With fewer and fewer Design Engineers coming through the education system it is important that we encourage and promote STEM (Science, Technology and Maths) in School.

Thursday was the perfect opportunity for The Windsor Boys’ School to really promote the importance of STEM and, more importantly, make it relevant in a real world situation.

McLaren cars rolled into town with their brand new supercar and a team which included engineers, designers and clay modellers to deliver a presentation to A Level pupils studying D&T, Physics and Maths from not only King’s Bruton but also The Windsor Boys’ School, Windsor Girls’ School, Newlands Girls’ School, The City of London Girls School and Eton College.

If the aim of the afternoon was to inspire young engineers then this was achieved as soon as the pupils saw (and heard) the car - a McLaren 570s which was only launched two weeks ago. The McLaren team gave a really informative and inspiring talk on the car’s conception.

The presentation covered the design process that McLaren go through with each car - from initial sketch inspiration through to full scale clay modelling - and focused heavily on a component part which many people take for granted - the door hinge. Who knew the amount of thought, time and effort that went into a part which is hidden away behind a door? 

McLaren also gave advice to pupils on routes into engineering which was very useful for the young men and women who will shortly be embarking on this journey.

At the end of a great afternoon there was a Q&A session and plenty of selfie opportunities with the £200,000 example of high end engineering.

The day was a big success and we cannot thank McLaren enough for making it happen. The easiest way to sum up would be the response from one pupil when asked by the Head teacher of Windsor Boys’ school how the day went. ‘Brilliant’.