You may not have heard of Richard Noble and Andy Green, which is a shame because you really should have. Richard is a former land speed record holder with Thrust2 (1983-1997) and Andy Green is the current land speed record holder with Thrust SSC (1997-present). Both projects represent the best of British innovation, technical expertise and sheer bloody-minded determination.
They are now engaged in the Bloodhound SSC project which aims to propel Andy in their new car to a speed in excess of 1,000 mph on the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa in 2013. But this time speed is not their only aim. Bloodhound's full mission statement is here but in short they are aiming to inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians and to reverse the decline in the study of STEM subjects in schools and universities.
They already have 4,500 schools signed up to the project but have yet to exploit the full potential of the internet. My involvement with the project will be to help pull together the informal and social learning aspects and to create a virtual learning community for STEM subjects under the Bloodhound banner.
Whilst I won't be the one strapped into a metal tube with a Eurofighter jet engine and Falcon rocket, I have a feeling this is going to be an exciting ride.
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