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QE pupils Abhinav Sandeep and Vyom Srivastava took third place in their age group in a global competition seeking to harness the power of robots to tackle environmental problems.

The pair, who have just started in Year 9, were the only winners outside North America in the Nature Recovery Robots virtual design challenge.

Their Buginator robot is designed to help farmers combat swarms of pests, thus protecting precious ecosystems while the farmers remain safely inside.

The School’s Head of Technology, Michael Noonan, said: “This is a tremendous achievement, and it is exciting to see that Abhinav and Vyom used their skills to develop a robot with a serious purpose, namely boosting the global food supply and helping farmers.”

The competition was run by REC Foundation (the organisation behind the worldwide VEX robotics programmes for young people) and technology company PTC.

It aimed to encourage the engineers of tomorrow to think about how they could help to tackle current global environmental problems.

The QE pair quickly homed in on the problems caused in agriculture by insects, especially locusts. Their submission stated that these “have been growing in numbers over the last few years” and were destroying crops and huge quantities of agricultural produce.

“Our robot has a few key mechanisms, the first being the front-wheel-drive to gain traction on uneven surfaces. The second being the pivot which holds a smartphone, which connects via Bluetooth to a computer screen. The third mechanism is the hammer, which pushes down the spray-can nozzle and sprays anti-insect solution. The last mechanism is the adjustable phone-grip.

“One weakness is that the spray can itself is not adjustable, so it would be more useful for shorter plants. One strength, however, is that there is a smart camera, allowing for possible AI development. The design would be feasible to build, although it would require a laser cutter and 3D printer.”

“This design could save tonnes of food, which could be used to feed people, instead of bugs. Our robot is unique because there is not currently a semi-automatic way to efficiently kill bugs.

As a prize, Abhinav and Vyom receive a $500 VEX Gift certificate.

For a more detailed look at their design, visit the Onshape 3D CAD website.

QE had the joint-highest number of teams of any school or organisation at the huge 2022 Vex Robotics World Championships in Dallas, where the 48-strong contingent picked up a string of awards.

One of the QE senior teams made strong progress, at one point single-handedly carrying British hopes when they reached their divisional semi-finals, while the junior teams picked up a string of awards in their competition.

Eight teams made the 4,750-mile journey from Barnet to Texas after gaining their places through multiple successes both in the season’s domestic fixtures and at the UK national championships in April.

After the boys proudly joined other UK competitors in the parade of nations in front of almost 10,000 people in the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, the two senior (VRC) Year 10 teams got down to competition in the first in-person world championships to be held since 2019.

Teams Hybrid and Vortex Invicta competed in the Engineering and Arts divisions respectively ­­– just two of the seven senior divisions, each of which comprised 70-80 of the best robotics teams in the world.

After a day of set-up, practice and scouting both of alliance partners and opposition alliances, both teams began the competition with some strong tactical driving resulting in some high-scoring wins: at the end of the first day of play, Hybrid had amassed four wins and only two losses, while Vortex three wins and three losses.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “What seemed to boost the chances of both our teams was that, in the face of opposition from more experienced teams using robots with more functionality, they just kept their tactics simple.”

By the end of day two, both teams had five wins and five losses, and both were ranked 40^th. Hybrid were then among the teams to be selected as alliance partners by a divisional finalist, in their case the eighth-ranked team.

“What followed was a tense victory for Hybrid over good friends and local rivals GCA Gearers (from Greig City Academy, Hornsey) in the round of 16, presenting the sole win in this stage of competition for a senior QE team to date,” said Mr Noonan.

This success, however, meant they next faced the top seeds. The team duly threw themselves into the challenge. “Using fast reactions and excellent tactics Hybrid and their partners, Robohawks, took control of the match, taking possession of the game elements and pressurising their opponents…What resulted as a nail-biting finish, where the highly fancied opposition could not ‘balance their platform’ (normally a significant bonus) – and Hybrid had successfully qualified for the divisional semi-finals on a score line of 136-85 – then a best result for UK teams in VRC competition.

“The final stages of the match were met with rapturous applause from UK supporters…and Hybrid were suddenly the great hope of UK teams and mentors,” Mr Noonan said. “With this, confidence levels in the team grew, and they swatted the semi-final challenge of a once-again higher-ranked alliance with ease, with a score of 163-76.” Their “fairy-tale journey” then came to an end as they lost out to a very high-scoring alliance.

“They were more than happy with their lot at the end of the competition – a divisional runner-up and Judges Award represented a fantastic outcome for the team.”

With ten divisions, the VIQC competition for the Year 8 and 9 teams was even bigger. The first day saw most of the six teams hit the minimum required score of 120 to be in the top 30 of their divisions, and at the end of the day “an incredible four of the six teams” had qualified for divisional finals.

