EESW Project Winners 2022/23

At Fifth Wheel, we recognise that companies like us can benefit from teams of bright young people working on real problems within a business and we thought it would be a great opportunity to be a link company for the EESW Stem Cymru Project.

EESW encourages students to consider a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths) by giving them a positive experience working with professional engineers in an industrial setting.

Competing with other teams of students across Wales, we supported a team from Ysgol Glan Clwyd setting them a real-life technical problem within The Fifth Wheel Co. that required a solution.

The Problem

Over the years, recent trends within the caravan and motorhome industry have seen more of our customers demand to live completely self-sufficient and “offgrid”. This has been further compounded by the current economic situation and climate crisis making customers more conscientious of their energy usage.

For some time, we have worked on the electrical side of self-sufficiency but have never investigated off-grid water usage and management.  Focusing on our largest and most popular Fifth Wheel tourer, the Celtic Rambler, which has a potable water capacity of 230ltrs and a grey water capacity of 130ltrs, we wanted students to look to maximise the on-board water capacity through the efficient use of fresh water, water filtration, water harvesting and any other potential sources.  Their task was to devise and prototype a working off-grid water system that can be integrated with the Celtic Rambler so that user(s) can live self-sufficiently for as long as feasibly possible using one full 230ltr tank of fresh water and no available mains water source.

Working with the Students

We met with the students on several occasions to discuss their proposals and worked with them on what was/wasn’t feasible.  It was a great opportunity for them to spend more time around the products and factory, ask questions, investigate, take water samples from tanks for bacteria testing and more!

Award Winners!!!

In total, the 2022/23 EESW project had participation from 18 teams in North Wales and 62 teams from South Wales and teams were nominated for awards in a range of categories.

Ysgol Glan Clwyd were nominated for the following categories:

• Most Innovative or Adapted Design

• Best use of STEM for Sustainability and the Environment

During the awards day at Venue Cymru, our team had to present their project several times to a panel of industry experts, and it was then a waiting game to see who had won.

At the Awards Ceremony, Ysgol Glan Clwyd working with Fifth Wheel Co. were delighted to win Best Final Written Report sponsored by WJEC.

What’s Next?

Following on from such a great achievement, The Engineering Education Scheme Wales offered a fantastic opportunity for up to 12 female pupils from Years 8 & 9 to attend a Girls into STEM Day at Fifth Wheel Co and we have also been asked to participate in the EESW scheme for next year’s sixth form cohort.

Read our next blog to find out more!!