Students celebrate STEM creations
FROM a vest that predicts epileptic fits, to a phone case which protects young women from attacks, Loughborough Endowed Schools are celebrating their fourth successive year of triumph in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) competitions.
Over the past 12 months, numerous teams from across the Foundation have entered and won regional, national and, for the first time, international STEM accolades.
A team from Loughborough Grammar School beat off competition from 21,000 students from across the country to be crowned winners of the UK Young Engineer of the Year 2017 with their innovative ‘E1’ invention.
The E1 is a wearable vest for people with epilepsy, designed by Sankha Kahagala-Gamage and David Bernstein that looks to predict a fit up to eight minutes in advance.
The two young inventors were recently the first team to represent the UK in the China Adolescent Science and Technology Innovation Contest, where they finished in third place and won a special award.
They will go on to compete in the autumn against 48 teams from across Europe, demonstrating their product at the European Young Scientist Fair in Estonia.
Team Safecase, made up of Grace Johnston and Meeram Ibrahim from Loughborough High School, designed a dynamic phone case with embedded security features to combat thefts and attacks against young women.
The team was also successful and won the Digital Skills Category at the Teentech Awards.
Team S.P.A.R (Supporting Pupils with Augmented Reality), comprising Kuljeevan Singh, Matthew Younger and Brendan Miralles from Loughborough Grammar School, created a virtual school that enables young patients with a long-term illness to join live or virtual lessons.
The project scooped the overall winner at the Big Bang Regional Fair.
Daljit Kaur, head of STEM Innovation at Loughborough Grammar School, said: “The achievements represent a true collaborative effort within the schools.
“Pupils have worked through lunchtimes and weekends and have enlisted the help of Sixth Form students, together with professors, STEM Ambassadors, charities and the PTA, to help build their projects.”
The students’ successes have attracted interest from several highprofile bodies.
With support from Loughborough Endowed Schools, many of these students are now working with established companies to take these concepts forward to the next stage of development.