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Pupils and teachers from QE’s Technology department have been visiting local primaries to help them dip their toes into 3D-printing and robotics.

First, QE donated 3D printers to Northside Primary in North Finchley and Foulds School in Barnet, sending along a group of sixth-formers to help set the machines up and explain how they can be used.

Then, the award-winning Hybrid robotics team took along two of its robots to Monken Hadley CE Primary School and gave the children there an introduction to exactly what is involved in competitive robotics.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “At Queen Elizabeth’s School, we cherish our place in the local community and are keen to work together with other schools and organisations in the area. Partnerships such as these benefit all who are involved, with our students gaining from the experience of presenting what they have learned in these informal, interactive workshops, while the primary schools are introduced to some very exciting, cutting-edge technologies.”

The 3D Printers donated to Northside and Foulds schools were among a large batch of machines given to QE technology company Cisco Meraki. During the early stages of the pandemic, they were used as part of a ‘print farm’ producing urgently needed PPE for the NHS under a London-wide initiative headed by QE Head of Technology Michael Noonan that involved the online 3D Crowd network.

“With supply chains subsequently catching up with demand for PPE, we were looking to retire the machines to schools that needed them,” Mr Noonan said. “We gave a commitment as the Technology department to support the two schools in setting them up and in helping to train staff so they could bring 3D printing into their curriculum.

“Students on our new Year 12 course – part of the two-year A-level in Product Design – have been gaining far greater knowledge of 3D-printing recently through setting up the two dedicated Sixth Form printers. So, once they were sufficiently confident, we were very happy for them to travel to these local schools to spearhead technical education sessions benefitting both staff and children there.”

The visiting sixth-formers first finessed the set-up of the printers and calibrated them, before moving on to instructing staff on best practice, introducing Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to the children, and helping the schools establish a CAD/3D-printing curriculum.

“The exercise was highly beneficial for these students, deepening their competence in using the technology, while also developing their personal confidence as they gave their presentation and fielded questions both from education professionals and from some very keen members of Years 5 and 6!

“The Technology department will look to continue to grow this partnership in the coming years, so that we develop the best opportunities for our A-level Product Design students, while at the same time helping local schools access and benefit from the type of technologies which have greatly enhanced the learning experience at Queen Elizabeth’s.”

Mr Noonan accompanied senior boys from Team Hybrid – one of four senior QE robotics teams to have taken part in last year’s international VEX robotics finals – to Monkton Hadley.

The Year 10 boys spoke to a mixed group of Year 5 and 6 children about their journey in robotics to date, detailing their achievements and what they have learned. They brought along the robot they are using in senior competitions this year, as well as the robot they used in the VIQC junior events.

“It was an opportunity to demonstrate the impressive capabilities of bespoke designed, programmable robotics. The primary school students were amazed by the technology on show, and particularly taken aback by the sheer scale of the effort put in by the team members as they strive for excellence,” said Mr Noonan.

The visiting QE team proudly displayed their award trophies and gave the younger pupils a glimpse of their design notebooks. They tantalised them with the prospect of one day competing themselves in the international VEX championships, which in non-pandemic years are normally held in the US. There was also an opportunity for the primary school children to test-drive the robots – an experience which left them “ecstatic”, Mr Noonan said.

“At the end of the session, the voting was unanimous: all present wanted to take up VEX in the following academic year (staff included!). QE will now look to host the school and others like it; we’ll start with a visit of our facilities and then eventually perhaps they could take part in the annual VEX competitions we now host, just as Lochinver House School did last term.”

After the visit, Julie Eyres, Head at Monken Hadley, wrote to QE’s Head of Technology, Michael Noonan to say how much the children had enjoyed the visit, adding that they were now keen for their school to acquire robotics equipment of its own!

The children from Monken Hadley gave their own account in their school newsletter: “These robots were amazing…[The QE boys] play in many different competitions; the robot they are using…is so cool. It has a small conveyor belt, where rings go up, and it also collects big circles with poles on them.”

Working with Mr Noonan on these partnership initiatives are Technology teachers Lauren Fagan and Stephanie Tomlinson, and Technology Assistant Kirsten Evans.

“It was great to see that our students emphasised the accessibility of robotics to both young men and women, thus highlighting the opportunities that exist for women in STEM careers,” Miss Tomlinson said.

• Team Hybrid have applied for Vex Robotics Competition (VRC) Online Challenge Community Award and have created a video entry. They hope to be able to visit other primary schools in due course.

QE’s roboteers begin 2022 in optimistic mood after strong performances on home territory at the largest UK robotics tournament since the 2020 VEX Nationals.

Thirty-two junior teams, including six from QE, took part in the North London Regional tournament, which QE hosted in the Shearly Hall.

The Year 9 members of QE’s Gearsquad team took the prestigious Excellence Award, while another Year 9 team, Nova, and their competition partners were named Tournament Champions.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan, said that while some of QE’s teams had already performed creditably in competitions earlier in the season, for others “this represented their maiden voyage into competitive robotics, and, with such a highly competitive field, was a thrilling prospect for all.”

In addition to Gearsquad and Nova, the other Year 9 teams were Cyberforce and Shattersquad, while Year 8 was represented by Eclipse and Vexcelsior.

The visitors’ line-up was quite diverse, Mr Noonan explained: “Traditional powerhouses Greig City Academy, Henrietta Barnett (HBS) and Merchant Taylors’ (MTS) were joined by relative newcomers such as North London Collegiate School, alongside Nottingham University Academy Of Science And Technology (NUAST), Lochinver House Preparatory School, Haberdashers’ Boys’ and an independent team.”

Mr Noonan set out how the day’s competition unfolded: “The pace was easy at first, with no score from practice or the first ten games exceeding 60 points.

“However, it was a double alliance involving QE teams which pushed things forward in game 12 and 13. Firstly, a tournament high 78 being posted by a combination of QE newcomers Shattersquad and MTS Myopians, followed up by an even more impressive 83 posted by QE’s Year 9 Nova team and NUAST Triceratops. It was clear from this point on that the bar had been raised, with MTS Myopians in particular impressing. QE’s Gearsquad, Nova, and Cyberforce seemed to be battling it out behind them for the highest rankings spots, albeit the latter team were already securely qualified.

Yet as the day progressed, the picture began to change. “Scoring totals continued to rise, and the 100 bar was first broken, then shattered, by competitors including QE teams. This time it was MTS and Gearsquad who set themselves firmly out from the crowd – an astounding 132 points seeming to be the score to beat.

“When qualification had finished and rankings were tabulated, QE had secured 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 13th, 23rd and 26^th –  the latter three places being secured by teams in their very first event. This placed all QE teams in a good position heading for the final, with the Skills Challenge drawing to a close. QE in fact dominated the Skills Challenge, with Gearsquad taking first place, Nova finishing second on 97 points and Shattersquad finishing sixth. Gearsquad’s top score of 109 is currently also in the World top 50, and the highest in the UK this season to date!

“As the finals matches approached, frantic practice saw all teams hoping to finish the day on a high and capture the coveted teamwork Champion Award. The judges at this point were watching on with great interest, as the Judges Award, Design Award and Excellence awards had still to be given out, too.

“In the end, it had appeared that Gearsquad had posted an unassailable score: a whopping 110 alongside the HBS Vextreme team. However, as was the case throughout the day, it was the pairing of Nova and MTS who would have the last laugh, and their incredible 125 score secured both teams their Tournament Champion title. The judges gave MTS X_O_Limit the Judges Award, and the Design Award was secured by HBS Spark.

“However the final and most coveted of prize of the day – the Excellence Award – was ultimately given to Gearsquad: their incredible design notebook and their presentations, as well as their top ranking in Skills and Teamwork, made them impossible to ignore for the gong.”

Pranav Challa, of Gearsquad, said: “We worked hard and it paid off, with hours of effort leading up to our win. The day was extremely fun, and it was great to see so many teams in attendance at a live, in-person event.”

Pranav’s teammate, Muhammad Ammaar Hurzuk, added: “Although the QE teams were competitors, we all worked together to produce some increasingly capable robots to compete with the variety of schools that came.”