First up was the Rubber Bands team: even though their alliance partner’s robot suffered technical difficulties, they still managed a respectable score of 108 points. Next came Nova, who shot to the top of their rankings with a “fantastic” 142. Shattersquad achieved 133, while Gearsquad scored 114.

“All teams put in an incredible effort, but none managed to secure that coveted prize of a place in the world finals,” said Mr Noonan. Nevertheless, Gearsquad won an Inspire Award and a top-50 place for Skills, while Nova, Cyberforce, Rubber Bands and Eclipse all secured online challenge awards.

“A trip up Dallas’s Reunion Tower with a handful of silverware and a chest-load of memories topped off a fantastic day,” said Mr Noonan.

The boys and five accompanying staff also find time during their trip to sample delicious Tex-Mex food, visit the Perot Museum of Science and Nature and take in other Dallas sights.

Year 8’s Jeevan Karthick Thiyagarajan said later: “Travelling to the USA as a group was a great experience, particularly since we missed several trips earlier due to the pandemic. It was almost like we played dual roles – hard-working robot engineers during the mornings and fun-loving tourists in the evenings!”

Advay Bhat, also of Year 8, added: “Going to the Worlds and representing QE and the UK has taught me how to stay determined, focused and resilient. I met many people from different countries and backgrounds with different ideas, and the experience has truly been one of the greatest I’ve ever been through.”

Old Elizabethans helped 50 boys battle it out in a Galactic Challenge at the School that saw all three teams secure multi-billion pound contracts for an imagined settlement in space.

The pupils from Years 7–9 (and from across tutor groups) formed aerospace ‘companies’ to participate in the space industry simulation challenge, competing against not only each other but also the clock. Their target was to design a space station for 100 years hence, when space travel might be commonplace. The remit was for a tourist resort that would orbit Mars.

Lending their expertise and experience on the day were four 2017 leavers: Aadil Kara, Neelesh Ravichandran and Harikesan Baskaran and Suchira Peiris. Aadil, Neelesh and Harikesan all got through to the national stages of the UK Space Design Competition (Galactic Challenge’s ‘big brother’ for older pupils) when they were in Year 13, with Aadil going on to reach international level.

Jonathan Brooke, Head of Physics, has been impressed by how the OEs have sustained their commitment to STEM outreach throughout their undergraduate studies and beyond: “It’s even more impressive to see this commitment continue as they move into challenging careers and post-graduate study,” he said.

“They were the driving force behind digital Galactic Challenge competitions that were a welcome diversion to our boys during lockdown, and it was an honour and a pleasure to welcome them back to the School to host an in-person competition.”

Mr Brooke was also thanked the Year 12 boys who helped on the day. “Without them, the event could not have run so smoothly.”

The challenge has two main objectives: to help foster pupils’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and to help them develop so-called ‘soft skills’, such as team-working, communication, and the ability to solve complex problems.

Aadil, who studied Physics at Imperial College London and now works as a data analyst for the Civil Service, said: “It was a joy to see the teams rise to the challenge, and to work productively in a way that rivals some professional teams!”

Harikesan, who is working towards a Master’s in Engineering for International Development at UCL, added: “The boys engaged within and outside their teams to produce some truly amazing designs. The fact that all teams won contracts is a testament to the quality of work produced across the board. Everyone really was a winner today!”

Neelesh now works as a technical analyst at Credit Suisse, having read Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London. He said: “A brilliant amalgamation of strategy, engineering, science and public speaking skills – the Galactic Challenge was a joy to help with.”

Suchira left QE to read Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, before securing a role as a consulting data analyst at the Information Lab. He said: “As a volunteer it was inspiring to see how engaged and active the students were in the competition, the out-of-the-box thinking, novel problem-solving and, in nearly every case, a board-worthy presentation!”

All four OEs commented on how much they had enjoyed being back at the School in person, observing that much had changed there in the past five years.

The three ‘companies’, Astrodyne Delta, Infinity Airspace and Solaris Flight Systems, were given a Request for Proposal (RFP) reflecting a typical design brief in the space engineering industry. They were asked to bid on a range of design modules: from the design of the command centre, to the power & energy generation, and the operations of the resort facility itself.

After trailing team Astrodyne Delta through the early stages of the competition, Solaris Flight Systems came through in the final stage to secure victory by the tightest of margins, winning contracts worth £320bn, against Astrodyne Delta’s £315bn. Infinity Airspace were not too far behind, on £300bn, with all three impressing the judges and securing contracts.

The judging panel comprised: Jenny Lyons, Director of Education at the Galactic Challenge; Alison Ahearn, Deputy Director of Education at the Galactic Challenge and Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London; Headmaster Neil Enright; Gillian Ridge, Head of Biology; Tamara Rakviashvili, Science Technician, and Science teachers Bryn Evans, and J Murphy.

