How F1 met healthcare – The Ventura Project

Throughout the summer, a small team of very committed Upper Sixth Formers worked on a truly innovative project, and one very much of its time. The team researched, wrote and put together a series of four informative podcasts which tell the extraordinary story of how, at the height of the UK’s pandemic crisis when the NHS appeared to be teetering on the brink, two very diverse groups of people came together to pull off a remarkable feat that helped prevent the NHS from going over the edge.

In a race against time, medical engineers and doctors at University College London joined forces with automotive engineers at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains to reverse-engineer, manufacture and deliver 10,000 CPAP breathing aids to the NHS frontline in a matter of weeks – a process that would usually take years.

Despite the constraints of lockdown, the team worked collaboratively on initial in-depth research and went on to conduct over eight hours of recorded interviews with some of the most senior individuals involved in the fight against COVID-19. With unfettered access to the key players, the Teddies team capture the drama, the world-class engineering and the human side of the project in an outstanding piece of broadcast journalism. 

This was the “Ventura Project”, written and produced by Alessandro Corrias, Eva Livingstone, Ferdi van der Heiden, Natalia Elezovic and Robert Sheppard-Capurro, edited by Celia Hodgson OSE, and facilitated by Mr Vaughan-Fowler, Head of Careers Education.

Since broadcasting the podcasts, the team has received some commendable feedback for their work, including this email from one of the Professors involved in the project:

‘You have done a fantastic job – I’m really very impressed. Having been interviewed quite a lot recently by all sorts of professionals in the media and from various organisations, you lot honestly have a career in investigative journalism beckoning should you wish! It was a pleasure talking to you, and thank you for covering our story.’

You can listen to the four podcasts in the series below.