And Zak Ahmed, of Nova, reflected on his team taking the honours as Tournament Champion: “Winning the competition was a feat we would never have thought to achieve, but using our victory, we will continue to design and build, learning from our mistakes.”

Mr Noonan added that teams throughout the day generally impressed the guest judges – who included Old Elizabethan Dylan Vekaria (2013–2020) with “their astute understanding of mechanics, programming and robotics design principles”.

He paid tribute both to the judges and to the Year 11 volunteers who helped out. “Special mention must go to Dipesh Dhavala in Year 11, who was superb throughout in his commentary of qualification and finals rounds.”

Pranay Chawla, of Shattersquad, praised the event’s “really friendly atmosphere”, while his teammate, added: “It was great to see a variety of teams that each played the game their own unique way.”

Five Year 9 boys who devoted their summer holidays to preparing for a new season of robotics have been rewarded with early success in a competition – a victory which takes them straight through to national championship level.

The five, comprising team 21549E, put their holiday planning to good effect and duly won the local VEX Robotics event hosted by Greig City Academy in Hornsey.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “By the time they reached this competition, the boys definitely had the right mindset and the right strategy, having drawn on their past experience of robotics to develop a robot capable of taking on this season’s challenge. They handled the pressure on the day well and rightfully enjoyed the celebrations after their victory.”

The five team members are: Neel Bhatt; Adokshaj Magge; Ishaan Bhandhari; Anik Singh and Mukunth Natarajan.

Anik, whose role included design, explained that the task for the 2021-22 season involves shooting balls into a box to win points. It is, he says, quite different to the challenges set in previous years as it involves the “technical aspect of finding out ways of getting the scoring game object into a high goal, alongside new rules and limits”.

Teammate Neel, a designer, builder and driver of the robot, reflected on the benefits of good preparation: “Putting in hours and hours of accurate design work is necessary; it makes our robot work to the best of its abilities during competitions.”

With 21549E now set to compete against some of the best robotics teams in the country in the national championships, the boys will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of other QE teams in recent years who have gone on to take part in the international finals in the spring.

They are, however, taking nothing for granted. Mr Noonan added: “One of the main things they have learnt from this competition is that there is always something to improve on, whether that be building, driving, programming, or simply the strategy used to score the points around the pitch.”

A pair of Year 11 pupils’ design for a hi-tech, small-scale solution to the problem of faltering power supplies in developing countries won first prize in a national competition.

Anubhav Rathore and Heemy Kalam’s Flex-Charge – a device that harvests the energy of arm and leg movements to generate electricity – won the Wearable Technologies category of the 2021 TeenTech Awards.

The QE duo had been shortlisted for the final together with five other entries in their category. They won the category jointly with a team of girls from Leicester Grammar School, whose invention aimed to help prevent lameness in horses.

Technology and social media pundit Kate Bevan said: “I judged this category and all the entries were brilliant, but these two were outstanding…so thoughtful and creative.” Ms Bevan is a broadcaster and freelance writer for news organisations including the BBC, Financial Times, Sky News and The Guardian.

The pair were congratulated by QE’s Head of Technology, Michael Noonan, who said: “Anubhav and Heemy displayed ingenuity, tenacity and technical skill with their entry, which was an elegant solution to the very real difficulties caused by intermittent and non-existent power in some parts of the world.”

The two boys were among 95 young people – 62 girls and 33 boys – whose 59 projects reached the virtual final of the TeenTech Awards, which were set up to encourage young people to explore how to use science and technology to resolve real-world problems.

The final was hosted by veteran technology reporter Maggie Philbin, CEO of the TeenTech educational charity, and included contributions from celebrities with ‘tech’ connections, including Professor Brian Cox, journalists Kate Russell and Rory Cellan-Jones, TV presenters LJ Rich and Dallas Campbell, Stephen McGann (Dr Turner in TV’s Call the Midwife), Dallas Campbell, and Dr Suzie Imber, Associate Professor in Space Physics at Leicester University.

In their scripted presentation, the boys explained the rationale for Flex-Charge: “Our product is a portable, wearable device which converts arm or leg rotation into usable electrical power.

“Its primary client base is those in developing countries with limited access to power. We used advanced CAD [computer-aided design] assembly, prototyping and simulation tools to optimise our design and met the needs of our emerging, eco-friendly society.”

The TeenTech Awards were established in the 2012–13 academic year to encourage young people to develop their own ideas for making life better, simpler, safer or more fun. Participating schools are provided with a suggested structure and industry contacts. There are 15 categories.

All the submitted projects received feedback, while the winners also received a cash prize.

Boys from Years 7–10 relished the opportunities offered to them during Enrichment Week 2021, when all four year groups were given a day off from their normal lesson timetables.

From the cerebral and scientific challenge of cryptography to the literary, emotional and rhetorical attractions of Shakespeare, the week featured a very diverse range of activities designed to be both stimulating and fun.

For Year 10, the brief was to work in groups to design and construct ‘wearable architecture’, using 6mm paper tubes.

Assistant Head (Pupil Progress) Sarah Westcott said: “The boys were asked to give consideration to form and structure. Many of the groups demonstrated good team-working skills, with some of them even managing to include moving parts.”

Year 10 were also involved in drama workshops that included performances of a heavily abridged version of Romeo and Juliet.

Year 7 enjoyed the chance to apply a little lateral thinking in an RAF cyber security challenge.  This STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) activity involved tackling a series of cryptography and coding tasks and helping a company retrieve its stolen data from cyber criminals. Working in teams of six, the boys competed against each other and against the clock, battling to be the first to unlock the stolen data.

The task helped inform them about ‘phishing’ and other techniques used by criminals to compromise their targets’ data.

Originally the day was to be led in person by RAF personnel, but because of Covid restrictions, the School managed it virtually, starting the day with a live stream through YouTube in which the boys were given an outline of their tasks and an overview of the importance of cyber security. Funded by the RAF, the event was run in collaboration with the Smallpeice Trust, an educational charity promoting careers in science and engineering to young people.

“We wanted to raise awareness of digital careers, whilst developing students’ problem-solving and research skills,” said Dr Westcott. “Students found it challenging to work to time and benefitted from the need to think creatively to solve problems whilst coordinating their team’s efforts.

“The event was intended to give an insight into the types of skills required for careers in cyber-forensics. The boys discovered that it isn’t all about coding – you must be a collaborative member of a team and keep a cool head under time pressure, too.”

In addition, Year 7 flexed their vocal cords in a singing workshop, while Years 8 and 9 took to the countryside on their respective sponsored walks.

QE’s Year 12 Engineering Education Scheme team have been nominated for the Innovation prize in this year’s Constructing Excellence Awards after their design for a machine to reduce dust on construction sites impressed judges.

The four boys overcame the challenge of having to work through lockdown – depriving them of access to tools and of the opportunity to do a live construction site visit – to put together a fully-illustrated 66-page project report.

They will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of several successful QE teams of the past. In 2020, the QE entrants, working with office design company Morgan Lovell, won not only the Innovation category in the Constructing Excellence SEBCE Awards, but also the People’s Choice Award – a prize that this year’s team is eligible for, too.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “These awards are competed for by adults working full-time in the construction industry, so our four Product Design students have done very well indeed to be nominated. They worked extremely hard and used their engineering, design and research skills to good effect in putting together a comprehensive and well-thought out report, which they then presented well.

“I commend them on their success and thank their sponsors, Morgan Lovell, for all their mentoring and support throughout the project.”

The team comprised leader Lucas Lu, lead designer Ben Pang, lead researcher Rohan Sira and Jayden Savage, who led on the project planning and organised the tasks to be done. Technology teacher Tony Green facilitated the boys’ involvement in the scheme.

Morgan Lovell’s Health, Safety & Wellbeing Manager, Alex Wood, set them the challenge of tackling the large amount of harmful dust found on construction sites.

Workers normally guard against inhaling dust either by wearing face masks or by using square-shaped dust-reduction devices, such as the one made under the tradename, DustCube.

The boys had the option of either improving on the ‘DustCube’-type device – they actually stripped one down to investigate how it worked – or of designing an entirely new product.

Having identified a number of drawbacks with the existing machine, including the high cost of replacing their HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters, they chose the latter route.

After exploring no fewer than 13 concept ideas and producing more detailed analyses of around half of these, the team eventually devised a product that they dubbed the ‘Dust Cylinder’– since it was cylindrical, not cube-shaped.

Ben says: “It makes use of a water filtration system: essentially, the dirty air is passed through a tank of water, all of the dirt is trapped and suspended within the water tank, and all of the clean air is released back into the room.”

It has, he says, a number of advantages over machines currently on the market:

• The ease with which operator will be able to tell when the water needs to be changed.
• Minimal maintenance costs
• The high volume of air it can filter
• Its ability to filter particles smaller than those removed by HEPA filters.

“All of this was done either in school, or at home (during the lockdown). Doing the work at home meant that we we were unable to manufacture the actual product due to a lack of tools. We faced many issues ranging from poor internet connection to glitches with the conferencing software.”

With coronavirus restrictions ruling out a physical visit to a site, Mr Wood instead arranged for them to make a virtual site visit to 80 Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia, London, where the interior was being renovated by Morgan Lovell.

After delivering their presentation online, the team were exhilarated to find out that they had reached the finals of the Innovation category, says Ben.

“We were never expecting to make it this far, especially considering the fact that almost all of the other teams consist of people who do this kind of thing for a living – to to be pitted against them is a huge honour.”

The Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards virtual ceremony will take place on 1st July. Online voting for the People’s Choice Award is expected to open early next month.

Year in Industry placements are neither a common target for QE leavers nor are they easy to obtain – just 750 are offered nationwide annually – yet sixth-former Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy has successfully gained one, thanks to a glittering CV and some deft interview preparation.

Deshraam, of Year 13, capitalised on his national successes with a QE robotics team over the last four years to impress bosses at the Cambridge engineering consultancy interviewing him for his placement.

Now he is looking forward to spending next year at Springboard Pro, which develops advanced medical devices, before going on to university to read Mechanical Engineering.

Head of Year 13 Helen Davies said: “Whilst a large majority of our A-level students head on to leading universities straight after school or after a conventional gap year, there are some other interesting and potentially valuable vocational routes, with the Year in Industry programme among these. Deshraam is to be congratulated on the work he did to investigate and achieve this, and we wish him every success.”

Deshraam first came across the UK’s Year in Industry scheme when he was looking through the Engineering Design Trust website to learn more about the trust’s summer courses. The scheme places around 750 young people annually in engineering, science, IT, and business, where most work full-time before going on to join degree courses.

His interest piqued, he realised that a placement would enable him to pursue the things he loves most about engineering: “The ability to take a client’s challenge, create a design brief and through iteration go from simple sketches to a final product.”

“I felt that the skills I would learn from working as an engineer would help me greatly when studying for my degree and into the future.”

After consulting QE’s Head of Technology, Michael Noonan, he decided to apply.

“The application process involved creating a CV highlighting my engineering strengths. Here I had the opportunity to briefly describe my IT skills – from using Office to [3D programs] Solidworks and Cura and programming in Python – as well as past projects such as: my GCSE automatic pill dispenser project, the robots built over four years competing in the VEX robotics competitions, and most recently my independent EPQ project exploring the use of soft robotics.” (Soft robotics is a subfield of robotics dealing with the construction of robots from compliant materials similar to those found in living organisms.)

“Over the following months, new vacancies opened up and I had the opportunity to apply to the ones that most interested me.” He was especially keen that his placement should cover Mechanical Engineering, his intended degree subject.

A few months after submitting his first application, he received an invitation to interview with the Cambridge company. “I was sent some documents regarding what the interview might entail, and prepared accordingly.”

The first half of the one-hour interview on Microsoft Teams was spent talking about a project of Deshraam’s choice. “Here I spoke about the most recent robot built by my team, HYBRID, for the VEX Robotics Competition to compete in the game Tower Takeover. During this mini-presentation, I spoke about how we initially analysed the problem, our early more adventurous explorations of design possibilities, and how I used CAD to aid us in designing, manufacturing, and improving this robot. I spoke about where our weaknesses were and how we fixed these, allowing us to succeed at the end of the season and become VEX Robotics UK National Champions, winning both the Tournament Champions and Excellence trophies.

“The second half of the interview centred around a physics problem that started by looking at the forces and energy involved in the motion of a bungee jumper, but progressed to look at the properties of different materials that could be used for the cord.

“Overall, the interview was an enjoyable experience, and whilst it was challenging at times, I felt that I had done my best to explain how I was thinking through problems before reaching an answer.”

“Having spoken to three employees at the company, researching their work further, and after also speaking to Mr Noonan and Mr Feven [Michael Feven, Assistant Head (Pupil Development)], I felt this opportunity would allow me to learn lots of new things and become a better overall engineer.”

When the offer to work for the company duly arrived a few days later, Deshraam was happy to accept. He will start work there after finishing his Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and Economics A-levels this summer.

He is grateful to the staff who have helped him – “primarily Mr Noonan, for always being willing to answer my questions and give me advice both during this process and over the course of the last seven years.

“I would also like to thank my closest friends at QE for always supporting me and believing in me; I couldn’t have done this without all the great people around me.”

A seven-strong team from Harrisons’ House won a Year 9 careers competition with their carefully thought-through design for a ‘smart’ water bottle that would use UV light to kill bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Team 4’s Water UVC bottle could thus benefit many millions across the developing world without access to safe drinking water, the boys explained in their richly illustrated, 31-page PowerPoint presentation. They even included an option for the UV lamp to be solar-powered to make the bottle viable for people who could not afford mains electricity.

The aim of the activity was to encourage boys both to develop their entrepreneurial skills and to make use of Science, Mathematics and Technology as they prepare to make their subject option choices.

The teams were given a choice of four briefs to work on, with Team 4 choosing the fourth  – “design and make a ‘smart’ water bottle that has at least one other function”.

Making the announcement that Team 4 had won, Assistant Head (Pupil Progress) Sarah Westcott said: “During last term’s lockdown, our usual face-to-face careers activities for Year 9 in this important period of their School careers had to be reimagined. We amended our plans so that boys could work from home, while still developing important work-related skills such as creativity, teamwork, independence and the ability to communicate their ideas.”

Dr Westcott judged the entries together with Head of Year 9 Sean Kelly, who is a Technology teacher.

“Both Mr Kelly and I loved the creativity and simplicity behind the winning design: all members of the team worked equally to realise the design brief and develop the marketing materials – which included a website!”

The boys’ PowerPoint presentation featured hand-drawn illustrations, as well as photography and computer graphics.

After an introduction, the presentation set out the whole process of turning the stainless steel bottle into a mass-produced product, with major sections entitled Design and Creativity, Manufacturing, Marketing and Pecuniary Matters (finance).

• Team 4 comprised: Shivam Vyas; Rohan Varia; Jenarth Thavapalan; Manthan Thakkar; Shrey Tater; Abyan Shah and Shreyaas Sandeep.

After a busy spring of online competitions, the Summer Term opens with all four QE teams now qualified for this year’s VEX EDR Robotics World Championship.

Hyperdrive and Override first reached the virtual international finals next month and then Tempest and Hybrid safely made it through, too, reports QE’s Head of Technology Michael Noonan.

Their achievement capped a term that saw the School host two successful international remote robotics events.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “Both events saw the QE teams demonstrating great problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills as they made lots of last-minute adjustments online in order to optimise their robots or deal with technical faults.

“Boys are very happy that they can physically work on their robots now we are back in School. Everyone is looking forward to the world championship, and, with restrictions now beginning to ease, we are all hoping for more events before the end of the year, too.”

Teams from Canada, Taiwan, the US and UK, including one from QE, took part in the first QE-hosted event, which was held during lockdown.

The second QE event was a bigger remote skills tournament close to the end of the Spring Term. Twelve places were available, three-quarters of which were reserved for UK teams. Hyperdrive, competing in their first event, represented QE, together with Override and Tempest. Hybrid were unavailable. The QE teams took on five UK and three US teams close to the end of the Spring Term.

