Local schoolchildren designed rockets, robots and hydrogen-powered cars at a three-day event at Culford School during autumn half term. With engineers from Thales, the aerospace and defence group, standing by to offer technical advice, the teams of year-10 and 11 pupils competed to build the fastest and most effective machines. They also created logos, marketing and mission statements for their engineering start-ups.

In the evening, guest speaker Malcolm Burgess of Tesla regaled them with anecdotes from his long career in automotive engineering, including the challenges of working for Elon Musk. The Engineering Experience is put on every two years by the Smallpiece Trust in association with the William and Ellen Vinten Trust. This year, 37 children from six schools around Bury St Edmunds took part.