The STEM Hub visited Ifield Community College on 8th November for the Sussex regional finals of the Raytheon UK Quadcopter Challenge.

The three Year 9 teams from Ifield Community College, 'Willow', 'Endstinction' and 'ICollectClutter', first presented their Quadcopter concept to the judges and explained how they intended to use their device to put sustainability at the fore front of people’s minds. Later, they navigated their quadcopters around the tough teams fly obstacle course set by STEM Ambassador judges, Iain, Martin, Paul and Tibor from Collins Aerospace.

Mr Birkenhead, STEM Co-ordinator and ICC Supervisor for Ardingly Ifield Solar said: "The Collins Raytheon Quadcopter challenge has been an amazing opportunity for the students at Ifield Community College. The initial concept stage and getting the students to think about how to fuse the sustainability issues that the world currently faces with the technology answers that are presenting themselves, was an exciting challenge."  He continued: "The greatest take away from the process has been the increase in the resilience of all the students. It takes great fortitude to watch your quadcopter smash into a wall, take a big breath and grab the glue, rally your team mates and get it flying again after 3 minutes. The entire experience has been one we would love to repeat, and this has been echoed by the students involved as they will evolve to become mentors for next year."

The teams remained calm and in control throughout their presentations and practical sessions and it was rewarding to see the amazing teamwork and camaraderie they engendered whilst competing. 

We heard first hand from some of the team members about their experience:

• "The best part for me is when we were building the quadcopter as it required teamwork and communication."
• "Not giving up when it was broken, we fixed it and tried again"
• "Making the quadcopter, then flying it through the hoops was pretty banger"
• "I loved this whole process and would do it again in a heartbeat. 10/10 would recommend"

The marking was really close, with just 8 points in it! Team ‘Willow’ was declared the winner and they will compete at the national final later this year taking place at a central RAF location.

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