All About STEM NEWS
Next generation of budding inventors and Scientists unveiled at the BP Ultimate STEM Challenge 2019 final!
With over 250 teams entering the 2019 ‘BP Ultimate STEM Challenge’, this year’s judges are delighted to announce that eleven teams from ten UK secondary schools have reached the competition final with their innovative design solutions for everyday problems and challenges.
STEM education integrates science, technology, engineering and mathematics and helps students gain a better understanding of how important these subjects are for industry and for their futures.
BP, as a long-term supporter of STEM, encourages the vision that all young people in the UK should receive a world-leading STEM education, which allows student creativity through experiments and engineering.
This year’s BP Ultimate STEM Challenge asked students aged between 11-14 to put those key subject skills to the test by submitting an innovative design solution for an everyday problem, to a panel of judges. The finalists will each present their project and prototype at the Science Museum on the 13th May as part of an Ultimate STEM Challenge-specific Science Fair, with the winning team accepting a prize of £1,000 for their school as well as a range of Science Museum goodies in recognition of their achievements.
Design concepts that impressed the judges during the semi-finals include a range of solutions such as a vibrating hearing aid insert, zero waste teabags, a drainpipe generator and a recycling product to help reduce global warming. The BP Ultimate STEM Challenge 2019 provides a unique and inspiring opportunity for the students to present their world changing ideas to the judges. The finalists will set up their own stand at the Science Museum so they can present their entries in detail and answer any of the judges’ questions after their official three-minute presentation.
In addition to the overall winner being presented with the main prize at the event, two highly commended awards will also be given to shortlisted teams and an award to the ‘Best Stand’ at the Science Fair.
All the finalist teams will receive a prize bag of Science Museum goodies and a bronze CREST award.
FINALISTS
Armadillo – Colyton Grammar School, Colyton, Devon
An automatic tuner that tunes flutes while musicians play saving time for students learning to play the instrument.
BHair – Bredon Hill Academy, School, Evesham, Worcs
A wearable device that includes a watch, pedometer, heart rate monitor and inhaler that allows asthma sufferers to never be without their medication to relieve an asthma attack.
Drainpipe Generator – Wilmslow High School, Wilmslow, Cheshire
The drainpipe generator is just what it says it is, a generator in a drainpipe. The generator will be used to produce energy to charge a range of objects. It will fit into any drainpipe on any building as the design is scalable.
Eco Life – Kingsbury High School, Kingsbury, London
A recycling invention that will make it easy for households to separate their recycling. The Eco-life invention uses an infrared scanner that can identify different types of materials and sort them into the correct bins.
Gravity Generator – Colyton Grammar School, Colyton, Devon
An efficient electric generator which requires minimal resource so it can be an aid to people living in low income countries to charge all batteries for any use.
H.I.D.S – Students from Walton Priory Middle School, Stone, Derbyshire
A hearing aid which helps people with hearing impairments enjoy themselves in crowded places such a school disco or a wedding. Hearing aids normally magnify all noise so it is hard to hear the music. H.I.D.S have invented a vibrating insert for a shoe which will help to solve this problem.
Marianca and Kirsten – Wimbledon High School, Wimbledon, London
No waste teabags created with tea leaves and the vegan gelling agent Agar Agar which instantly melts on contact with hot water. The disposable teapods will cut down on waste and plastic as teabags contain a plastic lining.
SAS – Tiffin School, Kingston, Surrey
An enhanced landfill mining scheme that sees current landfill reclaimed and recovers valuable recyclable materials, the scheme will also include the creation of a new age landfill.
SJ Tooth Putty – Woodford Schools for Girls, Redbridge, Essex
An improved tooth guard system using Alginate which will improve the use of mouthguards at home.
Sopya – Blundells School, Tiverton, Devon
A measuring device for coffee machines that measures cups before pouring making it suitable for any cup, cutting down on plastic pollution and one use cups.
The Jeffs – Richard Hale School, Hertford, Herts
A handheld torch glove that solves the impracticality of carrying a bulky hand-held torch and a glove. This torch glove not only gives warmth but also projects LED light over a large area.
Ian Duffy, Head of UK Communications & Community Development for BP, said:
“At BP we are proud to be to be investing in STEM education in the UK. Initiatives like the Ultimate STEM Challenge have a huge impact on the attitudes of young people by raising their aspirations, inspiring them and connecting the dots between school and future STEM careers.
“The BP Educational Service is committed to ensuring that STEM education is open to all students no matter their gender or postcode, our aim is to spread science across the nation encouraging all types of young people to get involved with STEM.”
Gill Collinson, Head of Centre & Programmes at STEM Learning said:
“It’s great to see the Ultimate STEM Challenge encouraging young people to use STEM to find a solution to an everyday problem. We were thrilled to see all the creative ideas that students came up with. We had a record number of entries all this year, some big and some small. It was a difficult task to select the finalists from such a range of inspiring projects. Congratulations to all the finalists.
“This year, some schools were able to involve STEM Ambassadors to support their STEM class during the competition. We have a community of over 40,000 volunteer Ambassadors that can help to open up a world of opportunities for students by providing invaluable insight into the pathways from STEM study to exciting careers.”
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