Wintec students create with scrap metal
Wintec trade students used a little bit of scrap and a lot of imagination in the Scrap Yard Challenge on Wednesday.
Inventive creations like spaceships and ‘predators’ emerged from a pile of scraps on Wednesday, as teams of trade students tested their skills.
The annual Wintec Scrap Yard Challenge kicked off at 8.30am, when teams of students were faced with a pile of unwanted items and had to come up with a plan.
After what engineering and fabrication tutor Doug Marsh called a bun fight, the six teams of students headed into the workshops to cut, grind, and weld their masterpieces.
“They come in, they have a look at all the scrap that’s there, and then they get together, put their heads together, and figure out what it is that they want… and they just go from there,” he said.
“They’re quite into spaceships and monsters.”
The students come from several different trades, including carpentry, plumbing, and electrical engineering, and they were assigned groups so each one would have a mixture of skills.
Equipment was at a premium as students brought their creations together and, by 3pm, there was a boat christened the Wintanic, a smoke-free monster, a predator more than two metres tall, a spaceship, a rotating Wintec trades sign, and the winner – a griffin.
The inspiration for the winning entry came from group member Jack Waruhia’s dream the night before the competition.
“I dreamt that I flew a griffin last night… and here it is,” said the 27-year-old automotive collision repair student.
The panel of three judges was amazed by the effort students had put in, and said it was tough to choose a winner.
The griffin group had done an amazing job finding the parts to create their work, and it included some great technical work, they said.
