Now in its third year, KMF's Young Engineer of the Year 2015, was launched into 23 high schools, to over 3,000 Year 10 students. The project was based around 3D printing, a technology that will be commonplace in industry by the time this generation leave school. The students were challenged to design, print and pitch a gadget by working in teams of three.
The project was hugely successful, in March 2015 a semi-final event was held, aptly named The Gadget Show Meets Dragons' Den. Here, students from each of the schools held a Gadget Show, displaying and promoting their gadget to the public before going into the Den to pitch their idea to a panel of judges. A host of judges supported the event, from the local business community, the National Apprenticeship Service and EAL. Josh Cook was also kind enough to be a judge, after winning investment from the real life Dragon Deborah Meaden, Josh was able to share his experience with the young people involved in the competition.
Throughout the process of the competition, students learnt and developed skills that will help them within their future careers. They also had their eyes opened to industry and made good links with local businesses, one of which may, one day, be their future employer. Having access to a host of companies, allows the students to make clear career choices, having an insight into how a business operates, the grades and qualifications local employers are looking for as well as seeing the skills businesses seek, offering students the opportunity to mould themselves into the ideal candidate.
On the 18th June, the competition came to its conclusion with a spectacular final held at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium. Here, the final 26 teams displayed their Gadgets in a trade-show style event for the concluding judges. The judges included Jason Bradbury from Channel 5's The Gadget Show as well as local entrepreneurs; Mo Iqbal from Tile Mountain and Lee Murphy from Sheringham Studios. The judges were blown away by the standard of entries and it was certainly tough competition.
TV presenter Jason Bradbury who has been an avid supporter of the Young Engineer of the Year since his involvement in the first project said, "The quality of entries just gets better every year, not just the ideas but the presentation.
"It makes me wonder when we have 14 and 15 year-old who can come up with these sort of ideas and gadgets now, where are we going to be in ten years time?"
As well as raising the standard of achievement amongst the local schools, young Engineer of the Year also enriches the Design & Technology departments by leaving a legacy for future students. Schools this year were provided with a £5,000 3D printer which was donated as part of the project by their Sponsor. Feedback from the teachers also praised the competition for bringing all of the schools together in such a unique way, which allows them to share best practice and push the boundaries by running a live project that sits nicely with the academic curriculum.
For the business sponsors involved in the competition, as well as ticking CSR boxes, they build relationships with local schools, giving them the opportunity to promote their business to potential future employees. Through monitoring a school throughout the academic year they are able to have an input into the success of the future generation, ensuring their businesses are enriched with talented young individuals who have the skills to succeed.
The winners of the competition were Easy Egg, whose simplistic yet highly effective gadget solved the age-old problem of how to crack an egg without making a mess. The future for these talented students from Painsley Catholic College in Cheadle is exceptionally bright, not only did the team produce a fully-functional gadget that was ready for market, they had also captured a strong brand and their packaging was finished to a high standard which would catch the attention of the consumer.
Other winners included:
Clayton Hall Business and Language College, whose Lumos Hot box kept food warm for lunch to keep the owner - whether student, worker or hiker - going throughout the day. Clayton won 'Best Gadget Trade Stand' at the semi-final event in March
St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy, whose team Soundwaves won 'Best Pitch' at the semi-finals for their product which allows the user to listen to music whilst underwater.
Haywood Academy, were awarded 'Best Gadget' chosen by Jason Bradbury for their spell-correcting pen.
Ormiston Horizon Academy, were awarded 'Runners Up' for their mobile phone gadget that turned the device into a mini-disco, produced by Team Rubeats.
A big congratulations for all involved in this exemplary project. It is an outstanding model of how schools and businesses can work together to the benefit of our future generation.
For further information about the project or to see how you can get involved in next year's, please contact Suzy ball on 01782 569060.
See a short clip of the day here: http://bit.ly/1GpOhgZ