About

The Greenpower Education Trust’s vision is to inspire more young people to become engineers.

Our mission is:

• - To change current views about engineering, presenting it as a fascinating, relevant and dynamic career choice for any young person.
• - To demonstrate the importance of engineering, and associated STEM subjects, to solve the problems faced by societies today particularly in the areas of sustainability.
• - To link education, industry and community through inspirational engineering projects.

The vision and mission were realised from a study by Sussex Enterprise in 1998 looking at the needs of engineering companies in the region. This uncovered a worrying problem; an industry increasingly reliant on an aging work force with few young people coming into engineering to learn the skills and replace the workforce.

Further investigation revealed low levels of interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) amongst young people, within schools and within communities generally.

After an initial event to promote engineering run by Greenpower and Sussex Enterprise, publicity in the Daily Telegraph brought in requests from around the UK from teachers who wanted a similar project in their region.

Hence the Greenpower Education Trust created a number of practical engineering challenges which fulfil our mission and encompass all of our values.

Inspiration   Motivation   Passion   Dedication   Fun

Our initial project, an electric car challenge which requires students, guided by their teachers and an industry mentor, to design, build and then race an electric car. Holding events at weekends at major motor circuits around the UK ensures excellent attendance from the general public who can witness the amazing vehicles, focus and team work evident at these events.

Since that first event in 1999 Greenpower has expanded signicicantly and now works with 500 schools providing events around the UK.

The Greenpower Education Trust is now planning to build on the success of this original project and create a series of additional practical challenges which will introduce young people to the full spectrum of opportunities available from a career in engineering.