Awards for pupils’ efforts
THE UP AND COMING talent of budding science stars was celebrated at the 3M Young Innovators Challenge awards 2017.
Some of the brightest young schoolchildren in the area showed off their many skills in a glittering ceremony on Friday, June 23, at Loughborough College.
They had already beaten off strong competition to even be nominated for the final in the five categories with more than 480 children from 36 schools having taken part.
The evening was hosted by 3M’s public relations manager Rosalind Smith and business communications manager Julie Owen, with Dr Sian Williams from Loughborough University providing a talk and giving an insight into ‘The science of light’.
And Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan was on hand to give out the awards.
The first award of the night was for the Canyon Crossing Challenge, which Frederico Salcedo in Year Five at Brookside Primary School, East Leake won for his broken plane design. The task for each student was to design and build a bridge using materials from a given list, which can carry up to 12kg.
Frederico’s unique design won his school £750 worth of Lego or K’Nex equipment and £50 Amazon vouchers for himself - which is the same amount that each award winner received for their school, and individually.
Next up was the Tower Tech Challenge where students were tasked to build a three-part free-standing tower.
Winners were Gaby King and Ruth Millman in Year Eight at De Lisle College with their innovative design based on Poseptune’s Trident.
Students were asked to create and brandlenge anda superthe winnersfood in theof the next prima- chalry school category with their Tutti Frutti pizza were Fran, Lily-Mae and Olivia in Year Five at St Bartholomew’s Church of England Primary School in Quorn.
The winners of the secondary school category were Libby Hearst, Lucie Bradburn and Daisy Shore from Our Lady’s Convent School with their Mexican themed Twisted Taco’s.
In the Eco Tech Challenge primary school students were asked to create a musical instrument made entirely from recycled materials. The winners of the Eco Tech challenge primary school category with their Lightning Lives On design were James Westmacott and Archie Tarry in Year Five at St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, Woodhouse Eaves.
In the secondary school category students were asked to make an item of furniture for a child, using only recycled or sustainable materi-ials.
With their Puppet Show Den Desk, top of the pile were Ruby Webster and Darci Hunt, Year Eight students at Ivanhoe College.
And last but not least was the Science Detectives Challenge, which uses an exciting combination of different styles of forensic investigation in a CSI-style challenge to work out what happened at a crime scene in Loughborough.
The challenge drew the wits of all the students taking part, but the winners were Year 10 students from Loughborough Grammar School - Matthew Drury, Sam France, Tom Frankland and Tom Williams.
Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan rounded off the awards evening and said: “It is wonderful to see so many talented young people taking part in these awards.
“I’d like to thank 3M because without them these awards would not take place, and I think that they are one of the most important awards ceremonies in this area.
“They are working with up and coming prospects in the world of science and technology and I am certain that some of the people here tonight will be putting Loughborough on the map in a few years’ time.”