science, engineering and maths.”
Richard Noble is adamant that investing in STEM education can rebuild and secure the British economy and is disappointed that the focus has moved from scientific subjects towards ‘softer’ subjects aimed at the financial and service industries. He says this has led to the current economic crisis, but isn’t irreparable. He points to the increase in young people studying STEM subjects in the US after the moon landing - the ‘Apollo Effect’. That, he says, led to America’s booming IT industry which propped up their economy for decades. There is no reason why that shouldn’t happen in this country too with the right event, and that event is Bloodhound."
Richard Noble engages learners at BETT Middle East in 2010
As main sponsor of the Bloodhound Project, Promethean has long been at the forefront of encouraging investment in Stem subjects in order to shore up the economy. Chief education officer Jim Wynn says: “We are right behind the main aim of the Bloodhound Project – inspiring young people to get involved with science, technology, engineering and maths.
It is hoped that the Bloodhound Project will inspire a whole new generation of engineers and scientists and on the basis of the gasps when the car was unveiled, they are well on their way.
“Bloodhound provides young people with tangible proof of how enjoyable and beneficial these subjects can be and we are proud to support them with a wide range of education resources to get young people involved in these vital subjects," says Jim Wynn. "As the world’s commercial, environmental and energy challenges become ever more pressing, the need to develop real scientific talent in the next generation has never been more apparent. Through our education programmes and materials, we want to reach out to young students worldwide and encourage them to take up education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”
More information
Bloodhound SCC project
Bloodhound education resources on Promethean Planet
Richard Noble’s project diary
Photographs by Stefan Marjoram
