The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Robbie bags top innovation prize
COMPETITION: Teenager could strike double blow in pipers’ battle with moisture
A Perthshire pupil and keen piper has won the top prize in a UK-wide design competition .
Robbie MacIsaac, who attends Strathallan School, Forgandenny, was victorious with his innovative flux blowpipe, which stops moisture getting into the pipes.
The 17-year-old hopes his invention will stop moisture damaging instruments; it causes the wood to crack and affects the sound quality.
It may also help to end bagpipe lung, a rare but fatal disease caused by a build-up of mould inside wind instruments.
Robbie, who has been chosen as head boy when he starts his final year after the summer, hopes to research the illness now that his pipe has been patented.
He said: “I haven’t had any medical advice about it but it will reduce mould inside the instrument so, if that causes bagpiper’s lung, it might help.
“That is what I’m going to research next while I finalise the design of the product.
“I have been working on the idea for about three or four years. One of the biggest problems with bagpipes and wood instruments is, when moisture gets in, it cracks the wood and makes it sound pretty brutal.
“It can be expensive to fix so I started thinking about ways to stop the moisture getting there in the first place.”
Robbie, who lives in Falkirk, was the only Scottish pupil to make it to the final of the technology, design and innovation challenge, taking first prize at the competition run by the Manufacturing Technologies Association last week.
The initial blowpipe was made with a 3D printer, aided by Angus 3D Solutions, and Robbie is now looking for investors so he can manufacture his product and start a business.
Strathallan was given £2,000 to spend on technology supplies, thanks to Robbie’s success.
Design and technology department head Craig Wiles said: “We can’t wait to see how his product will do when it is manufactured. Robbie has a bright future ahead of him.”