The designs were assessed in three stages over the day. Stages 1 and 2 were presented during the day to peers and judges, while Stage 3 was presented at the end of the day to parents, peers and the judging panel.

Paarth Aggarwal is among just ten global winners of the Microsoft Imagine Junior Cup after dazzling judges with his AI-powered application to reduce food waste.

The competition, which challenged participants to submit creative ideas to solve some of the planet’s biggest issues using the power of artificial intelligence (AI), attracted thousands of entries from around the world.

Year 8 pupil Paarth was the only winner from the UK, with the judges praising the detailed analysis he provided of how ‘deep learning’ was leveraged in the design of his app.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate Paarth on this impressive achievement, especially as he was one of the younger entrants in a competition open to 13–18 year-olds. Whilst many of the other participants entered as teams, Paarth took part as an individual, making this success all the more remarkable.”

Paarth entered under the ‘team’ name Earthatarian and conceptualised an AI-powered app that would reduce food waste by predicting the actual expiry of stocked food items and monitoring food consumption. As required by the competition, he used Microsoft APIs. (Application programming interfaces [APIs] enable computer programs to communicate with each other.)

“I was exultant to win, especially as it was the first time I have entered such a competition,” he said.

He explained why he chose food waste as the issue he wanted to tackle.

“I was very annoyed – and intrigued – about food waste. Lots of the food we buy we never eat. In many countries, there are lots of people who don’t have much to eat, whilst we do in the West,” said Paarth. “The aim is all about efficiency. Food waste plagues the world – it is not talked about enough.”

His app-based solution to this problem was to utilise cameras and sensors in people’s fridges and rubbish bins to see how much they are wasting. The app would use machine-learning to tell people the actual expiry date of food – judging freshness to predict when it would be at a point that it would no longer be safe to eat.

“This is to tackle consumer confusion around ‘use by’ and ‘best before dates’,” added Paarth. “The app would also look at patterns of consumption and recommend recipes based on this. It could also calculate calories using Bing API [using Microsoft’s search engine technology] and then recommend what people should buy.”

The judges said that with “so many amazing projects” they had a difficult task on their hands picking the top ten. They chose winners from countries as far apart as Nepal, Australia and the USA.

As well as receiving a trophy and a certificate, Parth won a prize worth $300.

In addition to being impressed by the Earthatarian project as a whole, they specifically praised Paarth’s thoughtful approach in using an AI-powered application to predict the ‘actual expiry’ of stocked food items and monitor food consumption, the presentation of his entry (which included a ten-slide electronic presentation and a video), and the thoroughness of his research.

Paarth says he’s “a believer in AI” and can see its potential to help tackle major problems. He plans to enter this competition again next year and then get involved with similar initiatives when older (the Apple and Google equivalents being open to those aged 16 and over).

His next project is to work on Amazon’s AWS DeepRacer – a machine-learning model aiming to get round a track as fast as possible.

A visit to the huge HS2 development sites at Euston Station proved to be the prize for a team of Year 8 boys who recently won a prestigious design competition. 

When team Captain Snehal Das, Nafis Meah, Nayan Santheepan and Quaim Abdi won first prize in the I Can Engineering competition run by the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE), they were told it would involve a behind-the-scenes tour of a civil engineering project.  

In the event, their visit was to one of the UK’s biggest current civil engineering sites. Euston Station will be the London terminus for HS2 and will double the seat capacity for trains leaving Euston during peak hours. The plans include a ‘seamless’ connection between the Northern, Victoria, Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines at Euston. The project forms part of a regeneration scheme in central London spanning 60 acres. 

The boys were given a tour of the Mace, Dragodos and SCS Railways’ development site, where they were able to walk around and receive an insight into the scale of the project from a viewing deck. Presentations in the companies’ offices furnished useful information on both HS2 and details on what working in civil engineering can entail and possible routes into the sector. 

The boys also enjoyed the opportunity to chat to a range of engineering staff, who took time out to answer their questions about working on such a significant and vast project and their individual career paths. 

“The trip to HS2 was fascinating and gave me a very useful insight into the day-to-day life of a civil engineer,” said Snehal. “I also learned how they impact our lives everyday by improving transport networks throughout the UK.’  

Nafis added: “I found the trip extremely interesting, and I will consider being an engineer in the future.” 

The original competition required the boys to design a new London railway station linking the Isle of Dogs to the O2 Arena, with a strong renewable energy focus. Despite being among the youngest competitors, the QE beat 26 other entries from schools across the capital to take first prize.  

The boys impressed the ICE judges by including no less than four ways of reducing carbon emissions from their imagined West Ferry Station. Taking into account the new station’s location next to the River Thames, the boys included an underwater turbine to harvest hydro-electric power in their design. It also featured the use of kinetic power from customer footsteps, magnetic elevators, and bioluminescent bulbs. 

