Innovative ideas literally took flight today at the final of Bombardier's Science Challenge, held at W5 at the Odyssey Complex, Belfast.
The competition challenged school children of all ages to design, build and fly a self-propelled model aircraft, made from recyclable everyday objects, such as balsa wood, paper clips, lollipop sticks and elastic bands.
The overall winning team was Ross Stevenson and Ryan Savage from Longstone Special School, Dundonald whose plane flew 26 metres. It was made from balsawood, with a large surface area wingspan and intricate tail design.
Congratulating the winners in each category, Colin Elliott, Vice-President, Engineering, said: "Today was an excellent illustration of industry and education working together. These young people have clearly demonstrated that they have the potential to become future innovators in aerospace.
"We would also like to thank W5 for their support in helping us to hold this competition. It is linked to our extensive educational outreach programme, which includes sponsored displays here at W5, the X2 Flight Experience Exhibit at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra and the Flight Experience CD-ROM, which uses the principles of flight and aerospace business related topics to teach many aspects of the school curriculum. Through all of these, we encourage young people to consider aerospace as a future career."
The competition was launched in April, with 35 teams from 19 schools from all over Northern Ireland taking up the challenge. Many different designs and materials were used but after intense judging by Bombardier engineers, the teams from each category whose plane flew the furthest were:
Primary -- Ballynahinch Primary School
Post-primary -- Corpus Christi College, Belfast
Special Schools -- Longstone, Dundonald
Each winning team has won an overnight trip to London to visit the Science Museum and the London Eye. The Bombardier Aerospace Foundation also presented £1,000 to the winning schools.
About Bombardier
A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2005, were $15.8 billion US and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). News and information are available at www.bombardier.com.
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For information:
Olivia Johnston
Public Relations Advisor
028 90468545
www.bombardier.com