Gidea Park pupils crowned national champions of engineering challenge

Royal Liberty School’s Harry Hands, Daniel Tonu, Billie Coe, Marcel Winmill, Dylan Jones and Oliver Roberts, all 13, have been crowned the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Faraday Challenge National Champions 2020-2021.

The national competition, which aims to encourage young people to study and consider careers in science, technology, engineering and maths, took place virtually on Tuesday, July 13.

Other schools such as Ampleforth College in York, Derbyshire’s Glossopdale School and The Gilberd School in Colchester competed for first place.

In association with Network Rail, the challenge tasked the teams to design a prototype that will assist in sustainably managing the increasing numbers of passengers travelling and minimise the impact on the environment.

The Royal Liberty pupils won with their design of a prototype pressure pad and buzzer system to minimise overcrowding on platforms.

Billie said: “It was so amazing to win as we had spent a long time perfecting our project and it was great to see that it had paid off.

“We did not expect to win as the other schools were so impressive in what they made and how they presented their projects.

“I am very grateful that this went on through the pandemic and I really enjoyed the new experience.”

Daniel added: “It was an amazing experience to win the Faraday Challenge.

“All our hard work had finally paid off and words cannot describe how happy we are about this.

“Once again, we are very happy with the end product and how we have reached such an achievement.”

IET Faraday education manager, Natalie Moat, said: “The quality of the students’ work throughout has been fantastic and it was an extremely close final – I’d like to congratulate Royal Liberty School on winning.

“There is a huge demand for new engineers and technicians and we’re confident that this challenge has helped to change young people’s perceptions of engineers and inspire the next generation.”