Students from Sedgefield Community College have won a North East challenge to reimagine a Ducati motorcycle as the ultimate ‘villain’s machine’.
The 2026 Build the Villain’s Machine competition was created by the North East STEM Foundation (NESF) in partnership with Ducati UK to inspire young people through engineering, design and creativity.
The successful team was revealed at NESF’s annual Black Tie Dinner at Dalton Old Pump House in Seaham, where a Ducati motorcycle provided a striking centrepiece.
The students’ prize is an exclusive Ducati and Silverstone Performance Experience, including a behind-the-scenes visit to Ducati UK headquarters at Silverstone, together with a visit to Silverstone Circuit and its museum.
The competition challenged North East students aged 11 to 18 to select a Ducati model and reimagine it as a high-performance ‘villain’s machine’. Teams from Polam Hall School, Darlington, and Whitworth Park Academy, Spennymoor, were runners-up.
Tania Cooper MBE, Chair of NESF, said: “The competition was designed to show young people that engineering is creative, exciting and full of possibilities, and Sedgefield Community College’s winning entry really captured that, combining engineering understanding with imagination and creativity.”
Will Hiftle, General Sales Manager at Vertu Ducati Sunderland, said: “Engineering, design and innovation are at the heart of Ducati, so we’re passionate about encouraging young people to explore these areas and discover where their own interests could take them.
“It has been fantastic to see the creativity and enthusiasm shown by all the students who took part.”
Katie Lennox, the College’s Head of Design Technology, said: “Our students really embraced the challenge and put a huge amount of thought and effort into their ideas. Experiences like this bring the subject to life and show young people the opportunities STEM subjects can open up.”
The announcement was a highlight of NESF’s annual fundraising dinner, where Tania revealed that its programmes and activities have reached 10,488 young people over the past year.
Among those contributing to that total is its Future Makers programme, which inspires seven to 18-year-olds to explore STEM and has grown from 956 children in 2022 to a record 2,593 this year. Its Pupil Passport initiative, delivered with RTC North, has also reached 2,113 pupils.
Tania added: “Reaching more than 10,000 young people in a single year demonstrates what can be achieved when education and business work together.
“Behind those numbers are thousands of experiences that can spark an interest, raise aspirations or introduce a young person to a career they may never previously have considered.”
- Motorcycles
- Ducati Motorcycles