Future Flight

The context of the challenge

Since time began we have been fascinated by the idea of flight. From flying kites in China over 1600 years ago we have looked for ways we can soar through the air. When Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft in 1903 our relationship with flight made huge progress and, at the point, the skies opened to new possibilities.

Nowadays flight seems almost everyday but new possibilities are on the horizon and we want you to be a part of it. In the future, travel and transport will use our airspace as much as they do our ground space. Person operated electric aircraft will share the airways with self-drive aircraft and drones.

No longer will your airports or your delivery companies need to have huge buildings which sprawl across large areas of land. Soon they will go upwards into the skies to allow entry and exit on many different levels. Exciting times, but how can we ensure everyone has equal access to these new environments?

The buildings around us, including your home, will need to be adapted to accommodate the ways in which you move around and receive deliveries. For example, how would our doctor’s surgery receive delivery of important medical equipment or drugs by drone? Would they need to wait at the door or could the package be delivered automatically and the staff alerted remotely?

What will we need to design to ensure deliveries arrive with us safely? How will we protect contents on their journey across the skies, particularly when the weather is bad?

The potential of this changing landscape, not only for us in our own homes, but for others, such as those in hospitals, in disaster zones, in times of need, is huge. Those of us who live or work in hard to reach places, such as remote rural areas and islands, or even in the middle of the sea, will get huge benefit from this future thinking.

Engineers will need to design a prototype that could support UKRI’s Future Flight Challenge with regards to accessibility and ease of use, safety and impact on the environment. Designs must include an electrical circuit and should be designed as a working prototype.

Can your students help make a difference as a IET Faraday® Future Flight engineer?

Activity info and teachers’ notes

The Future Flight challenge is based on the IET Faraday^® Challenge of the same name from our 2022/23 season of IET Faraday^® Challenge Days.

Students are given an engineering brief (found in the student booklet) to help Future Flight to design a prototype that could support UKRI’s Future Flight Challenge with regards to accessibility and ease of use, safety and impact on the environment. They will need to demonstrate that they have the engineering skills required to engineer and construct a working prototype of their design and pitch their products to the judges. 

Designed for six teams of six students (36 students in total) aged 12-13 years (year 8 England, and equivalent), the challenge encourages the development of students’ problem solving, team working and communication skills.

This activity day can be tailored to the needs of your school and your students by adapting the PowerPoint presentation and the editable student booklet.

What’s included?

The complete set of downloadable materials includes:

• Teachers’ pack
  

  A list of the practical materials needed, presenters’ notes highlighting key areas and reinforcing key themes throughout the day, some handy hints on how to deliver the day . . . plus printable Faradays currency and student certificates.

• Student booklet
  

  Available as an editable MSWord document to allow the booklet to be adapted to meets the needs of your students and your school.

• PowerPoint presentation
  

  A step-by-step guide for your students throughout the day, with supporting notes for the delivery of the presentation.

• Film clip
  

  Full briefing video introducing the challenge to your students.

Remember, it’s all free!

All online resources (including film clips!) are free to download, and the student booklet and PowerPoint presentation are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.

You can stream and download the related film for free by clicking on the appropriate link in the Related resources section below.

Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation.