A flatpack wind turbine already finding use in Kenya, a solar-powered train design, and a smart plant pot that communicates flowers’ health using emojis were amongst the winners at the IMechE-sponsored non-profit’s MacRobert Medal ceremony, held at the institution’s headquarters in Westminster.
School pupils aged 3-19 came up with the original ideas for all of the project entries, seven of which were selected as winners by IMechE engineers. The initial concepts were then taken by university students and industry partners to turn them into prototypes.
Gold medals were awarded to the Unicorn Health Bot, designed to help children stay calm while in hospital (invented by Francessca from Dame Allan's Junior School, built by a team from the University of Sunderland), A Face for a Plant (invented by Zavier from St Thomas' Catholic Primary School, built by Thales), and the Flat Pack Wind Turbine (invented by Douglas from The Royal High School, built by Glasgow Caledonian University).
Unlike the other inventions, the prototype turbine was unavailable for the pre-awards display at One Birdcage Walk, as it has already been deployed to power rural communities in Kenya and is undergoing continuous development.
“How do you solve the problem of powering a refugee camp? Well, Douglas was inspired by Ikea furniture to come up with a flatpack wind turbine that could be dropped into refugee camps and generate power,” said Scott Dalgleish, Primary Engineer head of marketing and communications.
A Face for a Plant was aimed at the question “What do you do if your house plants keep dying and you don’t know why?”, using sensors and an LED screen to communicate issues with growing conditions, while the Unicorn Health Bot includes a medical scanner in its horn and a long mane for young patients to stroke while being treated.
Bronze medals went to the Anti-Waste Fridge, which scans food and stores expiry dates, and the Solar Powered Train, which has solar panels on its roof, while the Hydro-Paddle 2.0, which generates power from rainwater in drain pipes, and the Shimmy, Shimmy Shower, an accessible controller for shower head adjustment, received silver medals.
Creativity and problem solving
A quarter of a million young people have taken part in the competition since it started in 2012, said Primary Engineer chief executive Dr Susan Scurlock MBE. She formed the organisation while working as a teacher, seeing that many young people were not engaged with education.
“Engineering is the thing that I thought would do it,” she said. “It brings together all the elements of creativity, problem solving.”
Rather than telling young people what engineers do and what problems to solve, the competition leaves it open to their imaginations. The ideas reveal what young people think of engineers, Dr Scurlock said.
“They think engineers are creative, that they're problem solvers, that they care about people who are less fortunate than them. They care about the environment, they care about travel, they care about all these things that make the world a better place. And that's something, that one nugget we take away, that these children between the ages of three and 19 know what engineers do.”
The open nature of the competition encourages observation of the environment and careful consideration of solutions to problems, she added.
It is not just about engineers inspiring children, the organisers said – it is often the other way around as well. One concept from a primary school pupil, which used refracting prisms on headlights to detect black ice on the road, immediately got engineers putting pencil to paper, Dr Scurlock said.
Allan Cook CBE, who chaired this year’s competition, also highlighted the thoughtful and inspiring suggestions from the young participants. “The pupils were actually teaching the engineers, which is fantastic… I can tell you from past experience, it isn't the easiest thing in the world to actually give advice, certainly not from a pupil point of view to an engineer, and say ‘Actually, I think you should be doing it this way.’ And that's what they did.”
The number of pupils that focused on health and the environment was “amazing”, he added, showing a real willingness to engage with the world and to help the people around them.
The awards ceremony, introduced by IMechE chief executive Dr Alice Bunn OBE, also saw the launch of a new report assessing the impact of the first 10 years of the competition. Pupils have adapted ‘engineering habits of mind’, while teachers became more comfortable teaching STEM subjects in class, the report found.
2023 was the second year the award winners received MacRobert Medals thanks to backing from the MacRobert Trust, which initiated the prestigious MacRobert Award in 1969.
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