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Meet the Ford Apprentices Racing to Inspire the Next Generation of Young Engineers

Aug 04, 2026
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The Ford apprentice team, 'Dunton Dynamos', with the early prototype of their F24+ vehicle

DUNTON, UK - For over 20 years Ford has supported the Greenpower Education Trust that encourages young people to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) through a unique challenge; to design, build and race an electric car.

Annually, teams of school children from both primary and secondary schools come to Dunton Campus and compete in either the Formula Goblin or F24 classes, bringing with them the electric vehicles they’ve built to compete.

This year, for the first time, Ford apprentices, have formed their own ‘Dunton Dynamos’ team to design, build, and eventually compete in the next class up for 16- to 24-year-olds, the F24+.  Here, team members Ishraq Chowdhury and Sabeen Rahman explain what motivated them to become engineers, and how their electric race car is coming along.

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Ishraq Chowdhury, Ford apprentice and team captain of the Dunton Dynamos

How did you both find a love for engineering when you were younger?

Sabeen: I certainly didn’t get experiences like Greenpower at school, but I remember going on a school trip to Thorpe Park, an amusement park. I probably wanted to be an actress or something, but remember loving all the rollercoasters and thinking building rollercoasters would be a good back-up. I ended up researching it and realizing engineering was the way forward for me, helped by my love of top-level motorsport too.

Ishraq: Since I was young, I always loved cars and planes but never thought about the engineering side of them. Then at secondary school I really enjoyed physics and maths and saw how that linked with what I loved. My sixth form was actually a part of Greenpower, and I absolutely loved it, was obsessed with it.

Why did you feel Ford would be a good place to start your engineering journey?

Ishraq: For me, part of it was seeing Ford’s support of Greenpower. If they care about the development of those young people, it gave me the impression they would care about me as a young person and my development.

Sabeen: What I’ve noticed since being here is even as an apprentice, it never feels like I’m burdening people if I ask questions. I guess it’s because, as Ishraq said, so many have been apprentices so know what it’s like.

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Sabeen Rahman, Ford apprentice and member of the Dunton Dynamos

You had the vehicle you’ve built for the F24+ class on show at the recent Dunton event. How was it received?

Ishraq: We actually only had about five weeks leading up to the event, so what we showed was just an early version. We’ll be refining it over the coming months. We tried to pay homage to Ford’s victory in Le Mans 60 years ago with the black with white stripes; it also made sense as both Le Mans and Greenpower are endurance events.

What really struck me was one 10-year-old girl who come and talk to me about it. She was so enthused and excited, telling me she really hoped her secondary school would be part of Greenpower.

Sabeen: What was good for me was being part of the scrutineering of the other vehicles. There was definitely some inspiration to be had from that about how to shape our own vehicle. A lot of the younger Goblins came up to ours and were really excited about it, but we didn’t really show any of the internals as that’s still a work in progress.

This year, for the first time, Ford apprentices, have formed their own ‘Dunton Dynamos’ team to design, build, and eventually compete in the next class up for 16- to 24-year-olds, the F24+. Click to Enlarge
This year, for the first time, Ford apprentices, have formed their own ‘Dunton Dynamos’ team to design, build, and eventually compete in the next class up for 16- to 24-year-olds, the F24+. Click to Enlarge
This year, for the first time, Ford apprentices, have formed their own ‘Dunton Dynamos’ team to design, build, and eventually compete in the next class up for 16- to 24-year-olds, the F24+. Click to Enlarge

This year, for the first time, Ford apprentices, have formed their own ‘Dunton Dynamos’ team to design, build, and eventually compete in the next class up for 16- to 24-year-olds, the F24+.

Do you have a dedicated place at Dunton for the team to work on the project?

Ishraq: Even though we’re working towards a degree, this is quite an extra-curricular activity, but Ford is really supportive. We have a place in the Environmental Test Labratory (ETL) that we can use.

Sabeen: It’s really good as we get to keep the vehicle and all our tools there so it’s ready to work on. But there are also a lot of people in the ETL who know a lot more about things like electrics than us, so having them on hand to help is amazing.

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    Ford has been an official Greenpower partner for 21 years
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What is the apprentice team aiming for with its vehicle?

Sabeen: We’re hoping to get a wild card into the event at Goodwood in October to take part in the F24+ class.

Ishraq: There’s still plenty to do, but it’s great for us to see a project through from the start to finish. There are 10 of us in the team and we all bring different things and allows us to use our best skillset. I actually won the competition as a student in 2022 so can bring a lot of my knowledge of Greenpower, but things have changed a lot since then. It’s brilliant to have the team, and there have been some really creative ideas we’ll be using. Hopefully they’ll help us do Ford proud at the event.