Engineering students at Queen’s University in Belfast have launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign and are asking Northern Ireland businesses to help them break a motorcycle land-speed record: Burt Munro’s under-1,000cc record of 183.3mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 1967.
His exploits were the inspiration for a 2005 film starring Anthony Hopkins, which told the story of the New Zealander and his modified Indian Scout motorcycle.
The students plan to incorporate Mr Munro’s name and his record speed in the name of their vehicle. Sam Marsden, who is leading the
challenge, saw the film — The World’s Fastest Indian — when he was 17 and was inspired to follow a career in engineering. Mr Marsden said: “We aim to prove that — given the opportunity — we can excel and prove ourselves to be the engineers of tomorrow.
"We aim to place Northern Ireland, young engineers, Queen’s University and the sponsors on the map. We want to put Northern Ireland engineering in the spotlight and show the importance and value of careers in manufacturing and engineering.”