Inspiring Future Innovators: The Perse School Engineering Club Visit Prototype Projects

Prototype Projects was approached by The Perse School’s sixth form Engineering Club leader, Sam Patterson, to arrange a visit to our bureau. We’re always eager to inspire future innovators and were keen to give the students a hands-on look at real-world engineering, sparking creativity and inspiring new ideas for their designs.

To make the experience even more impactful, we invited Matt Sadler and Russell Annison, key members of the Bluebird Sapheria project team, to join the visit. Matt and Russell had worked with us on prototyping parts for their remarkable Bluebird Sapheria project – a modern tribute to the record-breaking Bluebird vehicles.

Matt and Russell joined us at our robot-assisted CNC unit, with their impressive Bluebird-inspired vehicle. Matt, who works for one of our clients, TTP, passionately shared the story of how the car went from concept during lockdown to reality, showcasing the power of bold ideas brought to life.

The Sapheria project, inspired by the Bluebird legacy, exemplifies creativity and excellence. Its development combined advanced engineering with careful prototyping, much of which was supported by Prototype Projects. For the students, it demonstrated how ambition paired with technical expertise can lead to groundbreaking results.

The students asked thoughtful questions, which Matt and Russell answered with enthusiasm, sparking new ideas for their own green-power vehicles.

The visit continued with a full tour of our facilities, where members of our team – Adam, Alex, Ian, and Luke – showcased our processes and tools. From rapid prototyping to silicone tooling and 3D printing, the students gained firsthand insight into the technologies that turn ideas into reality.

This hands-on experience showed how we help clients bring ambitious ideas to life. It also inspired the students, giving them a glimpse of real-world engineering and design in action.

When asked about the visit, one of the students said:

Prototype Projects showed us how they went through each individual step in a lot of detail and answered any questions we had. They all seemed to know a lot about what they did and the process was explained to us very clearly.

Another student said:

I found it very interesting to see how technologies like SLA 3D printing is used in the real world. I also found it interesting to see the different ways each machine could be used, for example how 3D printing can be used to make casts if the product can’t be made using just 3D printing.

We’re proud to have been part of the students’ journey and will be keeping an eye on The Perse School’s socials so we can see the vehicles they create!

For more on the Bluebird Sapheria project and our role in its development, read our case study.