STUDENTS FROM COTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL CROWNED WINNERS IN NATIONAL SCHOOL SCIENCE COMPETITION

The team won £1,500 for their school and a VIP trip to Make the Future Live in London.

An all-girl team of two Year 7 students from Cottingham High School fought off tough competition from hundreds of schools across the UK to become winners for Yorkshire & Humberside in Shell’s annual national schools’ science competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge.

By 2050, with around 9 billion people on the planet it is predicted that demand for energy will double, creating a need to produce more and cleaner energy.  These complex global challenges will demand the skills of more scientists and engineers than ever, yet the UK currently has an annual shortfall of 59,000 engineering graduates. 

The Bright Ideas Challenge seeks to inspire young people about the role they can play in shaping a brighter future.  It asks young people aged 11-14 to address the complex energy challenges of the future and imagine innovative solutions for making our future cities clean, efficient, vibrant places to live, work and play.  In their entries students are asked to demonstrate their understanding and application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and ability to combine this with creative problem solving and team work.

Team ‘Unhinged’ from Cottingham High School came up with the ingenious idea of harnessing the energy created from the constant movement of door hinges in high traffic buildings in future cities.

A tiny generator would be integrated into door hinges so that every time the door was opened or closed the hinge would not only expand and contract but also spin a generator.  Over the course of a day this generator would produce enough energy to power a single light bulb helping create a self-sufficient source of lighting for busy future city buildings such as offices, schools and universities.

The winning team’s bright idea won them £1,500 to boost the STEM learning experience at their school, plus a VIP trip to Make the Future Live, Shell’s four day festival of innovation in London, taking place at the iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London from 5-8 July.

12 other winning ideas from different regions across Great Britain included everything from tanks that would convert food and grass waste into fuel to power domestic cookers to power generating shoes that would convert the kinetic energy created by hundreds of steps a day into electrical energy to power personal devices.

Speaking about the team’s winning idea, Marcus-Alexander Neil, Shell UK Education Manager, commented: “It is a real privilege to see the passion and ingenuity this generation brings to the competition.  The team from Cottingham High School really impressed the judging panel with their fresh thinking.  By looking at things from a different perspective they have come up with a creative idea that is also backed up by solid STEM thinking.

“Our hope is that participating in The Bright Ideas Challenge will encourage many of our talented winners to put those skills to good use as the much needed scientists and engineers of tomorrow.”

Yekaterina Rybchenko and Ellie Northey from the winning team commented: “Imagining the kinds of challenges that will be faced by the cities we will live in when we’re adults has really helped bring our science lessons to life.  It’s made us think about taking science further and using those skills to help create innovative solutions that will make life easier and better for everyone in the future. 

‘We’re really excited to have won such a great prize for our school and are looking forward to seeing lots more interesting new energy ideas at Make the Future Live in London.”

Iain Baker, STEM Co-ordinator and Head of Technology said: “Competitions like The Bright Ideas Challenge really help take the students’ enthusiasm for what they’re learning to a new level.  For some it’s been a real light bulb moment – the moment they make the connection between the skills they’re learning in the classroom and their application in the wider world.

“The whole school is really proud of the team’s achievement and we are having a school vote to decide what the spend the prize money on.”

The national champion of The Bright Ideas Challenge will be announced at Make the Future Live on Friday July 6, 2018, winning a total of £5,000.

As VIP guests at Make the Future Live, Yekaterina and Ellie will enjoy hands-on science shows, buzzing panel debates and the latest VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) experiences alongside live music and street food.

They will also experience Shell’s world famous Eco-marathon where university student teams from around the world compete to be champions of fuel efficiency in prototype vehicles they have designed and built.  Each team is given a single litre of fuel and set the challenge of driving as far as they can, with the current record standing at 3,771km/l!