Each robot first had to pass an inspection before taking the field. Conducted over Zoom, the competition involved each team having 30 minutes to try to complete three ‘driver’ runs (where the robot is controlled by a driver using a remote control) and three ‘programming’ runs (where the robot moves around the field based on pre-programming – so once it starts there is nothing more you can do).

When competing on their own in such events (as opposed to directly against another team on the field of play, as would happen in an ‘in-person’ competition), the aim is to amass the highest score by picking up red balls and tipping them into the goals, while also ‘de-scoring’ as many blue balls as possible, dislodging these from the bottom of the goal stacks.

The winners were one of the two teams competing from Galion High School from the small city of Galion in the state of Ohio; they scored 110 points in the driving section and 45 points in the autonomous control section. The remaining US team were an independent team from Newnan, Georgia, who were placed second in the competition, with a score of 114 for driving and 28 for autonomous control (and were competing from a garage at 6.30am local time!).

The highest-placed UK team went to an independent team, which included one QE pupil, Year 11’s Yash Shah.

QE’s Tempest team came fourth with their highest score to date – a “highly respectable 122 points in total; 95 in driver and 27 in programming”, said Mr Noonan.

The event was administered by Mr Noonan, with Technology teachers Stephanie Tomlinson and Shane Maheady, and Technology assistant Jemima Snelson, handling the refereeing and scorekeeping.

Competition continued even on the very last day of term, when all the QE teams competed in a UK live remote skills event hosted by the Vex Robotics Training Academy in Warrington. Tempest and Override came third and fourth, with total scores of 132 and 113 respectively.

With this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix due to launch the new Formula 1 season, members of QE’s pupil-run Year 12 Engineering Society have been making front-page news with their own exploration of the hi-tech sport.

The Sixth Form engineers looked into how CFD (computational fluid dynamics) can be used to create a virtual wind tunnel for an F1 car design. And an article about their work penned by the society’s leaders, Nirmay Jadhav and Ansh Jaiswal, features prominently in the current edition of Futureminds, the magazine produced by CLEAPPS*, a national science and technology education advisory service. In the article, Nirmay and Ansh explain why they established the society, the activities they have already held and what they aim to do in the future.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate Nirmay and Ansh. This is a good example of the student-led clubs and societies that are such a feature of life at QE. We find them an excellent way for boys to display initiative and develop skills such as teamwork, while providing enrichment for themselves and for their peers.”

The pair’s achievement was also praised by Head of Technology Michael Noonan: “It has been encouraging to see how they have applied their knowledge to solving real-world problems using new and emerging technologies.”

In the article, Ansh and Nirmay state that they launched the society with a threefold aim:

• To educate members about the different engineering disciplines
• To help those interested in applying for engineering courses at university
• To pursue their own engineering interests and help others to do so, too.

One key meeting of the society looked at mechanical engineering, with members discussing why it is among the most popular fields in engineering. “To build upon this overview, we hope to incorporate some practical mechanical engineering with small challenges that can be worked upon weekly as a taster for the career of a mechanical engineer,” said Ansh.

In other sessions, members worked together to solve questions from Cambridge University’s Engineering Admissions Assessments (ENGAA). “This helped us get to grips with the principles and gave us all some preparation in advance,” Nirmay said.

But the undoubted highlights so far have been Computer-Aided Design (CAD) sessions, he said. “We went through the basics of how to design and develop models in 3D workspaces with Solidworks (our software of choice).” In the second week of these sessions, the society members focused on the simulations that can be carried out using Solidworks, including both the CFD simulation used to create the virtual wind tunnel and also FEA (Finite Element Analysis), which can be used to collect data about the performance of a 3D model. To explore FEA, the boys tested a load on a prism.

Ansh and Nirmay have plans to run further extra-curricular activities or competitions involving “the practical, hands-on aspects of engineering that we all enjoy”, while also boosting their skills and their appeal to employers and universities.

Besides Ansh and Nirmay, the society’s members are: Amudhu Anandarajah, Varun Vijay Kumar, Aiden Smith, Medushan Thevadaran and Alex Woodcock.

* CLEAPSS (Consortium of Local Education Authorities for the Provision of Science Services) is an advisory service providing support in science and technology to local councils and schools.