On the 3rd of July 2025, the Durham University Solar Car Outreach team took part in the Durham Ogden Primary Partnership Celebration Day hosted at Durham University. The aim of the event is to recognise the achievements of Science Ambassadors across local schools and inspire young students through hands-on STEM experiences.
To kick off the day, our we gave a presentation that introduced the pupils to the world of solar car racing. Children were very excited to hear how STEM skills and teamwork can lead to participation in international competitions and major engineering events.
After the presentation, pupils had the chance to visit our stall, where we had a range of items from the car on display alongside smaller models of our vehicles. The team answered questions and had fantastic conversations with students about how the car works, how it’s built, and what goes into getting ready for competition. We also had a chance to walk around and visit pupils’ own science stalls; it was great to see so many brilliant ideas and to hear students speak with such enthusiasm and confidence about their work!
But the big highlight of the day for pupils was the chance to get to see our full-sized car up close. Many were left surprised by the size of the vehicle, asked thoughtful questions about how it works, and were extremely excited to have a look inside.
To round off the day, we were invited to present awards to the pupils for their impressive projects. The team thoroughly enjoyed the event, and it was clear the students did too. We’re extremely grateful to the Ogden Trust and all participating schools for having us – it was a pleasure to be part of such a meaningful and interesting day.
“It was a truly enjoyable event and a well-merited opportunity to celebrate some incredible projects. Getting to share our work on the Solar Car with such enthusiastic students was an extremely rewarding experience and we hope to have inspired the pupils to take their passions even further.” – DUSC Outreach Team