‘Build a Data Centre’ challenge day success
Students and staff came into school on Thursday 4th December excited for one of the best days of the year in a UTC: our Winter challenge day.
Tasked by employers within our Digital Futures Programme, the students had to locate, design, kit out and cost their data centre, taking into account such complexities as physical and cyber security, geographical features and local weather, the supply of skilled labour and the political stability of their chosen site.
Working in small teams, they focused on this task for the whole school day, culminating in what is for some a nerve-wracking presentation of their concept and pitch to employers and peers. They approached the challenge really well, allocating themselves roles within their team like Finance or Project Manager, Head Engineer or Security leader to ensure they worked cohesively as a team and completed the task within the time frame.
Students really pulled out all the stops for their projects, producing some incredibly creative ideas that really impressed the employers and the teachers and allowed them to showcase their skills, be that art, research, design or engineering.
We’re very grateful to the volunteers from Ark Data Centres and CNet Training, and especially to Scott and Luke from CBRE for leading the day.
