On Tuesday 5th July Prince Harry paid a visit to Three Sisters Racing Circuit in Wigan to see for himself how a schools motorsport initiative called The Blair Project is developing STEM skills by bringing together product design, 3D printing and go-karting.
He spent over one and a half hours talking to everyone involved in the project, especially those from the two Wigan & Leigh schools who have piloted the idea, Newbridge Learning Community and Bedford High School.
This is a project that I’ve been very involved with and I got chance to meet Prince Harry and show him the part that Autodesk Fusion 360 had played in the project thus far in creating the chassis assembly and panel work.
When he asked about testing of the parts I was able to show him how the Simulation mode in Fusion 360 can do virtual testing long before the parts are made.
Paul Croft from Ultimaker GB, and the founder of the CREATE Education Project, then explained to Prince Harry how 3D printing is being used to inspire creativity and innovation in students whilst at the same time developing the STEM skills needed for the workforce of the future.
The first full-size version that demonstrated the viability of the project is pictured below at the launch back in April 2016
Now it’s over to the students and they’ve got off to an excellent start, really grasping the principles of Autodesk Fusion 360, and how to turn the parts that they design into large scale 3D prints. Here is a rear bumper designed by a student at Newbridge and rendered in Fusion 360 together with “street art” decals that they added 
Below is the full-size 3D printed version ready for the go-kart.
Finally here’s one of the students test driving a kart during Prince Harry’s visit fitted with sidepods designed by himself.
It was a great day, and we were honoured to have such a special visitor take an avid interest in developing STEM skills in young people. Many thanks to everyone who made the day possible.