East London school shines again in solar boat race

They came, fired up their solar boats and conquered the second Nelson Mandela University merSETA solar boat race.

Port Rex Technical High School successfully defended their title on the North End Lake at the weekend with their teams bagging the two top spots in the competition, returning home with bragging rights as well as R10,000 and R5,000, respectively.

The event, organised by the Advanced Mechatronic Technology Centre in NMU’s Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Technology, aims to expose youngsters to solar technologies, electrical power trains, boat design and fabrication, in addition to the hand skills required to complete the project.

Port Rex civil technology teacher Mark Hammond and automotive technology teacher Alton Beckmann said they were immensely proud of their pupils.

“The kids really worked hard, they put a lot of effort into it,” Hammond said.

“I learnt a lot too.”

Using only solar power, 14 teams vied to complete the most laps in three hours, with the top two spots going to the East London school while third place  — and R2,500 — went to Gqeberha’s Otto Du Plessis high school.

Otto Du Plessis grade 11 pupil Monrico van Wyk, 17, was part of his school’s five-member team and said the experience was both fun and educational.

“We were given the materials and then we had to build and shape it ourselves,” Monrico said.

“It was such a fun experiment.”

Damian Mooney, of the university’s renewable energy research group and Mandela autonomous operations group, said they offered the participants a platform to showcase their engineering talent and similar events could be staged through productive partnerships.

“I am proud to reflect on the success of the race, a unique initiative made possible through our collaboration with merSETA, Jendamark Automation, BUCO and RS Components,” Mooney said.

“Collaborations like this are invaluable in promoting hands-on skills and encouraging innovative thinking in engineering, paving the way for the development of future leaders in renewable energy and sustainable practices.

“Witnessing their creativity and problem-solving skills in action was truly inspiring.

“At Nelson Mandela University, we are deeply committed to nurturing such skills.”

Mooney said the race also highlighted other potential careers in engineering and technology, such as drone operations.

NMU is the first university in SA to legally operate drones and used them to capture bird’s-eye footage of the weekend event.

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