Ava’s drone is a winner
A TALENTED eightyearold from a Wokingham school has scooped first place in a regional contest aimed at looking at the deliveries of the future.
Ava, who attends Holme Grange School in Heathlands Road, was presented with her prizes at a surprise ceremony held at the school last Friday.
For the contest, the youngster was challenged by internet retailer Amazon and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to design a drone – a special flying robot that could be used to deliver goods and services.
All primary school students in Years Two to Five in Great Britain were eligible to enter the competition. Students were asked to design their interpretation of a delivery drone to serve a humanitarian purpose or improve society, such as firstresponse medical aid, sending flowers to a loved one who is unwell or delivering toys to children in need.
More than 1,700 students participated in the competition from across the UK and Ava was awarded the top spot for designing her Tree Water drone, which would deliver water to help irrigate forests.
Second place went to Bende, of Sparsholt Primary School in Winchester for the Rolitionator 3000 which would collect litter and deliver it to a recycling centre, and third place was awarded to Daniella from ACS Cobham International School for her Dronee drone, which would deliver an inhaler to a patient that has asthma.
The successful young engineer was awarded her prizes in a special ceremony during a school assembly.
Ava took home gift baskets of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) prizes.
She has also earned a cash donation of £1,000 for her school, to be spent on inschool STEM resources.
Now she faces a nervous wait to find out if she will be declared national winner from the 12 regional finalists and have the opportunity to travel to the Amazon Prime Air Lab in Cambridge, where their design will be exhibited for a year.
The competition helped raise awareness of the CAA’s Drone Code, a simple set of rules and guidelines which outline how to fly drones safely and within the law in the UK.
Jonathan Nicholson, Assistant Director of Communications at the CAA, said: “All the entries were absolutely amazing and it was great to see so many students showing an interest in drones.
“By the time they are adults, drones could well be playing key roles in everyday life. But for that to happen we need everyone who flies a drone now to do so safely.”
Lauren Kisser, Operations Director at Amazon Prime Air, commented: “I’m delighted that the Design a Drone competition encouraged these students to unleash their creative thinking on how drones can be used to improve society.
“The entries we received were full of innovative and thoughtful ideas that could very well change the world one day.”
The full Drone Code can be seen at www. dronesafe.uk