TeenTech winners celebrate at Buckingham Palace

The next generation of innovators met TeenTech patron HRH The Duke of York KG at Buckingham Palace to share their bold inventions, designed to make life ‘better, simpler, safer or more fun’ using the power of science and technology.

Ideas include drones to detect and absorb pollutants, an app that calculates a safe way home from school and a suitcase that provides everything for the stressed commuter, with room for clothes, a workspace and even somewhere to sit.

269 schools registered to take part in the Awards and over 1500 students were involved from schools across the UK and Europe.

Sumair Mohammed from Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton was named Teacher of the Year. His school has participated for two years , over which time he has seen the number of students wanting to be involved soar from 8 to 80.

Sumair Mohammed, TeenTech Teacher of the Year said:

“Many of our students do not realise life beyond Brixton but with the support of TeenTech, our students have been given access to mentors from some of the largest technology companies in the world. TeenTech has had an incredibly positive impact on our students, allowing them to recognise a future for themselves in careers they had not thought of.

 

Since starting the TeenTech Awards at Evelyn Grace Academy, we have also noticed an increase in students at Year 9 choosing Computer Science as their first choice subject for GCSEs; before we did the program, there were 12 students in our GCSE Computer Science class, we now have the majority of our current Year 9 cohort selecting this subject.

 

I have found the best influence TeenTech has is on our more reserved students who are often forgotten about in the classroom. They’ve realised they can achieve more than they thought they were capable of and it’s been a pleasure to be able to see them grow so much all due to this initiative.”

Maggie Philbin, TeenTech co-founder and Tomorrow’s World presenter said:

“The winners can be really proud of their achievements and what’s particularly exciting is how the impact goes deep beyond them into a school. Support from the TeenTech Programme is enabling teenagers to develop incredible ideas and projects and helping students understand their own potential. I owe a massive thank you to the support from our sponsors, brilliant mentors and of course HRH The Duke of York who has been an enthusiastic supporter of our work from the beginning.

 

Schools and students taking part in the TeenTech programme are provided with resources and year-round support including access mentors all over the world. They can also attend a series of live innovation events and workshops with more than 200 scientists, engineers and technology pioneers from companies such as Accenture, Atkins, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, GSK, JVC Kenwood, Symantec, FDM Group, Cross Country Trains, Rolls Royce and Lloyds Banking Group.”

Nick Bury, Teacher, Minehead Middle School said:

“It is a fantastic opportunity for children from a very rural background to experience technology at an outstanding level.”

Louie Evans, Bromley High School said:

“This has been a great opportunity for our pupils to take a lead in their own project and take the first steps to being leading female engineers, designers or scientists”

 

Winners

Energy: Loughborough Grammar School, Loughborough
BioPump An electronic water pump that is completely self-sufficient and environmentally friendly.

Future of Rail: Ranelagh School, Berkshire
Travel Anywhere Case: A smart case that combines a mode of transport, work space and seat.

Future of Health (joint winners): Sheffield High School, Sheffield
Copper Assist: A bandage with a patch of copper to prevent infections after surgery

Future of Health (joint winners): The Greenwich Free School, Greenwich
Simple Reminders: A reminder app for patients with dementia.

Education: Sandbach High School, Sandbach                
Simpletexts: An app that will scan text and automatically simplify and summarise.

Wearable Tech: Bromley High School, Bromley
Echolocanimals: Earrings that give visually impaired people information about their surroundings.

Music, Media & Entertainment: Evelyn Grace Academy, Lambeth          
The Augmented Reality Comic Book: Physical comic book with an app which generates a videogame.

Environment: Farlingaye High School, Suffolk               
Geotex: Intelligent flying drones that can identify pollutants and absorb them.

Safety & Security: Channing School, London
Project Safety: An app that calculates a secure route for school children to get home safely.

Fashion & Retail: Farlingaye High School, Suffolk        
Fashion Fusion: An app to log your clothes to reduce wastage, help select outfits and help sell items easily.

Design & Construction: Healing School, Lincolnshire 
Contain Your Future: A sustainable housing to create affordable housing for the homeless in Grimsby.

Future of Food: Thurston Community School, Suffolk                 
AFRAPAK: A catering solution providing nutritional aid to those in impoverished and famine areas.

Future of Transport: Minehead Middle School, Somerset         
LED Skateboard: New skateboard that features LED wheels and rims, speakers for playing music.

Digital Skills: Horbury Academy, West Yorkshire         
Memory Medication: Dispenser that will ensure that people with memory problems take their medication.

Manufacturing: Amelia Roberts                         
Light Pollution? Why?: An affordable smart attachment for existing lamp posts to reduce light pollution.

Research & Information Literacy: The Ladies College, Guernsey               
Device to identify sugars in foods: Research of sugar amount in fruit drinks to be used for device for diabetics.

Tech for all: St George’s School, Birmingham                
Solar Pi: Raspberry Pi based solar powered computer designed to teach people coding and digital skills.

Best Innovation – Concept : WMG Academy, Coventry
Aether Motion: Medical aid to address the psychological issues of many patients.

Best Innovation – Model, prototype or product: Mill Hill School, London               
Anti-motion Stabiliser: Support for those suffering from Parkinson’s to achieve improved dexterity.

Best Research Project: Oakham School, Rutland          
Underrepresentation of women in computer science: An inquiry into the causes

Data Science (joint winners): Sandbach High School, Sandbach                
Sensor Track: A testing rig composed of 80 infrared sensors connected by Arduinos positioned along the track.

Data Science (joint winners): Sutton Grammar School, Surrey
Vertigo: A data logger used to track position, acceleration and rotation of an object.

People’s Choice Award: Dalziel High School, North Lanarkshire               
Cloud Data Storage: Reinvented black box for planes which streams important data and location information.

Teacher of the Year: Mr Sumair Mohammed from Evelyn Grace Academy