Chelsea Atkinson

After 7 years of being supported by this wonderful charity, I wanted to share my gratitude and how the help from this charity has allowed me to achieve my goals. I have now completed my 5-year Master’s degree at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. Over my 5 years, I was able to receive financial support and extra funds to help me obtain a new laptop suitable for my degree and the necessary Adobe software. As I entered my final year, my laptop became my new best friend as I began to design and build my final year project.

My final year project was the optimisation and ergonomic design of a Formula Student Steering Wheel for the University of Glasgow’s UGRacing team. My project was very successful, I received an A2 for my project (=95%) and received an Autodesk industry award for my progressive and future thinking design. Overall, I successfully graduated with a First-Class degree in Product Design Engineering and have secured a job at Cummins Turbo Technologies where I will be focusing on the development of hydrogen and electric turbochargers.

Every year in July the UGRacing team competes at the
annual Formula Student Competition and this year my
wheel was going to be used. The UGRacing team really
liked the final design of the wheel. We took the racing car
all the way to Silverstone race circuit to compete against
60 teams from across the world.
After a busy 5 days of perfecting the car to pass through scrutineering, moving onto racing, it was finally time for the results of the competition…

WE WON!!

What a final year it has been. I look back on my journey starting 7 years ago and I could never have predicted such a fantastic and uplifting outcome. I hope my story confirms how wonderful this charity is by helping young people to get back on their feet and reach their goals. All I can say is thank you. Onwards and upwards.

Chelsea Atkinson