LOCAL young engineers have ended their latest project with a bang!

Rockets let off by the pupils, as part of the 9th Into Engineering Week, reached up to 300m before parachuting back to earth.

The annual event, which encourages year 12 pupils to consider a career in engineering, also included a visit from RAF officers who talked about designing air missiles. One of the judges was amateur rocket scientist, Dave Tranter, who has worked for the MoD on major weapon systems projects. He said: “I demonstrated to the students the basics of model rocketry and how they can be applied to general engineering such as control systems, surveillance and computer simulation. “They have all worked really hard, so letting off the rockets was a great way to end the week.’’ Held at Westlakes’s Fleswick Court, the event, supported by Aimhigher, saw students from across West Cumbria attempt to decommission a redundant, contaminated nuclear plant and then present the financial and safety results to a panel of expert engineers. Pete Woolaghan, director of REACT Engineering, said: “The aim of the week is to show young people just how exciting engineering can be and to test their problem-solving skills. “We don’t make it easy for them, but that’s why they get such a buzz from the project because they know they have been challenged,’’ he added.