Best in the land
A SCHOOLGIRL from Islay has travelled to London as a finalist in a UK-wide competition to find the engineers of the future.
A PRIMARY school pupil from Islay has been to London after reaching the final of a prestigious UK-wide science and engineering competition.
Sarah McLennan is a pupil in P7 at Port Ellen Primary School and travelled to the capital recently as a finalist in the Young Imagineers competition.
Earlier this year Statoil and the National Science Museum asked children aged seven to 14 across the UK to submit their most creative, imaginative and inspirational ideas to help make the world a better place.
Young Imagineers was set up in search of Britain’s most imaginative and creative young people. The competition celebrates the UK’s youngest and most innovative minds in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths).
In total, 356 entries from across the country were received in just four weeks. After the competition closed, the 10 shortlisted entrants from all over Britain were given the opportunity to further develop their inventions with the help of a professional designer.
The finalists then presented their newly developed designs to the expert panel and live audience. These ideas ranged from dream-makers and hovering wheelchairs, flying suits that are eco-friendly and technology which helps deaf people converse with those who don’t know sign language.
Sarah wrote about her experience at the final in London.
‘My Imagineers London trip’
‘ON SATURDAY 18th November I went to London as a finalist for the Tomorrow’s Engineer competition. In the competition there were 10 finalists from all around the UK.
‘All the finalists had to meet up in the Science Museum to present their invention in front of four judges and the audience.
‘We had professional posters made to show our inventions. My invention was the Scaredy Sheep, a device that would bark like a dog and is attached to the sheep’s ear so when sheep get stuck on their backs they are scared into jumping up again.
‘When the finalists first arrived, we went down into a room where the judges were and we got to talk to them and the host so we weren’t as scared to talk about our inventions in front of them. We also had to get head sets on so we could do a sound check.
‘After the break we all went and sat down. The first thing that happened was a balloon experiment and a bubble experiment.A lady got bubble mixture and big bubble stick. Another lady came out and got another bubble stick and each side of the room did a bubble competition. It was really cool because a lady put a balloon on fire and it made a REALLY loud bang.
‘Then the first finalists went up to present their ideas, then we got a quick break to explore the museum. After about 15 minutes we had to go back and on my way in there was a robot called Oscar who walked into me. Oscar was a really cool robot because he speaks to you and hands out chocolates and lollipops. Finally, we got into the room and sat down and then there was another quiz.
‘After lunch we got to have a quick demonstration on how the body digests food. It wasn’t a good sight at all!
‘After the disgusting demonstration, I had to go up and present my idea. I was nervous but excited and was proud of explaining my invention.
‘Then the judges came out and the host announced the winner. The winning design was an excellent hover wheelchair. We all congratulated the winner and then got to explore more of the museum. After a long day, I went back to my hotel. I really enjoyed the competition and I would like to be an engineer when I grow up.
‘While I was there I learned that to complete something you have to stick with it and keep trying.’