For anyone considering a career in engineering, seeing how a design progresses from a computer screen to something that can actually be built and tested can make the subject considerably more tangible. That was the idea behind UCL Mechanical Engineering’s inaugural STEM Racing Workshop Day, held in partnership with STEM Racing UK.
The event brought 110 students and teachers from eight schools across London to UCL, where students rotated through four practical workshop stations covering different aspects of engineering and motorsport.
A central part of the day followed the design and manufacturing process behind a racing car. Students explored how an initial concept becomes a physical vehicle, with activities introducing manufacturing techniques including 3D printing and CNC machining.
They then had the opportunity to put some of those engineering principles into practice. Vehicle testing exercises demonstrated how different design decisions influence performance, with students comparing results and using experimental data to identify where a design could be improved.
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The approach reflects the iterative process used throughout engineering: design something, manufacture it, measure how it performs and use the results to inform the next version. Motorsport provides a particularly accessible demonstration because relatively small changes to a vehicle can produce measurable differences on the track.
Alongside the workshops, students met UCL’s student racing teams, giving them a closer look at competitive university engineering and the routes available from school-level STEM activities into higher education and motorsport.
UCL is a STEM Racing Centre of Excellence and has previously supported students through bursaries and other pathways into the sector. Former bursary recipient Caroline Schlak went on to contribute to UCL HyperMile’s first-place finish in the Autonomous Challenge and its Data & Telemetry Award, while Zac Smith has secured a role with Williams Racing.
The university says it plans to build on the first workshop day by continuing to work with schools, industry partners and STEM Racing UK.
For the students taking part, the attraction was not simply seeing a racing car. By moving between design, manufacturing and testing, the workshop offered a compact demonstration of how engineers turn an idea into something that can be built, measured and improved.
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