Kirsten Evans, Technology Assistant and the organiser of the I Can Engineering Club at the School, said the visit was a great way for the boys to understand the role of a civil engineer. “I hope it will inspire them to consider similar roles in the future,” she said.  

QE’s Year 8 and 9 VIQC robotics teams swept others before them in this year’s national finals to take top places at the end of the two-day competition in Telford.

The six junior teams also won a slew of the top awards, following in the footsteps of the senior VRC teams who had similarly taken awards in their competition over the previous two days.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “This represents QE’s strongest-ever performance at the VIQC Nationals, with only the Excellence Award eluding us. Overall, the success of both our VIQC and VRC teams in Telford was a welcome show of the students’ potential and of their focus, particularly as it came just a few days ahead of many of them travelling to Dallas, Texas, for the still greater challenges and excitement of this month’s Vex Robotics World Championships.”

Four teams – two from Year 10, one from Year 12 and one with a mix of boys from the two year groups – competed in the senior VRC bracket at Telford International Center. HYBRID, Vortex Invicta, HEX Green and Hyperion pitted their wits against the very finest robotic talent in the UK. The VRC championships drew 58 teams from all over the UK to battle it out in the competition’s Brunel and Lovelace divisions.

On the first day, QE teams had a record total of 14 games. “The pace was manic and it did mean the learning curve was steep, especially for HEX Green and Hyperion, who each had a sole representative on that day – Jamie Hoang, of Year 12 and Tharsan Nimalan, of Year 10. This was as a result of clashing A-level mock examinations ruling out their teammates,” said Mr Noonan. “Great credit is therefore due to Jamie and Tharsan, our ‘one-man armies’ of day one!

“The QE teams exploded out of the blocks on the second day, driven to make up for some poorer results on the first day. HEX Green and Hyperion had their ranks bolstered by the returning Year 12 students, and the increase in manpower was telling, as Hyperion secured a top-ten place finish, and HEX Green shot to the top of the skills rankings, a lead which they would never surrender.

“Hyperion reached the Brunel divisional finals, while an all-QE alliance of HEX Green and HYBRID made it to the Lovelace division semi-final, only to be cruelly denied a finals place by a loose battery connection. The day was not over for QE teams, however: when the medal winners were announced, Hyperion won the coveted Design Award (considered the second-most prestigious in the whole competition), HEX Green achieved double success, winning both the Skills and Think awards, and Vortex Invicta received a Judges Award. “Vortex Invicta’s first award of the season thus arrived at the highest level of competition they had so far faced!” Mr Noonan said.

“Overall, the experience was a great one of learning, particularly for the two middle-school [Year 10} teams who were looking forward to facing some 400 other teams in Dallas.”

Watching and cheering on from the tiered seating were QE’s six IQ robotics teams. “They drew many lessons from their older peers regarding showing resilience, reacting to failure and the importance of thorough preparation. Excitement reached fever pitch as students headed away to their hotel ahead of their own National championships on Sunday,” said Mr Noonan.

When the day dawned, the younger boys did not disappoint: “Our T5 robotics suite is the perfect furnace to forge success and achievement in competitive robotics, and the QE teams duly excelled, leading in almost all aspects of competition from the starting gun to the finishing post.

“All teams were in a frenzy of activity from Sunday morning to Monday evening; responding to judges’ enquiries, attempting to improve their skills, practising effective teamwork routines with partnering schools, and developing strategies to gain the extra edge ahead of the showpiece finals on the Monday.”

The achievements began with Gearsquad posting an early National Record Skills score. After strong QE performances in the Qualification and Skills elements of the competition, all eyes turned to the finals. The alliances (15 pairs from the 30 teams taken part) faced off in reverse order, from lowest to highest ranked,  and the ‘Chair of Champions’ was unveiled – a seat reserved for the (current) highest-ranked teams.

First up from QE was Cyberforce, followed by Nova, Shattersquad, Eclipse and finally The Rubber Bands. QE teams duly took their places on the chair, with a strong performance from Gearsquad and their alliance partners, Highgate, securing a near-perfect score.

“In the end, the six QE teams ranked first–sixth in the finals rankings, proving their ability to manage pressure at the highest level,” said Mr Noonan.

They also gained the following awards:

• Design, won by Cyberforce
• Amaze, won by Gearsquad and Shattersquad in their respective divisions
• Robot Skills and Teamwork National Champion, both won by Gearsquad
• Build, won by The Rubber Bands.

“A special mention must go to Shattersquad, Eclipse and Nova; Shattersquad secured their first two trophies of the season at this, the highest standard of event, while Nova and Eclipse came within millimetres of a national podium finish, despite Nova being out of competition for many months and Eclipse having a driver, Year 8’s Jaydon Lad, in a plaster cast.”

QE’s VIQC contingent were shortly afterwards due to compete against nearly 600 other teams in the World Championships.